What is the term for a 'rigid pattern of legal separation of the races'?

Answer 1

The term is "de jure segregation." As opposed to de facto segregation, which is racial separation imposed by poverty and inequality of opportunity and privilege. "De jure" means, "as a matter of law," while, "de facto" means "as a matter of fact."

In other words, de jure segregation is deliberate segregation enforced by law. De facto segregation is imposed not by law, but by circumstance.

For example, in today's cities, black people still tend to live in the bad neighborhoods, while white people live in nice neighborhoods. That's de facto segregation. There are no laws preventing blacks from moving into the nice neighborhoods. They are kept out of the white neighborhoods by virtue of being too poor to afford living in the white neighborhoods.

Black children who grow up in these bad neighborhoods have a very hard time getting out, because the schools in these neighborhoods are bad. A bad education means you can't have a successful career, which again means you will always be too poor to afford moving to the white neighborhoods.

Thus, to a significant extent, blacks and whites are still segregated, even though the days of segregated drinking fountains and bathrooms ended decades ago. That's de facto segregation.