De Jure vs.
De Facto Segregation
De jure segregation:
Racial separation forced by
specific laws. All such laws
were eliminated in the U.S.
by the mid-1960s. Therefore,
today in the U.S. there is no
such thing as de jure
segregation.
Latin: “down from the law”
"as a matter of fact"
De facto segregation:
Racial separation that occurs
"as a matter of fact", e.g., by
housing patterns (where one
lives) or by school enrollment
(where one goes to school).
Latin: “down from the fact”
"by [the] fact."
 PURPOSE:
• De jure segregation was a way to
legally separate races of people based
on skin color.
• De facto segregation occurs naturally
as a result of populations grouping
themselves in different regions.
 Background:
• Plessey V. Ferguson:
– Established the doctrine of “separate, but
equal.”
• Jim Crow Laws:
– Prisons The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate apartments for both
eating and sleeping from the negro convicts. Mississippi
– Education Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African
descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white
child to attend a colored school. Missouri
– Intermarriage All marriages between...white persons and negroes or white persons and
Mongolians...are prohibited and declared absolutely void...No person having one-eighth part or
more of negro blood shall be permitted to marry any white person, nor shall any white person
be permitted to marry any negro or person having one-eighth part or more of negro blood.
Missouri
– Education Separate rooms [shall] be provided for the teaching of pupils of African descent, and
[when] said rooms are so provided, such pupils may not be admitted to the school rooms
occupied and used by pupils of Caucasian or other descent. New Mexico
– Textbooks Books shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall
continue to be used by the race first using them. North Carolina
 Background:
• De Facto “Self” Segregation
– People separating themselves “naturally”
 Myth vs. Fact
Myth: Segregation has been eliminated in the United States.
Fact: Segregation has changed from being legal to a form less overt.

Myth: De jure segregation is gone.

Fact: Many businesses still allow discrimination in hiring practices.

Myth: De facto segregation is “natural.”

Fact: Many areas of our society are segregated (population, schools).

Myth: Segregation is racism.

Fact: Segregation is racism.
 VIDEOS:
Segregation in Schools
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTaaza5ebQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfxnJ54STiY
 Discussion Questions:

• In your everyday life, do you see

schools being segregated?
• Do you think that segregation is always
a bad thing? What situations could you
see it being a positive thing?
• Where else do you see de jure
segregation?
• What do you think we can do to change
de facto segregation?