Black History Month 2026: Segregation Still Exists
Day 6
Segregation is alive and well in America. While it may not be written into law anymore (in most places), it persists unofficially.
Before I explain how segregation still exists, I need to explain the types of segregation. Segregation comes in two flavors: de jure and de facto. De jure segregation is segregation by law [1]. An example of this would be the Jim Crow Laws of the South that mandated segregation. In the meme this is labeled as “explicit segregation.” De facto segregation is segregation by default [1]. It happens when groups are segregated by circumstances other than legal mandates. An example of this would be Black people being relegated to certain neighborhoods due to economic hardships [2]. (To keep it a buck, I would argue this is also de jure, but then this post would be five pages long.) In the meme this is labeled as “implicit segregation.” Both are still forms of racism.
One example of unofficial segregation is “Black proms” and “wh1te proms.” As the names suggest, there would be two prom events: one for Black students and one for wh1te students. These events started because Brown vs. Board of Education prevented official segregated events so racist school districts responded by cancelling prom altogether and leaving it to the parents to organize the events. This allowed segregation to continue. Based on my search, these events are still happening [3]. That said, some communities are fighting back against this form of segregation. In 2014, students in Georgia planned an integrated prom and the school hosted it [4]. It was the first prom the school hosted in decades!
Another example of unofficial segregation that exists today is sundown towns. Sundown towns are cities where Black people aren’t allowed to stay overnight. While officially they were banned in the late 1960s, people have maintained them through hostility towards Black people who are unfortunately to venture through them. The good news is some of these towns, like Vidor, TX, are trying to confront their racist past [5]. The bad news is many still haven’t.
Sources:
[1] https://subjectguides.library.american.edu/c.php?g=1025915&p=7749743
[2] https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/u-s-neighborhoods-are-more-segregated-generation-ago-perpetuating-racial-ncna1276372
[3] https://observer.com/2019/05/prom-integration-dance-segregation-still-happens/
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2014/04/04/living/integrated-prom-wilcox-county-georgia
[5] https://www.fox26houston.com/news/sundown-towns-vidor-texas-works-restore-reputation-from-being-racist