Segregation simply means keeping things apart. But a word so burdened with history means nothing simply.
Segregation (along with its South African cousin apartheid) has a long track record as a prescription (not just a de-scription) for racial life in America: black and white were to be kept apart by force of the law.
But a thought has crossed my mind in recent days: segregation is a euphemism. That is, it's a delicate way of saying something far worse.
Segregation is a euphemism for isolation. Keeping people apart was not really the goal; after all, even in Bull Connor's country black and white were in constant contact. Somebody needed to cook and do laundry and change diapers, after all.
No, it was never about keeping people separate. It was always about keeping people in their place.
And while segregationists were able to distort scripture to justify their purposes (i.e. don't marry Canaanites), isolation can't be justified with scripture.
Isolation gets uglier the more you look at it. It's dehumanizing, degrading and destructive.
That's why segregation is shameful. That's why isolationists needed to hide behind the euphemism of segregation.
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[photo credit: sxc.hu user pixelstar
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