The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated AmericaNew York Times Bestseller • Notable Book of the Year • Editors' Choice Selection 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. |
Contents
Own Your Own Home | |
Private Agreements Government Enforcement | |
White Flight | |
IRS Support and Compliant Regulators | |
Suppressed Incomes | |
Looking Forward Looking Back | |
Considering Fixes | |
Epilogue | |
Frequently Asked Questions | |
Authors Note and Acknowledgments | |
Notes | |
Bibliography | |
Other editions - View all
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Richard Rothstein No preview available - 2017 |
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Richard Rothstein No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
action Administration adopted African Americans agency apartments Association attempted banks build California century Chicago City civil rights colored communities constitutional construction continued County covenants created decision Department designed discrimination district economic enforcement established example Fair Fair Housing Act families federal federal government forced groups History homes included income industry Institute integrated jure later less living loans Louis low-income metropolitan middle-class Milpitas mortgages move Negro neighborhoods percent permitted plant population practice Press prevent prohibited projects proposed public housing purchase race racial rates real estate refused rent residential residents responsibility restrictive result Richmond Robert ruling San Francisco segregation similar South suburban suburbs Supreme Court town union units University urban values white neighborhoods workers World York zoning