Meaning & use
desegregation
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Meaning
noununcountable
The process of ending the enforced separation of people by race in public life.
Grammar: Uncountable; used with the definite article when referring to a specific historical process.
Patterns
- desegregation of something
- racial desegregation
- school desegregation
The desegregation of schools was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
The city faced protests over the desegregation of its public pools.
Desegregation took decades to fully implement across the country.
Common combinations
- school desegregation
- School desegregation was ordered by the Supreme Court in 1954.
- racial desegregation
- Racial desegregation in the military began in the late 1940s.
- desegregation of public facilities
- The desegregation of public facilities met with fierce resistance.
Synonyms and how they differ
- integration
- Integration emphasizes the mixing of groups into a unified whole; desegregation focuses on ending enforced separation.
Opposites
Word family
- desegregate verb
- To end the separation of races in a place or institution.
- segregation noun
- The enforced separation of people by race.
Commonly confused: desegregation or integration?
desegregation vs integration
Integration often implies bringing people together into a single community; desegregation is the legal or political process of ending separation, which may not lead to full integration.
Practice
The Supreme Court's decision led to the ___ of public schools across the South.
Choose one answer.
Desegregation means ending racial separation, which fits the context of a court decision to integrate schools. Segregation is the opposite. Desecration means violating something sacred, and deputation means a group of representatives.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “desegregation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.