White school segregation

Date and country of first publication^[1][edit | edit source]

2014
United States

Definition[edit | edit source]

White school segregation, also known as white-only schools or all-white schools, refers to the practice of segregating schools based on race, specifically excluding students of color and allowing only white students to attend. This practice was prevalent in the United States during the era of racial segregation, particularly in the South, from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century.

White school segregation was a result of Jim Crow laws and the "separate but equal" doctrine that was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson. These laws and doctrine allowed for the legal separation of races in public facilities, including schools. In practice, however, the facilities and resources provided to white schools were often far superior to those provided to schools for Black students.

White school segregation was finally challenged in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, where the Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This ruling declared that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," and called for the desegregation of schools.

However, despite this ruling, desegregation efforts faced significant opposition, and progress towards integration was slow in many areas. It wasn't until the 1960s and 1970s, with the Civil Rights Movement and the implementation of federal policies like busing, that substantial desegregation efforts began to take place.

Today, white school segregation is illegal and unconstitutional in the United States. Public schools are required to provide equal educational opportunities to all students, regardless of their race or ethnicity. However, de facto segregation still exists in many school districts due to residential patterns and socioeconomic disparities. Efforts to address and reduce racial segregation in schools continue to be a topic of debate and concern in the United States.

Related segregation forms[edit | edit source]

White school segregation is frequently discussed in the literature with the following segregation forms:

school segregation, residential segregation, racial segregation, economic segregation, economic school segregation, social segregation, neighborhood segregation

This visualization is based on the study The Multidisciplinary Landscape of Segregation Research.

For the complete network of interrelated segregation forms, please refer to:

First year of publication

Louvain clusters

Betweenness centrality

Disciplines in which segregation forms first emerged (Scopus database).

References[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

↑ Date and country of first publication as informed by the Scopus database (December 2023).

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