First published 2017
The Color of Law exposes how the federal government deliberately segregated American neighborhoods, entrenching racial divides that endure today. Weaving together a century of housing policies, Rothstein reveals the extraordinary ways government agencies and judges enforced a "whites only" blueprint for suburbia, from redlining and segregated public housing to unequal mortgage subsidies. This definitive account upends the myth of de facto segregation, showing how a century of racist housing rules created the nation's ghettos and the ongoing racial wealth gap.
Genres: history, american, politics, social-issues, non-fiction, academic
Vibes: eye-opening, informative, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, social-commentary
Setting: United States
Period: 20th century
368 pages · Paperback · Norton
Content warnings: racism