The word “segregation” means the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things. In its most negative application to humans, it means labeling people according to a caste system that ranges from the most privileged to the worst treated. The people who have been segregated into the lesser ranks can experience life as property, i.e., slavery, or as barely alive, such as the “untouchable” caste in India’s history. The people who are at the top of the pyramid of privilege in a segregated structure are those to whom authority, resources and choices flow. In its most benign application, it means making sure the bag of sugar doesn’t say “salt”.
