Segregation describes separation without implying how it came to be

Evidence

Segregation is the differential location of two or more groups within distinct categories of a social structure. The positioning of group members in different structural locations may arise from voluntary choices, whereby members of one group freely choose to occupy locations that are different from those of other groups; or it may reflect involuntary forces, whereby systematic barriers are erected to restrict the mobility of one class of people and confine them to particular positions within the structure. Segregation may also reflect a combination of voluntary and involuntary forces. As a social fact, however, the term “segregation” implies no particular judgment about how the configuration came about; only that groups are separated from one another within a well-defined social structure. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2409

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines segregation as value-neutral differential location, potentially voluntary or involuntary, neither of which the term itself judges.
• XREF: connects to: Segregation can perpetuate itself silently with no active racist actor — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 343