Forced racial segregation

Date and country of first publication

2009
United States

Definition

Forced racial segregation refers to the deliberate separation of individuals or groups based on their race or ethnicity, often enforced through laws, policies, or societal norms. It involves the division of communities, neighborhoods, schools, public facilities, and other social spaces along racial lines, with the aim of maintaining racial hierarchy and control.

During the era of racial segregation in the United States, also known as Jim Crow segregation, discriminatory laws and practices were established to enforce the separation of Black and White people in various aspects of life. These laws ranged from actions such as requiring separate seating areas, entrances, and bathrooms for Black and White individuals in public spaces, to preventing African Americans from voting or attending the same schools as White Americans.

Forced racial segregation was rooted in the belief in the superiority of one race over another, particularly White supremacy in the case of Jim Crow segregation. It was used as a means of maintaining power and control over marginalized racial groups, limiting their access to resources, opportunities, and social equality.

Forced racial segregation has had long-lasting impacts on affected communities, perpetuating inequality, and contributing to intergenerational poverty and social divisions. Efforts to challenge and dismantle these systems of segregation continue to this day, with the aim of achieving racial justice and equality.

Forced racial segregation appears in the following literature

Kahn J. (1996). Enslaving the image: The Origins of the Tort of Appropriation of Identity Reconsidered. Legal Theory, 2(4), 301-324. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352325200000550

Ferguson R.F. (2005). Why America’s black white school achievement gap persists. Ethnicity, Social Mobility, and Public Policy: Comparing the USA and UK, 309-341. Cambridge University Press.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489228.014

Home R. (2012). Colonial township laws and urban Governance in Kenya. Journal of African Law, 56(2), 175-193. Cambridge University Press.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855312000083

Cook N. (2013). South Africa: Politics, economy, and U.S. relations. Countries of the World: Developments, Issues, and U.S. Relations, 4(), 151-199. Nova Science Publishers, Inc..https://doi.org/

Moore R. (2017). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 1-90. Taylor and Francis.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781912282586

Woods L.L., II (2018). “The Inevitable Products of Racial Segregation”: Multigenerational Consequences of Exclusionary Housing Policies on African Americans, 1910 1960. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77(3-4), 967-1012. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12229