Segregation, Desegregation, and Resegregation

Definitions

Racial segregation describes a formalized or institutionalized pattern of separation of racial groups within a society that results from discrimination based on race. Racial segregation is generally spatial, but also involves separate or parallel systems of service delivery, and operates with the sanction of customs or laws. Before the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, southern Black students were educated under a dual system that offered inferior facilities and substandard learning opportunities.

Desegregation represents actions and policies aimed at ending racial segregation. In the United States, the civil rights movement played a major role in efforts to end racial segregation in major institutional contexts, including education, housing, and employment. Following the Brown decision, when southern schools began to desegregate, Blacks were granted the legal right to attend formerly all-White elementary and secondary schools.

Resegregation generally refers to institutional contexts that were initially all-White (segregated), become open to all races (desegregated), and in a relatively short time span become either all-Black, or all-White. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina provide an example of this cycle of segregation, desegregation, and resegregation. In 1969, most of the district's schools (58 of 68) were racially isolated—either 90% to 100% White or non-White. As a result of a desegregation order in 1970, the district's schools became nearly racially balanced by 1971 (only two schools were in either 90-plus% category). The district remained racially balanced until it was declared unitary in 1995 and freed by the courts from continuing its racial balance plan. At that point, a new “controlled choice” plan was implemented, which resulted in the district's schools again becoming racially imbalanced, or resegregated, For example, the proportion of Black students attending 90-plus% non-White schools increased from 0% in 1994 to 22% in 2002.

The term resegregation has also been used to describe the process of separating racial groups within erstwhile desegregated contexts through tracking or ability grouping. Research has shown that even within racially mixed schools, African American and Latino students are disproportionately overrepresented in low-level courses, and underrepresented in high-level college-bound courses. These patterns of overrepresentation and underrepresentation exceed levels that might be predicted based on measured achievement. There is also evidence that non-White students are more likely to be placed in remedial classes than are White students of similar tested ability.

Background

During the nation's early years, the institution of slavery made complete racial segregation impractical as slave masters had to work with slaves to manage and control them. Thus, many Whites engaged in daily, routine, face-to-face interactions with slaves. Following the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, a movement to separate the races emerged. As Blacks moved from plantations into [Page 1931]urban areas, they were viewed as economic threats by Whites who saw them as potential competitors in the labor market. Ultimately, a caste-like system developed that denied Blacks access to full and equitable participation in employment, housing, education, and politics.

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