TheColorofLaw

In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein - a leading expert in housing policy - debunks the myth that America’s cities became racially divided solely through de facto segregation. He argues that the real cause was de jure segregation - laws and policy decisions made by governments at the local, state, and federal levels that actively promoted discriminatory practices.

Through his extensive research, Rothstein uncovers an untold story that began in the 1920s when millions of African Americans migrated from the south to the north. He shows how de jure segregation started with explicit racial zoning, and how this process led to the deeply embedded residential patterns that persist to this day.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited future discrimination, but it failed to reverse the damage caused by previous discriminatory policies. Recent violent outbursts in cities like Baltimore, Ferguson, and Minneapolis demonstrate how the legacy of these earlier eras contributes to ongoing racial tensions.

As Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, notes, “The American landscape will never look the same to readers of this important book.” Rothstein’s invaluable examination of this history serves to remind us that only by revisiting the past can we pave the way for our nation to remedy its unconstitutional past.

作者简介

RichardRothsteinisaresearchassociateoftheEconomicPolicyInstituteandaFellowattheThurgoodMarshallInstituteoftheNAACPLegalDefenseFund.HelivesinCalifornia,whereheisaFellowoftheHaasInstituteattheUniversityofCalifornia–Berkeley.