What does desegregation mean?
Desegregation is a noun referring to the process of abolishing enforced racial separation within institutions such as schools, public transport, housing, the military, and public facilities. It names not merely an end state but an active effort — often involving legislation, court orders, busing programs, or federal enforcement — to dismantle systems that had legally or customarily kept racial groups apart. The term rose to prominence in mid-twentieth-century America, particularly after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared school segregation unconstitutional, making 'desegregation' a central word of the civil rights era. It is closely related to integration, though integration can imply fuller social mixing while desegregation emphasizes removing legal barriers. The word is neutral to formal in register and remains standard in historical, legal, and sociological writing about race and equality.
nounThe action or process of ending the enforced separation of people of different races, especially in schools, housing, and public facilities.
- The act or policy of eliminating enforced racial segregation in institutions such as schools, transportation, housing, and public accommodations.
"The desegregation of the city's public schools began in earnest after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling."
"Busing remained one of the most contentious tools of school desegregation throughout the 1970s."
"Historians credit the desegregation of the armed forces in 1948 with opening doors to later civil rights victories."
Rare; the word is almost always used as an uncountable mass noun. A plural form may appear when referring to multiple distinct instances or processes in different places or domains.
"The court compared desegregations across several southern school districts."
It took federal troops escorting nine Black students through a jeering crowd in Little Rock in 1957 to make 'desegregation' more than a word on paper — the word itself only became widespread in American English during the 1950s civil rights era.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of desegregation
Desegregation derives from the prefix de- (indicating reversal) combined with 'segregation', which traces back to Latin segregare, 'to separate from the flock', formed from se- ('apart') and grex/gregis ('flock, herd'). The same Latin root greg- gives English words such as aggregate, egregious, and gregarious. While 'segregation' has been used for various kinds of separation since the seventeenth century, 'desegregation' itself emerged in twentieth-century American English and became widespread during the civil rights movement of the 1950s.
Related word forms
How desegregation is actually used
The word is formal to neutral in register and carries strong historical associations with the American civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. It is most commonly used in discussions of race relations, though it can occasionally describe the ending of other forms of institutional separation, such as gender-based policies. In British English it appears chiefly in historical or international contexts rather than describing domestic policy.
Easily confused with desegregation
Desegregation is the process of dismantling racial separation, whereas segregation is the separation itself.