Contemporary Segregation in the South

While America on the international scale prides itself as being the melting pot of modern civilization, there are still prevailing attitudes of racial discrimination among the population. Though modern laws and safeguards are in place to stop blatant racial discrimination America, the southern regions in particular, still maintain a standard of unspoken racial segregation. The general mindset of the southern population is that while "politicians can legislate what I do, they can't tell me what to think." This frame of mind is what allows the actualities of racial discrimination and segregation to continue.

America as a whole has made tremendous strides towards racial equality. Legislation introduced to prevent outright racial segregation in public have been instituted and enforced for decades now. Albeit slowly and with much difficulty at first. But unfortunately, laws cannot change the tradition of how people think. Open segregation, once common place in the south, has been replaced with the unspoken but widely understood idea that people "know" what they can do and where they can go and where they can't. The introduction of legal measures to protect individual freedoms of minorities has replaced open segregation with "traditional" segregation. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent in the lower economic classes.

Examples of contemporary segregation issues are prominent throughout the Southern States, especially in rural areas where families have lived for generations and little has changed to stop the mental attitudes of the general population being impressed upon the next generation. People moving from larger cities or different regions to these areas are bombarded with culture shock when faced with these social taboos. While minorities cannot legally be removed from public areas, they are often forced into uncomfortable situations and faced with sometimes open animosity should they "trespass" into a public area traditionally used by the non minority population. With the recent influx of Hispanic peoples into the southern regions, it is not only the African American population that feels the brunt of "learning" their social place.

Contemporary segregation is not one sided. Racial and ethnical communities within the south tend to have an unspoken understanding of "sticking together". Lower economical classes often will not only divide themselves into economic groups but also into racial and ethnical groups. Legal issues may prevent social segregation, but as long as the general population accepts it as fact, public officials as well as private corporations are free to continue to implement their own form of social segregation.

Social segregation can be seen in every walk of life in the southern United States. In every city and town there are places that the locals know are "whites" only. Even if the law prevents discrimination, most minority populations won't deal with the animosity and hassle of attempting to cross these social boundaries. For instance, non franchise or locally owned bars and restaurants are often known as "white" bars or "black" restaurants. This is not to say that the proprietors are legally free to discriminate among their customers, but they can certainly make them feel unwelcome. Patrons of these establishments will let the intruder know when they are not welcome. When minorities move into predominately "white" neighborhoods, especially older ones that are traditionally white, they are made to feel unwelcome and unwanted. Consequently, long standing neighborhoods tend to remain mostly white or black despite federal laws against unfair housing and lending practices designed to prevent this. management of lower income housing will often segregate areas of the housing units, despite the fact that federal law prohibits this, one such manager citing that its "just easier" to avoid problems by not mixing races and will designate "white" apartments or "black" apartments within the complex.

Segregation in employment, though illegal is certainly not nonexistent, especially among small business establishments. The general population seems to "know" which businesses to apply to for work and which will not hire them based solely on the proprietor and patrons reputed racial attitudes. This will deter minorities from even applying for positions in predominately white establishments and visa versa. Racial discrimination and segregation is still acceptable in the South among larger corporations as well. Many factories continue to maintain what they call "quota" standards, hiring only the minimum minority groups to prevent backlash from federal institutions designed to monitor employment practices. Restaurants in particular are notoriously known in the south as having low instances of hiring or promoting minorities within the company ranks.

Though desegregation has been in effect for several decades in the south, the majority of the population still retains the segregated attitude. Many whites will not shop, eat at or frequent establishments "known" to be patroned by mostly minority populations. Many minorities are made to feel uncomfortable or denied reasonable service at establishments that are prominently frequented by whites.

While public schools maintain the public image of desegregation within the schools, even bussing students across large areas to integrate students that live in areas which have a larger than "acceptable" population of one race, desegregation is still seen within the schools themselves. Public school officials would of course deny this happens but it is obvious upon closer inspection. Schools still maintain the stigma of being a "black" or "white" school. Teachers are still subject to association with their peers based on their race, students are still placed in classes that are considered "black" or "white" classes. Advanced classes are still offered mainly to white middle or upper class students were minority students and those from a lower economical sector often have to push for acceptance into advanced classes. Students will segregate themselves among their peers based on their personal identify of race, associating mainly with their "own kind", seldom making the effort to cross into other racial clichés. Publicly funded colleges have a reputation for being predominately "white" or "black" colleges, to the point that although no application is outright rejected based on race, students are certainly deterred from applying based on the perceived racial attitude of the campus.

Yes segregation is illegal, but in the southern United States, it continues to be a social ill. Contemporary social segregation is alive and well in the south despite federal mandates to the contrary. Social reform as made some strides, but until the population gains a clear understanding of this issue, it will continue to be a pattern bound to be followed by generations to come.