Segregationism is a political and racial ideology which advocates the systemic separation of people into racial or ethnic groups in daily life. Legalized racial segregation existed in the American South from 1877 to 1968, during which time white supremacist Jim Crow laws mandated that whites and blacks be "separate but equal", although white supremacist legislators and paramilitary groups ensured that African-Americans were politically, economically, and socially disenfranchised and were physically separated from white communities. Segregation in the United States was outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, but, during the 21st century, segregationism morphed into an ideology which blamed African-Americans themselves for racial disparities. In South Africa, the segregationist apartheid system was in place from 1948 to 1991, separating blacks ("Bantus") and whites ("Afrikaners") and forcing blacks to live in "townships". This, too, was defeated by a civil rights movement, which, led by Nelson Mandela, ended the racist system in 1991.
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