How Did Segregation Affect Society

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Imagine living in a world with little hope of equality or opportunity. This was once the the situation for many African American’s in the time of reconstruction. Segregation is the forced separation of different racial groups in a society. Even after African American’s freedom was won in the Civil War, many were continuously oppressed in The United States well into the twentieth century. Segregation within The United States’ education, military, and transportation systems caused great limitations throughout African Americans daily lives.
Segregation in education was an experience of fear and hostility which intentionally limited African American’s level of education resulting in continued poverty and lack of upward mobility in society. “Trying to avoid the crowd, Elizabeth attempted to enter by a side entrance to find it blocked. She then made her way through the crowd, but found her path to entry blocked again” (Kirk). Elizabeth
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“The public has largely ignored the fact that the United States Army first took steps toward racial integration early in World War II. The obvious waste of extra facilities caused the Army to operate all of its 24 Officer Candidate Schools as racially integrated institutions” (African Americans and the Military: World War II and Segregation). The general public was ignorant of the segregated military because it did not deeply impact their lives during World War II even though many African Americans served the country and it’s people despite remaining second class at home and while fighting abroad. The reason for the eventual armed services racial integration was not for the greater good of African Americans but instead was the overwhelming financial burden of maintaining segregation that finally swayed the white military