“Separate, Therefore Equal”: American Spatial Segregation from Jim Crow to Kiryas Joel

Abstract

In rejecting Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal” doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court created a presumption that segregation equals discrimination. However, alongside this assertion, American space has become increasingly separate. A socio-legal analysis identifies three generations of spatial segregation in the United States and calls for recognizing the fourth generation—separate, therefore equal—in which minority communities require voluntary self-segregation to achieve equality. This fourth generation of spatial separation requires the law to embrace a protective role, by which it will defend the ability of minority communities to segregate spatially, the autonomy of individual community members, and the welfare of the society at large.

Keywords

• segregation
• "separate but equal"
• kiryas joel
• ultra-orthodox
• first amendment