How many segregated places were in the us in the 1940s?

Answer 1

It is easier to count the kinds of businesses and activities affected by segregation than to come up with a numerical figure which may be wildly off the mark. Virtually every public business, activity and mode of transportation was divided by racial segregation in the 1940s. Legal separation of blacks and whites was the law of the land -- almost exclusively in the former Confederate states in the US -- from 1896 - 1954. The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson established the "separate but equal" doctrine in 1896, which segregated schools, hospitals, public transportation, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, motels and housing. There were separate restrooms, entrances and water fountains when it was not practical to build separate facilities.

In addition to the more widely applied "separate but equal" laws were the Jim Crow Laws, which applied to state and local laws, and were enforced as part of a rigid social code. They covered marriages, affected banking, job discrimination, and businesses such as beauty parlors, which required their employees to be licensed by the state. The Jim Crow era extended from 1878 - 1965.

The Supreme Court struck down "separate but equal" in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education, arguing that "separate was inherently unequal" in schools. Black schools received less funding, outdated textbooks and obsolete equipment in comparison to their white counterparts. Brown v. Board, as it is colloquially known, was the first in a cascade of legislation that would lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. There would still be more legislation to come, all of which would eventually assure that the rights of citizenship as defined in the 14th Amendment would apply to all.