Segregation Laws

Segregation constitutes a policy of physically separating socially designated “races” in residential, educational, recreational, and public facilities. Segregation may be defined as either de jure (sanctioned by law) or de facto (segregation in “fact,” persisting in varying degrees) and can exist within institutions such the U.S. military, which employed the policy until 1947. Segregation laws in U.S. history are often referred to as Jim Crow laws. The phrase Jim Crow originated in the 1830s and is believed to have been first associated with ...