Definition

Noun: * The systemic separation of people into racial groups in daily life: This refers to the enforced separation of different racial groups within a society, particularly in public facilities, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. It is a form of institutional discrimination based on race.

Usage

• Racial segregation is typically used to describe historical and social policies, laws, and practices. It is a formal term often found in academic, historical, legal, and sociological contexts.
• It functions as a compound noun where "racial" modifies the type of "segregation." The term itself is the target concept.

Examples

• The Civil Rights Movement in the United States fought to end racial segregation in schools and public transportation.
• Apartheid in South Africa was a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination.
• Many laws enforcing racial segregation, known as Jim Crow laws, were enacted in the American South after the Reconstruction era.

Advanced Usage

• De facto segregation: Segregation that occurs in practice due to social, economic, or behavioral factors, even without laws explicitly mandating it (e.g., segregated neighborhoods due to income inequality and historical patterns).
• De jure segregation: Segregation that is imposed and enforced by law.

Variants and Related Words

• Segregate (verb): To set apart or separate, especially by race.
  • The policy sought to segregate students based on their ethnicity.
• Segregated (adjective): Characterized by or practicing segregation.
  • They attended a segregated school.
• Desegregation (noun): The process of ending systematic racial segregation.
  • The desegregation of the military was an important step.

Synonyms

• Apartheid (specifically refers to the historical South African system).
• Jim Crow (specifically refers to the historical US system in the South).
• Separation by race.
• Color bar / Colour bar.

Antonyms

• Integration.
• Desegregation.
• Inclusion.

Noun

1. segregation by race