Sentence:  Such a conception of history works to legitimate the Acadians' <WSD>segregationalism</WSD> along similar lines to those expressed by Robin Cohen: "[t]he more ancient and venerable the [diasporic] myth, the more useful it is as a form of social distancing from other ethnic groups...even in the teeth of dispossession and discrimination". 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Segregationism; the support or practice of segregating racial, ethnic, or religious groups.