desegregation

[dee-seg-ri-gey-shuhn, dee-seg-]

noun

1. the elimination of laws, customs, or practices under which people from different religions, ancestries, ethnic groups, etc., are restricted to specific or separate public facilities, neighborhoods, schools, organizations, or the like.

Other Word Forms

• desegregationist noun
• antidesegregation adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of desegregation¹

First recorded in 1950–55; de- + segregation

Example Sentences

Holmes ruling, which ordered the immediate desegregation of Southern schools.

From Salon

Early in his career, Falwell gave a sermon in which he declared that integration “will destroy our race eventually,” warning that after school desegregation, legalized interracial marriage would be next.

From Salon

Because it did not necessarily support desegregation, they cut loose from an originalism approach.

From Salon

The last time the military was deployed without a governor’s request or approval, military experts said, was to facilitate court-ordered desegregation in Southern states during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

From Los Angeles Times

Vouchers came into existence in the 1960s as a way to avoid racial desegregation.

From Salon

Related Words

• assimilation