![]() ![]() 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. ![]() 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. While the period of Reconstruction saw considerable gains for African Americans, between 1880 and the mid-20th century, these gains were systematically rolled back by the passing of Jim Crow laws. There is often an unquestioned belief that things become more just and equitable over time. 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). Rothstein highlights the need to fully understand our history. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |