My favorite reading genre is science fiction. This is just a tale of the future inspired by current events. It is written in the first person.
Map key
Red line – fortified wall between Texas and Mexico
Green line – almost impenetrable forest between Texas and The Louisiana Wasteland
Gray dotted line – new El Paso territory
It has been 15 years since Imperator Trump became leader of the New American Federation. No longer the 50 United States but some 30 disparate states, many with new boundaries and names. In 2018 we were unaware that medical and DNA facilities were collating data about our ethnicity. Under the guise of scientific advancement, the government had colluded with the data gatherers to make America as white as possible. Anyone with 85% white or Caucasian genes was reclassified as Pure Citizens. All others were no longer citizens but subjects; in a caste system. On rare occasions, subjects could pass as citizens but dare not procreate for fear of recessive genetics. The caste system is not truly based on darkness of color but your worth to this new society.
A Nigerian doctor might be part of Caste #1 but a Guatemalan farmer could be Caste #4. Many people of color fled after rezoning to Free States such as those in the Pacific West (formerly known as California, Oregon and Washington) or to other continents. Curiously, white Neo-Nazis from Northern Europe and Argentina flocked to immigrate to New America and they were welcomed by Imperator Trump. No one dare call him any other name but they can’t control our thoughts. I am now an old woman stuck in a country I despise, the country of my birth and ancestors. Despite my mixed blood, I have 85% Caucasian genes and look as fair as any Aryan. My hair is snow white, my faded dark blue eyes are cloudy and my skin as fair as milk. I am treated with veneration to my disgust; for safety I smile at all the compliments and kindness. Even monsters have some capacity for good, don’t they?
Those subjects who were unable to escape New America now live in ghettos. Some are better than others; just old suburban areas but clearly differentiated. No one from Caste #1 can marry, live or have a relationship with someone in Caste #4, for example. Two doctors of different color in Caste #1 can marry even if one is of Chinese ethnicity and the other Mexican. To the white citizens, they are all less than pure. The 85%, as we are known, live in fully armed and gated communities. A very few are similar to the Mar-a-Lago estates of the old days. Fort Trump is an example with multi-million dollar homes, gilded from top to bottom. Imperator style is ornate and gaudy; like one of Imperator Trump’s many casinos.
When the states separated, I hoped that democracy would prevail in Texas but “Make America White” struck a chord in a Republican State. El Paso had always been blue and was able to create a new territory which is governed and protected by Mexico. New Mexico, mostly Hispanic, is a Protectorate of Mexico. Oklahoma and Arkansas merged into what they once were – Indian Territories. In this strange new world, Native Americans have retained power and sovereignty but are not Citizens. Louisiana is a wasteland; devastated by flooding, hurricanes and poverty. It has become a disease ridden swamp that only Cajuns and other indigenous people can survive in.
Houston too did not survive the vagaries of the increasingly turbulent weather systems. The coastline has retreated further north and Galveston has reverted back to a sliver of sandbar. New Houston has taken the place of Austin as State Capitol. It is a grim city with no rainbows or sunshine. It is full of dangerous ghettos as is South City formerly known as San Antonio. All Spanish words are banned, so Amarillo was renamed Yellow City, a literal translation. Many times over the years I wished I had kept my Spanish maiden name but a white name kept me safe. I whisper it under my breath to remind myself of who I am.
So why didn’t I escape to Mexico or Pacific West? By the time I realized that Texas would succumb, I was a widow and too frail. I live in the Big Thicket in the same house that I always did. The forest has encroached and the roads are barely passable. The ocean is much closer than it used to be and you can smell the ozone on the breeze. Since I was stuck inside the New Federation and inconspicuous, I have secretly volunteered for the Underground Railroad. We are close to the Louisiana border and despite the danger many people are willing to brave their lives just for a chance at freedom. Small boats are guided through swamps by the Cajun Navy until they reach open water. If they are lucky a refugee rescue boat will attempt to take them to safety.
I laugh bitterly because all we used to worry about was a wall.
Postscript
I wrote this fictional post in 2018 because of my growing alarm about the MAGA movement and Neo Nazi groups.
Frighteningly possible.
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I hope not, but…
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We all hope not, but…
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Disturbing.
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Isn’t it?
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Could be sooner than you think🙉
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Who knows?
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Wow! This ava great read Kerry! Well done!
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Thank you so much, Gary. I always wanted to write fiction…dark fiction, obviously. LOL!
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Considering today’s state of affairs, this story is far too believable for comfort.
“Even monsters have some capacity for good, don’t they?” What a powerful, thought provoking rhetorical question.
Great writing, Kerry.
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Thank you so much! I think I shocked my audience into silence again with this. Some recent personal comments about my Mexican ancestry provoked this and my current unhappiness with our leader…
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I agree, Magarisa. That sentence that jumped out at me, too. I read a dystopian novel a few years ago (The Mandibles) in which Latino folks had become the most powerful social group. Many details from that book have stuck in my imagination — as will your image of Louisiana as “a wasteland; devastated by flooding, hurricanes and poverty… a disease ridden swamp that only Cajuns and other indigenous people can survive in….” The upcoming disruptions brought into our lives by increasing climate change may make many of us long for the era of Covid-19 (when most of us still had running water and electricity)… as ‘the good old days.’
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Nothing gives me more pleasure than my written words reaching someone, so thank you, Will. It was a work of fiction based on possibilities. Imperator Trump is disappearing and they are making inroads in Louisiana to maintain the wetlands therefore preventing some coastal erosion. The Netherlands are a perfect example of how a country, below, sea level can attempt to address the rising water. We can move, as our ancestors must have done in Doggerland or live on the water. I think I will try a fairy story next to cheer us all up!
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Wow! Kerry! This is some dark and yet frighteningly possible vision of the future! I bet Trump would just loved to be called an Imperator!! 😉 That stupid wall makes me wanna scream! Why don´t people learn from their mistakes? Did any wall ever make things better? Start with the Chinese Wall – didn´t work, go the Berlin Wall – luckily was brought down at one point – and the wall in Gaza… The world grows more made with each day it seems, and no one´s going to stop it… If you´re turning this into a novel you need to work fast in order to keep calling it science fiction and not a documentary 😉
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If your human trafficker can get you through central American and into Mexico why do they think a wall would stop it? And then there is our coastline…and airports.
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I very much doubt he does any kind of thinking at all…
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Sadly not…
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Scary!!!’n
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Just my imagination…I hope!
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yes me too!
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“Even monsters have some capacity for good.” You’re right — for example, imperator Trump is good to those who are loyal to him (but heaven help those who stray). 😦
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He isn’t very good to long suffering Melania…
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You’ve got that right….but you have to wonder what long-suffering Melania really thinks. If she thinks what I hope she thinks, she wouldn’t be “standing by her man” if not for her son.
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That’s true and how did she get her citizenship…
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Theta quite a scary dystopian scenario your have there. Scale m scarily possibly but this could be the background for an interesting sci-fi story.
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I did wonder about turning this into a novelette or short story. The problem is my attention span…😁
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I think I was just venting some of the racism I feel and that damned wall. Maybe one day I will turn it into a book.
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I hope this can remain a sci-fi but honestly I think this is the direction we are headed. Scary stuff and all too real.
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It is a reflection of comments I have heard, some aimed at my Mexican heritage. Let’s hope we are all better than that.
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Oh, what a horrible idea – fortunately a dystopia ( at least I hope so)
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It’s just a tale but inspired by current feelings.
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Yikes! You could see this possibly happening back in 2018, but now it’s even more frightening, especially with his supporters calling for martial law.
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I would reblog it but I am afraid of retaliation/nasty comments.
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It’s very well written, and I’d say the heck with Trolls, but…
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Thank you! I might consider reblogging it in January…
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We live in a very sick country. It is unbelievable the number of people with twisted minds. With Trump out of the limelight, maybe some of them will start to think and act more normally.
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These people are always here (WWII and apartheid) but shame might help them keep their views to themselves?
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It is frightening the MAGAts (pronounced maggots) create their own fictions (called lies), believe and act on them.
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That is a very good name for them. I am disgusted by all of this.
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