Final answer:
Segregation refers to the physical separation of two groups, with de jure segregation being enforced by law and de facto segregation occurring without laws but due to other factors. Examples of de jure segregation include apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow laws in the United States. De facto segregation still exists today, where different racial or ethnic groups are often segregated by neighborhood or other factors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Segregation refers to the physical separation of two groups, particularly in residence, but also in workplace and social functions. It is important to distinguish between de jure segregation (segregation that is enforced by law) and de facto segregation (segregation that occurs without laws but because of other factors). A stark example of de jure segregation is the apartheid movement of South Africa, which existed from 1948 to 1994. Under apartheid, Black South Africans were stripped of their civil rights and forcibly relocated to areas that segregated them physically from their White compatriots. Only after decades of degradation, violent uprisings, and international advocacy was apartheid finally abolished.
De facto segregation, however, cannot be abolished by any court mandate. Few institutions desegregated as a result of Brown; in fact, government and even military intervention was necessary to enforce the ruling, and it took the Civil Rights Act and other laws to formalize the equality. Segregation is still alive and well in the United States, with different racial or ethnic groups often segregated by neighborhood, borough, or parish.
Many states also adopted a system of legal segregation called Jim Crow. Although this system of separation was used in the north, it was more prevalent in the south and more firmly established. The laws required the separation of races in all aspects of life including schools, public buildings, parks, hospitals, transportation, and water fountains. Facilities for African Americans were almost always inferior. This policy of separation was cemented by the United States Supreme Court, who established the principle of separate but equal in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson.