History Main / LingeringSocialTensions

Whether that work ''succeeds'' depends. With luck, the bitterness and resentment between factions may slowly fade away over time and the bad blood gets forgotten by the next generation. However, it just as easily could boil over into open contempt or riots by those who refuse to coexist. Coups and civil wars are generally the worst-case scenario here, which is when one side chooses to outright destroy the nominal peace and resume political hostilities.

Naturally this comes up a lot in sequels that explore what happens ''after'' a dramatic political or legal victory. This sometimes results in a bit of HappyEndingOverride, when we see that that the apparent peace that was won is actually still quite fragile, and requires a lot of continued work and diplomacy by all parties.

Naturally this comes up a lot in sequels that explore what happens ''after'' a dramatic political or legal victory. This sometimes results in a bit of HappyEndingOverride, when we see that that the peace that was achieved is actually quite tenuous, and still requires a lot of continued work and diplomacy by all parties.

Naturally this comes up a lot in sequels that explore what happens ''after'' a dramatic political or legal victory. This sometimes results in a bit of HappyEndingOverride, when we see that that the apparent peace that was achieved is actually quite tenuous, and still requires a lot of continued work and diplomacy by all parties.

Whether that work ''succeeds'' depends. With luck, the bitterness and resentment between factions may slowly fade away over time as they move on and the bad blood gets forgotten by the next generation. However, it just as easily could boil over into open contempt or riots by those who refuse to coexist. Coups and civil wars are generally the worst-case scenario here, which is when one side chooses to outright destroy the nominal peace and resume political hostilities.

-> ''"[T]he rift between the Settlers and the Anasazi tribes had begun to heal. Certainly there was still tension, animosity, and yes blatant prejudice, but for the most part the relationship between the two communities moved on to something approaching cordiality rather than open animosity... There were exceptions, though. There were still Anasazi who would still never trust anything to do with the Settlers and avoided all unnecessary contact... Some Settlers did not and would not see Anasazi as anything but a lower species, a subhuman mix of man and dog, and the more their hatreds become socially distasteful, the more they clutched them to their breasts and polished them like precious pearls."''

This trope describes settings that have pivoted in an attempt to course-correct their values or heal social division--but are undermined by societal inertia and the past not being as easy to move on from as hoped (whether because of personal baggage, or more subtle continuing institutional problems). Years of conflict can bury itself in a society--and if murder, slavery or betrayal was involved, factions are going to hold a grudge. Good intentions can only get you so far, and getting legal rights or an official peace agreement aren't magic bullets that make everyone instantly get along. Nor can they always undo [[InherentInTheSystem larger systemic problems that are leading to conflict]].

Whether that work ''succeeds'' depends. With luck, the bitterness and resentment between factions may slowly fade away over time as they move on and the bad blood gets forgotten by the next generation. However, it just as easily could boil over into open contempt or riots by those who refuse to coexist. Coups and civil wars are generally the worst case scenario here, which is when one side chooses to outright destroy the nominal peace and resume political hostilities.

Supertrope to TheRemnant and StillFightingTheCivilWar.

* ''Film/{{Barbie}}'': In the conclusion, [[spoiler:the Barbies agree to try to integrate the Kens properly into their society, but concede it will take years of slow work to achieve.]]

** A significant running conflict in the series deals with attempts to reform TheMagocracy to treat [[{{Muggles}} nonmagicals]] and demihumans better. It's only been a few years since a few species of the latter were even granted citizenship, and the A-plot of volume 1 has the [[TrueCompanions Sword Roses]] get caught between [[ZombieAdvocate activists trying to expand on their previous successes]] and conservatives trying to turn back the clock--a consequence of Katie Aalto and her family being strongly pro-rights. Volume 5 also states that PosthumousCharacter Chloe Halford was also an activist, and suggests this may have partly motivated her murder in volume 1's prologue.
** Present StudentCouncilPresident Alvin Godfrey got his start as a campus organizer trying to protect weaker and underprivileged students from bullies and rogue upperclassmen, where the former student council were a clique of {{Social Darwinist}}s who mostly let them do as they pleased. As dangerous as Kimberly Magic Academy can be, Tim Linton says it was ''way'' worse before Godfrey got involved and started the Campus Watch, and a significant plot in volumes 6-10 revolves around the fact he's about to GraduateFromTheStory and the old council is hoping to make a comeback. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Tim himself is elected as Godfrey's successor and appoints pro-rights candidate Vera Miligan as one of his council members, making it clear the reformists' forward progress is likely to continue for the near future.]]

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', we see that, despite the Federation being in a time of peace with many of their former enemies, the peace is tenuous at best. The Klingons showcase this best as, despite the peace accords in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', their ProudWarriorRaceGuy tendencies mean that they are ready to attack the Federation at a moment's notice, as seen in episodes such as "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Mind's Eye". The terrorist group the Maquis spawned out of this thanks to the Federation's decision to leave those in the Demilitarized Zone in the hands of the Cardassians. And on the subject of the Cardassians, there's also the obvious tensions between the Bajorans and the Cardassians due to the occupation of the planet.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'': Its DownloadableContent campaign "Beyond the Dawn" shows the state of the world one year after the main game's ending, revealing that even with the defeat of the Renan Lords, freedom of the Dahnans, and the reunification of the two worlds, the centuries of FantasticRacism will still be hard to overcome, even if progress has been made. Even places like Elde Menancia where co-existence is being practiced is seeing issues, namely from hordes of people fleeing from regions with high racial tensions leading to resource issues, and having to be on alert for radicals trying to set up shop in the area for the purpose of deliberately inflaming tensions.

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': After Night Vale begins allowing Desert Bluff's people to immigrate, many citizens continue to treat them with distrust and suspicion.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the episodes building up to “The Three Armies”, Anne and her allies travel throughout Amphibia persuading various factions to join the fight against King Andrias. In the episode itself, the Newt, Toad, and Frog factions come together to begin strategizing, but the tensions between them threaten to destroy the alliance before it can even begin, as Newts and Frogs view Toads as violent brutes, Frogs and Toads see Newts as snobbish elitist intellectuals, and Newts and Toads see Frogs as weak peasants. After Anne’s attempts to get the three groups to work together through a series of team-building exercises fail, she tells them that she can’t force them to resolve their centuries-old differences, but that they will have to find a way to get over them on their own if they’re to have any hope for victory, shaming the three groups into finally listening to each other.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy'' reveals that there may still be tensions between the two respective powers, as the Klingons are still the "villain" in the ''[[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation Kobayashi Maru]]'' training test, although given the fact that Klingons are the ProudWarriorRaceGuy they may still be flattered to be considered a serious threat.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': Downplayed. For the most part [[spoiler:Homeworld and Earth are living in peace, but Jasper, Eyeball, and Aquamarine continue hostilities due to bad blood]].

Whether that work ''succeeds'' depends. With luck, the bitterness and resentment between factions may slowly fade away over time as they move on and the bad blood gets forgotten by the next generation. However, in less optimistic scenarios it may boil over into open contempt or riots by those who refuse to coexist. Coups and civil wars are generally the worst case scenario here, which is when one side chooses to outright destroy the nominal peace and resume political hostilities.

Whether that work ''succeeds'' depends. With luck, the bitterness and resentment between factions may slowly fade away over time as they learn to coexist, or the animosity becomes forgotten by their children. However, in less optimistic scenarios it may boil over into open contempt or riots by those who refuse to coexist. Coups and civil wars are generally the worst case scenario here, which is when one side chooses to outright destroy the nominal peace and resume political hostilities.

Naturally this comes up a lot in sequels that explore what happens ''after'' a dramatic political or legal victory. This sometimes results in a bit of HappyEndingOverride, when we see that that the apparent peace that was achieved is actually quite tenuous, and requires quite a lot of continued work and diplomacy by all parties.

Naturally this comes up a lot in sequels that explore what happens ''after'' a dramatic political or legal victory. This sometimes results in a bit of HappyEndingOverride, when we see that that the apparent peace that was achieved is actually quite tenuous, and continues to take a lot of continued work and diplomacy by all parties.

This trope describes settings that have pivoted in an attempt to course-correct their values or heal social division--but are undermined by societal inertia and the past not being as easy to move on from as hoped (whether because of personal baggage, or more subtle continuing institutional problems). Years of conflict can bury itself in a society--and if murder, slavery or betrayal was involved, factions are going to hold a grudge. Good intentions can only get you so far, and getting legal rights or an official peace agreement aren't magic bullets that make everyone instantly get along. Nor can they always undo [[InherentToTheSystem larger systemic problems that are leading to conflict]].

Changing society can be tough. FantasticRacism and FantasticCasteSystem often form deeply held beliefs that aren't so easily uprooted (even when abolished), and decades of brainwashing and bigotry under TheEmpire can take ''years'' to {{Deprogram}}. For this reason, even when good faith policies or leadership changes try to address these conflicts, it often isn't enough to undo the damage on its own.

This trope describes settings that have pivoted in an attempt to course-correct their values or heal social division--but are undermined by societal inertia and the past not being as easy to move on from as hoped (whether because of personal baggage, or more subtle continuing institutional unfairness). Years of conflict are hard to erase--and if murder, slavery or betrayal was involved factions are going to hold a grudge.

Naturally this comes up a lot in sequels that explore what happens ''after'' a dramatic political or legal victory. Good intentions can only get you so far, and getting legal rights or an official peace agreement aren't magic bullets that make everyone instantly get along. This HappyEndingOverride can be used to show that peace is actually quite hard to hold onto, and takes a lot of continued work and diplomacy by all parties.

Whether that work ''succeeds'' depends. With luck, the bitterness and resentment between factions may slowly fade away over time as they learn to coexist, or the animosity gets forgotten by their children. However, in less optimistic scenarios it may boil over into open contempt or riots by those who refuse to coexist. Coups and civil wars are generally the worst case scenario here, which is when one side chooses to outright destroy the nominal peace and resume political hostilities.