Secession.
What a loaded word. Its soothing sibilant sounds mask a rebellious meaning, almost diverting attention from its unequivocal connotations: separate, disassociate, abandon…
Whenever I hear the word secession, I think of my home state of South Carolina, the first to secede from the Union back in the day. Disenchanted with the federal government over slavery, taxes, free trade, state’s rights — whichever you prefer — South Carolina withdrew from the United States. When the South lost the war and slavery was abolished, old SC had to concede.
Secession will always be associated with race in our minds.
Have you heard the news? Some residents of Fulton County, Georgia, want to secede and become a separate county. As it turns out, the side that wants to split is “predominantly white†and “affluent.â€
A secession of the wealthier part of Fulton County would leave the rest without its significant tax base, and poor black neighborhoods likely would suffer. Secessionists say Fulton County is “too large, and certainly too dysfunctional.†It’s about money. Twenty-nine percent of the population pays 42 percent of its property taxes to run the local government, and if residents get their wish, the country stands to lose a wad of cash.
The people paying the most taxes want true representation in their government. Nothing wrong with that. They’re tired of the huge transfer of wealth, a redistribution of their hard-earned money to a myriad of social programs and services they don’t use or need. They’re fed up with a government unresponsive to their needs. But the debate to secede will be tinged with race, unfortunately.
Some folks are calling the proposal hateful, and as we know, the meaning of the word hate has shifted over the years. It once meant “to dislike intensely or passionately.†Now it means “anything you do that may negatively affect or hurt the feelings of black people or homosexuals or Muslims, although the act itself isn’t illegal, unethical, immoral or intended to negatively affect or hurt the feelings of black people or homosexuals or Muslims.”
Good luck with all that, Fulton County. 
Questions:
1) Should certain Fulton County suburbs be allowed to secede and form a separate county? Why or why not?
2) Predict the proposal’s success. Will it pass or fail?
3) This question is reserved for residents of Georgia. If you get a chance to vote on the measure to secede, will you vote for or against? Explain your answer.
Update: Former Georgia resident Independent Conservative predicts the proposal to secede will succeed.
