^^^^ CB: This is true, and it is the effect of White supremacy. But the main divisions of the working class that prevent class unity are in (racial) residential segregation and (racial) endogamous marriage and mating. In other words, de facto , not de jure, Jim Crow still exists in the North and the South, the East and the West. "At home", the working class is majorly divided. This is what capitalism "needs".
[WS:] I do not think if it is true, but even if it were, that is a pretty self-defeating diagnosis for a social activist or a reformer. If Jim Crow still lives in popular preferences, then chances are he will never die, at least not any time soon.
^^^^^ CB: I'm not sure what you are saying you don't think is true. The data being presented demonstrates there is significant residential racial segregation.
As to whether that and racially endogamous marriage and mating ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogamy) will end soon, I doubt it. The observation may not be a happy one, but it would be self-deceiving to deny it's true.
^^^^^^^^
My diagnosis is different - it is "social market" and cultural consumption based identity on both sides. One a life style and cultural consumption style becomes a defining factor of who we are, people naturally tend to gravitate toward those with similarly define "identities." It is quite visible in social media, among other things. You do not need legal apartheid anymore, "social market" will do a far better job at segregating people.
This diagnosis at least offers a strategy for change. Change cultural identity, and Jim Crow will kick the bucket. Just look at the Army - the first thing they do is to suppress whatever "civilian" identity recruits have, and replace it with the Army identity - teamwork, patriotism and all that. The ideological content of that new identity may be reprehensible, but the approach works - the Army is probably one of the most ethnically integrated institutions in this country.
Wojtek