Crisis in Little Rock: Segregation Defined

Segregation (seg'ri-ga'shen) n. The policy or practice of compelling racial, class, or ethnic groups to live apart from each other, go to separate schools, use separate social facilities, etc.

"Segregation…not only harms one physically but injures one spiritually…It scars the soul…It is a system which forever stares the segregated in the face, saying ‘You are less than…’ ‘You are not equal to…”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963

"The humiliating expectations and traditions of segregation creep over you, slowly stealing a teaspoonful of your self-esteem each day." --Melba Patillo, of the "Little Rock Nine," Atlanta, GA, 1962