The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
by Richard Rothstein
View on GoodreadsRichard Rothstein's documentary case that American residential segregation is de jure — created and maintained by federal, state, and local government policy — not the de facto result of private preference, as Supreme Court doctrine has held.
Core ideas
- FHA underwriting manuals, VA mortgages, public housing siting, restrictive covenants, and zoning all explicitly enforced segregation through the mid-20th century — the documents survive.
- The legal frame matters because de jure segregation triggers constitutional remedies the de facto framing forecloses — the misclassification has policy stakes today.
- The wealth gap is largely a housing-equity gap, and the housing-equity gap is largely a 20th-century policy product — not historical drift, but acts of government.
Published2017
Pages368
ISBN9781631492853
ReadApr 2023
