Vast white ring conspiracy
As usual, Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles was ahead of his time when he drew this in June of 1998. Toles condensed the history of race and urban demographics in the last half of the 20th Çentury into six panels. Despite a massive recession 10 years after this cartoon was drawn, the last slide still describes our current situation in many big cities. Some progress has been made in revitalizing the first-ring suburbs in the last two decades, but the nation has barely scratched the surface of opportunities of these areas.
Also relevant today is the little note at the bottom right corner, mentioning the "vast white ring conspiracy." This is a reference to Hillary Clinton's phrase "vast right wing conspiracy" to describe attacks on the Clintons when her husband was president. With similar attacks and counterattacks in this year's presidential election, Toles's cartoon is a worm hole connecting 1998 with 2016.