The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

Richard Rothstein identifies the specific local, state, and federal policies that created and enforced residential segregation across the United States. He argues that modern racial ghettos did not emerge through personal choices or private prejudice, but through intentional government mandates. The narrative details how the Federal Housing Administration used redlining maps to deny mortgages to Black families, how public housing projects were built to intentionally displace integrated neighborhoods, and how police protected white mobs who used violence to enforce boundaries. Rothstein names these systemic actions "de jure" segregation, meaning they were legalized violations of the Constitution.

This book is written for historians, urban planners, and citizens who want to understand the origins of the American wealth gap. Readers learn how homeownership subsidies were explicitly reserved for white citizens, building generational equity that was denied to others by law. By the final chapter, the reader understands the link between mid-century real estate regulations and current disparities in school funding and healthcare. The text provides a factual foundation for those seeking to address civil rights issues through a lens of legal and economic accountability.

Deep, outward-looking and clear-cut; a moderate read.

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