The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
Categories: History, Politics & Social Sciences
The Color of Law (2017, Liveright) is Richard Rothstein's history of how federal, state and local governments, not merely private prejudice, created residential segregation in the United States. He documents public housing projects that separated the races, Federal Housing Administration rules that insured mortgages in white suburbs while refusing them in Black neighborhoods, and official support for restrictive covenants. Rothstein argues that this segregation was imposed by law in violation of the Constitution, and that the Fair Housing Act stopped new discrimination without undoing the damage.
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- Bill Gates: “I strongly recommend reading The Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein. I was stunned by the huge role that federal policy has played in creating segregated housing patterns.”