De facto segregation

Date and country of first publication

1963
United States

Definition

De facto segregation refers to a situation where segregation occurs in practice, even though there may not be any official laws or policies enforcing it. This type of segregation is often a result of socioeconomic factors, residential patterns, and cultural preferences, rather than explicit legal mandates.

De facto segregation commonly occurred in the United States during the 20th century, particularly in the South, even after the legal end of racial segregation following the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Despite the ruling, many communities and institutions, such as schools, housing, and public facilities, remained segregated due to various forms of discrimination, including restrictive covenants, white flight, and discriminatory lending practices.

De facto segregation is considered more difficult to address compared to de jure segregation (segregation by law), as it does not involve overtly discriminatory policies that can be easily challenged in court. Efforts to address de facto segregation often involve initiatives to combat systemic racism, promote diversity, and create inclusive policies and programs.

Related segregation forms

De facto segregation is frequently discussed in the literature with the following segregation forms:

school segregation, racial segregation, residential segregation, social segregation, de jure segregation, urban residential segregation, mandated segregation, state sanctioned segregation, american school segregation, informal 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).

Notes

At its current state, this definition has been generated by a Large Language Model (LLM) so far without review by an independent researcher or a member of the curating team of segregation experts that keep the Segregation Wiki online. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee its reliability, completeness and timeliness. Please use this content with caution and verify information as needed. Also, feel free to improve on the definition as you see fit, including the use of references and other informational resources. We value your input in enhancing the quality and accuracy of the definitions of segregation forms collectively offered in the Segregation Wiki ©.

De facto segregation appears in the following literature

Pettigrew T.F. (1963). De Facto Segregation, Southern Style. Equity and Excellence in Education, 1(5), 15-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020486630010504

Golightly C.L. (1963). De Facto Segregation in Milwaukee Schools. Equity and Excellence in Education, 1(6), 27-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020486630010604

Glazer N. (1964). School Integration Policies in Northern Cities. Journal of the American Planning Association, 30(3), 178-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366408978118

Cooper C.R. (197). Four Key Issues in the 1969 70 School Integration Crisis. NASSP Bulletin, 54(349), 40-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263657005434904

Louis Heath G. (197). De facto segregation in a california city. Equity and Excellence in Education, 8(1), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020486700080101

Hill R., Feeley M. (1971). Affirmative school integration: Efforts to Overcome De Facto Segregation in Urban Schools. Education and Urban Society, 4(1), 60-. https://doi.org/10.1177/001312457100400105

Maxfield D.W. (1972). Spatial planning of school districts. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 62(4), 582-590. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1972.tb00887.x

Herbst R.L. (1973). The Legal Struggle to Integrate Schools in the North. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 407(1), 43-62. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271627340700105

Caditz J. (1975). Ambivalence Toward Integration: the Sequence of Response to Six Interracial Situations. Sociological Quarterly, 16(1), 16-32. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1975.tb02136.x

Roof W.C. (1979). Race and Residence: The Shifting Basis of American Race Relations. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 441(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271627944100102

David E.M. (1994). Blurring the color line: The desegregation of the Baltimore city public schools, 1954 1994. The Urban Review, 26(4), 243-255. Kluwer Academic Publishers-Human Sciences Press.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02354371

Bankston III C., Caldas S.J. (1996). Majority African American schools and social injustice: The influence of de facto segregation on academic achievement. Social Forces, 75(2), 535-555. University of North Carolina Press.https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/75.2.535

Green III P.C. (1999). Can state constitutional provisions eliminate de facto segregation in the public schools?. Journal of Negro Education, 68(2), 138-153. Howard University.https://doi.org/10.2307/2668121

De Los Reyes G., Rich P. (2003). Housing students: Fraternities and residential colleges. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 585(), 118-123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716202238570

Lassiter M.D. (2004). The suburban origins of "color blind" conservatism: Middle class consciousness in the Charlotte busing crisis. Journal of Urban History, 30(4), 549-582. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144204263812

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Davis D.M. (2004). Merry go round: A return to segregation and the implications for creating democratic schools. Urban Education, 39(4), 394-407. SAGE Publications Inc..https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085904265104

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Eckes S.E. (2005). The perceived barriers to integration in the Mississippi Delta. Journal of Negro Education, 74(2), 159-173. https://doi.org/

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Wainer A. (2006). The new Latino south and the challenge to american public education. International Migration, 44(5), 129-165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00389.x

Nelson E.S. (2006). Parents Involved & Meredith: A prediction regarding the (UN)constitutionality of race conscious student assignment plans. Denver University Law Review, 84(2), 293-328. https://doi.org/

Franz B. (2007). Europe's Muslim youth: An inquiry into the politics of discrimination, relative deprivation, and identity formation. Mediterranean Quarterly, 18(1), 89-112. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-2006-036

Godfrey P.C. (2008). The "Other White": Mexican Americans and the impotency of whiteness in the segregation and desegregation of texan public schools. Equity and Excellence in Education, 41(2), 247-261. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680801963558

Highsmith A.R. (2009). Demolition means progress: Urban renewal, local politics, and state sanctioned ghetto formation in Flint, Michigan. Journal of Urban History, 35(3), 348-368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144208330403

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Donato R., Hanson J.S. (2012). Legally white, socially "mexican": The politics of de jure and de facto school segregation in the American Southwest. Harvard Educational Review, 82(2), 202-225. Harvard University.https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.2.a562315u72355106

Douthirt Cohen B. (2012). Reimagining gender through policy development: The case of a 'single sex' educational organisation. Gender and Education, 24(7), 689-705. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2012.685055

Busch A. (2013). Building "a city of upper middle class citizens": Labor markets, segregation, and growth in Austin, Texas, 1950 1973. Journal of Urban History, 39(5), 975-996. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144213479324

Miguel G.S., Jr. (2013). Chicana/o struggles for education: Activism in the community. Chicana/o Struggles for Education: Activism in the Community, 1-243. Texas A and M University.https://doi.org/

Black J.E. (2013). Space and status in Chicago's legal landscapes. Journal of Planning History, 12(3), 227-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538513213477822

Jacobs N. (2013). Understanding School Choice: Location as a Determinant of Charter School Racial, Economic, and Linguistic Segregation. Education and Urban Society, 45(4), 459-482. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124511413388

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Gooden M.A., Thompson Dorsey D.N. (2014). The Distorted Looking Glass: Examining How Housing Identity Privilege Obviates the Goals of Brown v. Board of Education at 60. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(5), 764-782. SAGE Publications Inc..https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X14550197

Brown W.A., Burnette D. (2014). Public hbcus' financial resource distribution disparities in capital spending. Journal of Negro Education, 83(2), 173-182. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.83.2.0173

Gordon T.S. (2015). Take amtrak to black history: Marketing heritage tourism to African Americans in the 1970s. Journal of Tourism History, 7(1-2), 54-74. Routledge.https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2015.1047804

Williams J., Pazey B., Fall A.M., Yates J.R., Roberts G.J. (2015). Avoiding the Threat: An Exploratory Study Into a Theoretical Understanding of the De Facto Segregation of Students With Disabilities. NASSP Bulletin, 99(3), 233-253. SAGE Publications Ltd.https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636515601491

Olden D.R. (2015). Shifting the Lens: Using Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Theory to Re Examine the History of School Desegregation. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(3), 250-261. SAGE Publications Inc..https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414562898

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Fridman-Mintz B. (2016). Inclusive education in mexico: De facto segregation of the signing deaf. Change and Promise: Bilingual Deaf Education and Deaf Culture in Latin America, 122-135. Gallaudet University Press.https://doi.org/

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Knoester M., Au W. (2017). Standardized testing and school segregation: like tinder for fire?. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(1), 1-14. Routledge.https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2015.1121474

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