It means simply 'apartness'. Basically it was a system where blacks and whites were kept separate. Separate residential areas, separate schools, jobs, churches, parks, shopping areas, etc.
The problem was that blacks didn't have nearly the life opportunities that whites had. Their schools were underfunded and falling down, so a black kid growing up in a black neighborhood didn't have nearly the chance of going to college and bettering himself.
One of the basic fundamental values on which America was founded is the idea that every citizen has the same rights and privileges, the same governmental protections and legal status. This is why we don't have knighthoods or royalty or titles. Segregation violated that principle, making blacks 'second class citizens' for all intents and purposes.
Apartheid is now being practiced in Israel where Palestinians don't have the same rights as Jews. It's not called 'apartheid', but that's what it is.
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