De Facto Segregation

Betty Cox

In the United States, segregation , the practice of separating people on the basis of their race or ethnicity, is obsolete in principle. That is, de jure segregation is illegal, but not so with de facto segregation. De jure segregation , or segregation by law, occurred when local, state, or national laws required segregation. All such laws were abolished in the United States by the mid-1960s. De facto segregation , on the other hand, is segregation that occurs as a matter of fact without imposition of law. Segregation, both de jure and de facto, has generated heated debate in the United States, resulting in widespread dissent and demands for reform. Both types of segregation have coexisted in the United States. Although they look similar, true de facto segregation is not unconstitutional, in that it occurs naturally instead of as a result of official government action. A customary example is a ...

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