Desegregation

Desegregation is a political and social process designed to end and reverse the undesirable effects of racial segregation by creating a more balanced representation of members of different groups. Racial segregation, prevalent throughout the world, occurs in many areas of social life, such as schools, workplaces, the military, and housing. In the United States, attempts to combat it centered on school desegregation, which in turn generated considerable social and political upheaval. Because most research on desegregation focuses on school desegregation of Blacks in the United States, that is the main focus in this entry. Specifically, the entry first reviews recent U.S. policy changes that deal with de facto segregation and patterns of resegregation in schools. It then examines school desegregation effects on academic achievement and ...