desegregate

American  

[dee-seg-ri-geyt] / diˈsɛg rɪˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

desegregated, desegregating

1. to eliminate racial segregation in.

   to desegregate all schools.

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verb (used without object)

desegregated, desegregating

1. to eliminate racial segregation; to integrate at an institutional level members of different communities without regard to skin color.

desegregate British  

/ diːˈsɛɡrɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. to end racial segregation in (a school or other public institution)

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Other Word Forms

• desegregation noun
• desegregationist noun

Etymology

Origin of desegregate

First recorded in 1950–55; de- + segregate

Example Sentences

At 14, she was one of the so-called Clinton 12, the first Black students to desegregate a Southern public school following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v.

From Los Angeles Times

The sit-ins to desegregate restaurants and cafeterias that were now taking place across the South had originated in Greensboro.

From Literature

When Southern governors refused to desegregate schools during Jim Crow is now widely understood as one of the most shameful periods in our history.

From Salon

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt desegregated the Army after World War II. Later, women were given broader roles, including, now, in combat.

From Los Angeles Times

For guidance, the justices can look to the very beginning of Medicare in the 1960s, when the promise of federal funding finally persuaded hospitals in the Jim Crow South to desegregate.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• integrate