Until recently, there was athe division of the white population, blacks and Indians, the so-called racial segregation. The definition of this phenomenon is best revealed through its legal and factual aspects.
Background
Segregation de jure began in 1865 afterthe official abolition of slavery in America. The famous 13th amendment forbade slavery and simultaneously legitimized the existence of individual Negro schools, shops, military units.
In the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century, a whole series of segregation laws was adopted for ethnic Japanese, for example, the "Exclusion of Asians" Act made it virtually impossible for them to obtain American citizenship.
Household segregation
In settlements where the way of life did not changefor many decades, the population of different nationalities has traditionally settled in isolated areas. So, in the majority of cities there was originally a household segregation. What this means can be explained by the example of New York, where during the whole history of its existence isolated isolated Negro, Chinese, Japanese quarters.
Household segregation took a variety of forms.For example, separate training for blacks and whites existed in the US for over a hundred years. The first legal prohibition on segregation in school was adopted in several American states only in 1954, and its implementation was accompanied by active opposition of the white population.
The same ugly phenomenon was the ban onmixed marriages of "white" and "colored". Children from such marriages were subjected to cruel ridicule and mockery. Often, they did not want to take on the training and Negro schools, and schools for whites.
Military affairs ...
The legal basis for segregation in the US Army islegislative level were laid back in 1792. The law on the militia established that only an "able-bodied white male" could serve. Only in 1863 was the official procedure for the drafting of blacks. Negroes served in some parts, where even the majority of officer positions were occupied by whites. They were discriminated against in the assignment of non-commissioned officers, as well as in the awarding of medals and decorations.
Until the 1950s, the situation in the armypractically did not change. Separate passage of service, prohibition of participation in hostilities, discrimination in awarding ranks - all this is an army segregation. That this unconstitutional phenomenon will be consistently eradicated became clear only after the adoption in 1964 of the Civil Rights Act.
Current state of affairs
The problems of segregation are still enough todayrelevant. In a 2006 report by Harvard University professor Gary Orfield, it was noted that in recent decades almost all the achievements of American society were lost, thanks to which segregation was uprooted. What this means in modern conditions is not hard to understand by examining maps showing racial stratification in the US depending on the area of residence.
Compiled on the basis of passport data of residentsseveral dozen states, these maps give a clear picture of the existence of serious household segregation. In particular, the black urban population of Detroit, St. Louis, Birmingham continues to settle separately from the white.
There is also an opposite opinion, according towhich in the United States clearly traced the general trend towards mutual integration of the population. Over the past 10 years, racial segregation has declined in all major US cities.
Считается, что избрание на пост Президента США African American Barack Obama has made it possible to minimize such a shameful phenomenon as segregation. That this phenomenon in American society is almost obsolete, declared in a report of economists Edward Glauser of Harvard University and Jacob Wigdor of Duke University.
In their study, it is noted that in 2010,"Black ghetto" lived only 20% of the black population of America, whereas in 1960 this figure reached 50%. However, the degree of integration in the large cities of the United States is still not the same, and the population in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas is more integrated than in New York. Of the 13 cities with the highest proportion of African Americans, New York demonstrates the least desire to integrate the "color". Despite all the existing loyalty programs, it remains one of the most segregated cities in the United States.
