The Color of Law
Ratings88
Average rating4.4
5/5 - As a black woman, I always knew how segregation was designed against us, but hearing all of the supporting data behind it made it even more disturbing. It is disheartening to know that the laws of this land were designed to keep us at 2nd class citizenship status. Even though reading these books anger me, they must be read as I always need to be reminded of how we got here. Another thing that stuck out was St. Louis was brought up A LOT, to the point to where I had to see if the author was from the city; and they were not. I do appreciate the author giving suggestions on how to solve these issues, but that will never happen as all of this is working as designed.
Well researched, often repetitive, complete look at how the U.S. government has taken part in a system of racism and discrimination that continues to impact black communities today. I really enjoyed this one and think it is a must read. I want to read it again and look more deeply at its claims and potential solutions.
For all of us who try to cleanse our collective conscience by minimizing our past actions and relegating them to selected actions of bigots who exist on the fringe of our culture, this book is for you. Rothstein gives ample evidence that the racism of our country is explicit, ubiquitous, and codified at every level of our country.
Part of our problem is that we have never used the right terms to describe our racism. Rothstein differentiates between de facto racism (that which simply describes the facts as they were) and de jure racism (that which is undergirded by law). His evidence is overwhelming and makes this a hard book to read. If right, I think he is, then the right word to describe our racist history is apartheid. But in our “exceptionalism” we restrict that term to other countries. The reality is that it describes the USA.
We continue apartheid when we see that the racism in our country is de jure, but offer no remedy.
If you want specifics as to how we got to where we are, post slavery, read this. Very fact-based and at the same time paints a vivid picture of the effect of housing and school restrictions.
Should be required reading for every US resident. Amazing breadth and depth. Takes no prisoners. Answers every possible question. Leaves no doubt about the complicity of the US government in enforcing segregation and the vast myriad of other ills that spawned from it.
This book may have been very dry and repetitive in the manner of writing but it's also insightful in its subject matter, showing the myriad ways in which the federal, state and local governments used their laws explicitly and also provided cover for private enterprises, to discriminate against Black people when it came to housing, ensuring that they would never have the generational equity which had led to the rise of the white middle class, also leading to the current state of segregated housing across most urban centers in the country. The book covers most regions of the country, across the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, across party lines - and that's what makes this jaw dropping for someone pretty ignorant about this issue like me - how systemic and essentially legal all of this was and how the white supremacist governments used all their power to relegate an entire race of people to be second class citizens.
As the author mentions, it's not easy to reverse the damage caused by generations of this discrimination but it still falls on the current politicians and people to try, and the first step would ideally be to understand and accept this part of history.
I needed to put this book down at times because I was getting angry reading it. As a Canadian I'm sure this sort of thing happened here as well. At the very least, the Epilogue and the FAQ section should be read by most people.
This was a very thought-provoking book. Its topic was how governmental policy at all levels has contributed to the creation of racially segregated neighborhoods. As someone who grew up in the South, in a town that had a “wrong side of the tracks”, it was eye-opening. I've always scoffed just a little at the idea that I could benefit from white privilege - I mean, I was a farmer's daughter, my dad wasn't well to do, we weren't living high on the hog, what did they mean, white privilege? But this book made me realize that I have never been, will never be, told I can't buy a house in a neighborhood because of the color of my skin. No one will protest if I move in next door and gather a mob to try to “persuade” me to live elsewhere. No mortgage company will tell me that I don't qualify for a loan to buy the house I like, and no realtor will direct me to consider multi-family housing in an urban setting because that's all the law will let me live in. Zoning restrictions, mortgage lenders' policies, realtors' policies, governmental regulations as to what mortgages they would insure and what mortgages they wouldn't (VA and FHA in particular), all of this contributed to drive African American individuals and families into the only neighborhoods where they were allowed to settle. For them, “choice” as to where they lived may have been a lot more like “the only option available”. Read it if you don't know why anyone would call you “privileged”, and maybe it will open your eyes like it did mine.
This book is depressing and infuriating, but an important summary of the many ways that government actions at the federal, state, and local level supported or enforced housing segregation throughout the country. This book helped me understand my own neighborhood / city better, and the ways that systematically barring African Americans from the benefits of post-World War II housing and social programs has created injustices that perpetuate to this day.
Information literally every American should know and absorb, but a dense read even for a short book. I'm kind of hoping someone uses this as the basis for a bigger history book.
