Final answer:
Racial segregation refers to the separation of people based on race, such as the South African policy of apartheid (A), which enforced white supremacy, or the Jim Crow laws in the United States, which legally segregated African Americans until the mid-20th century.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term "racial segregation" refers to the systematic separation of people based on race, which can affect various aspects of daily life such as living arrangements, employment, and social activities. An example of such segregation is the South African policy of apartheid, which from 1948 to 1994, legally enforced white supremacy and separated the population into distinct racial groups with Europeans, Africans, coloureds, and Asians having separate social and physical spaces. This segregation was not only a social system but was sanctioned by law, known as de jure segregation, as opposed to de facto segregation, which occurs without the backing of legal enforcement but due to other factors such as economic, social, or personal preferences.
During the apartheid era in South Africa, black South Africans faced discriminatory laws that stripped them of their civil rights and forced them into designated areas apart from white South Africans. This stark system of segregation was designed to ensure the complete subjugation of the African majority. Similar legal segregation, known as Jim Crow laws, also occurred in the United States after the Civil War, segregating African Americans from white Americans in public facilities, until overturned by the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.