The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
by Richard Rothstein |
ISBN13: 9781631494536 |
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments
This
“powerful and disturbing history” exposes how American governments
deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide
(New York Times Book Review).
Widely heralded as a “masterful” (Washington Post) and “essential” (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law offers “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “virtually indispensable” study that has already transformed our understanding of twentieth-century urban history (Chicago Daily Observer), The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.
Widely heralded as a “masterful” (Washington Post) and “essential” (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law offers “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “virtually indispensable” study that has already transformed our understanding of twentieth-century urban history (Chicago Daily Observer), The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.
Review
"Rothstein's
comprehensive and engrossing book reveals just how the U.S. arrived at
the 'systematic racial segregation we find in metropolitan areas today, '
focusing in particular on the role of government." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Masterful....The Rothstein book gathers meticulous research showing how governments at all levels long employed racially discriminatory policies to deny blacks the opportunity to live in neighborhoods with jobs, good schools and upward mobility." -Jared Bernstein, Washington Post
"Essential....Rothstein persuasively debunks many contemporary myths about racial discrimination." -Rachel M. Cohen, Slate
"Masterful....The Rothstein book gathers meticulous research showing how governments at all levels long employed racially discriminatory policies to deny blacks the opportunity to live in neighborhoods with jobs, good schools and upward mobility." -Jared Bernstein, Washington Post
"Essential....Rothstein persuasively debunks many contemporary myths about racial discrimination." -Rachel M. Cohen, Slate
About the Author
Richard Rothstein is
a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a Fellow at
the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He
lives in California, where he is a Fellow of the Haas Institute at the
University of California–Berkeley.
What Our Readers Are SayingShare your thoughts on this title!Average customer rating 5 (2 comments)
|
|
|
|
|
Kit-Katya
, July 21, 2022
(view all comments by Kit-Katya)
This book is eye-opening. I knew that legal residential housing
segregation existed, but everything I'd seen took for granted that it
was de facto, resulting from individuals' choices. Rothstein
demonstrates that government at every level not only allowed residential
segregation to happen, but actively encouraged and even required it. I
studied history and law, and so much of what Rothstein wrote was new
and surprising to me. Highly recommend this book.
|
|
|
|
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No | |
|
|
|
|
| report this comment | ||
|
|
Marci San Francisco
, May 18, 2018
(view all comments by Marci San Francisco)
If you thought deeply entrenched housing segregation in the U.S.
resulted primarily from cultural preferences, Rothstein's myth busting
treatise will quickly disabuse you of that idealistic notion. Through
his deep research, the author presents nothing less than a damning
indictment of government at every level playing a decisive role in
mandating separation of the races from the get go. I thought I knew
quite a bit about housing segregation and mortgage lending and insuring,
having worked in that field for many years in many different capacities
from non-profit organizations to quasi-governmental agencies to major
banks, but I certainly did NOT know that the major home ownership
insurance, the Federal Housing Administration or FHA insurance, which
was created to enable the first great homeownership initiative following
the return of service members after the second world war, EXPLICITLY
EXCLUDED BLACKS. And since segregation was still legal for conventional
mortgages and mortgage insurance and real estate business, blacks were
essential cut out of all but the most undesirable locations in every
part of every city and town. The reason the FHA was crucial for the
explosion of home ownership after WWII was that it allowed, for the
first time, home buyers to achieve home ownership with much smaller down
payments than were previously available because the federal government
insured the mortgage loan for a small fee. States and localities
followed the fed's lead. READ THIS BOOK!
|
|
|
|
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No | |
|
|
(18 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)
|
|
| report this comment | ||
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9781631494536
- Binding:
- Trade Paperback
- Publication date:
- 05/01/2018
- Publisher:
- W W NORTON & CO
- Pages:
- 368
- Height:
- 1.00IN
- Width:
- 5.40IN
- Author:
Comments
Post a Comment