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

Very informative book. Should be required reading for students of history, African American studies and political science. Too bad most people don’t have this information but most wouldn’t believe it.

As someone who ignorantly believed in “de facto” segregation, “The Color of Law” proves racial seperation was no accident. Throughout the book, Rothstein provides examples of segregationist policies, most notably of which was the FHA’s refusal to insure loans that would be used to build integrated housing projects. In addition, Rothstein documents the widespread nature of residential contracts that prevented suburban homeowners from selling their houses to non-caucasians. As a solution, the author argues to “subsidize homeownership for African Americans in suburbs” and “repeal exclusionary zoning ordinances that prevent the construction of affordable homes in suburbs.” Overall, “The Color of Law” proves the “de jure” nature of modern segregation.

This book was a great read. Although it did anger me as an African American woman, it gave me the knowledge I did not receive in school and sense. This book gives great detail of how our government constructed the segregation problems we have today. As I sat back and read, I could not help but read it and get a little bit verbal because many of the things Mr. Rothstein wrote about you can actually see being done today! Downtown areas of urban cities are being “revitalized”. These areas are being built up for Caucasians and African Americans are forced to move further back. The transit problem he writes about speaks very loud and clear to me because this is exactly what is going on in my city. I live in a suburb of a major city and available jobs are everywhere, however in order to get to these jobs, you need to have some form of transportation via a vehicle or transit authority to get to and maintain these jobs. Not having a regional transit authority to allow people access to these available jobs will keep African Americans in the situations many have found themselves to be in. This book should be required reading in schools, including colleges and universities. Personally, I don’t think what Mr. Rothstein was forgotten, after reading this book, and listening to several of his talks via Youtube, I honestly feel this information was suppressed. Now, it’s up to all of us to peel each layer of this onion call discrimination, segregation and everything encompassed by it and get to the heart of the matter.

This book is well researched and provides sources for the claims. It really does a good job of exposing how “de facto” segregation in the USA was not accidental but orchestrated at local, state, and federal levels well into the 1960s. This book does an excellent job of exposing how wealth was systematically kept from minorities, especially African American communities on a national level and how that was done as Government policy. Every American should know these facts. So many people are completely ignorant about this history (recent history) and how it has setup the current inequity.

As an African American who has attained middle class via the military, I was oblivious to how my fellow African Americans appeared stuck in their current circumstance. This book connected dots I did not know existed. All I could think of while reading this book were the words of ‘Killing Me Softly’ as Mr. Rothstein was ‘strumming my pain with his fingers and singing my life with his words’. He accurately described how my grandparents were forced to live in Overtown in Miami, and how my father, who served in the segregated Navy couldn’t take advantage of VA loans when he returned from the Pacific. Mr. Rothstein described how highway 95 forced the destruction of Overtown, a little later on. There were so many other dots connected that I felt like I was asleep for the 60 years of my life. This book will be required reading for this household. Well done Mr. Rothstein. I am enlightened. – Hiram Johnson

Rothsteins book is a must read for anyone trying to understand wealth inequality, segregation, racist housing policy, and urban policymaking in the U.S. It perfectly lays out how the federal government shaped and sanctioned policy that led to these outcomes with full knowledge and intent of denying opportunity to Black Americans.

This book was enlightening and painful at the same time. As a white middle class woman, I’ve lived a sheltered life. Nothing I’ve read in high school or college even hinted at the widespread and deliberate efforts of our government and its agencies to keep Black people “in their place. ” This book is a wakeup call and should be read by anyone who wants to understand why so many Black people are protesting today.

I heard this book while listening to NPR and I purchased so I can educate myself as to the historical perspective of how American socio-economic differences have been achieved.I am currently working in the credit analysis area and it was an eye opining for me that the US Government was in-fact institutionalizing discrimination by not insuring (such as the FHA) or not guaranteeing (such as the Veteran’s Administration (VA) ) mortgage loans if the builder or the lender was selling to African-Americans (AA). As a result of this, AA were unable to find descent housing, build equity, raise their children in nice neighborhoods, and pass on the houses to their off-springs. Read the AAs auto workers who couldn’t purchase homes near the auto factory they worked in San Fran area and they had to purchase home in an hour-drive area and commute to work everyday for 30 years.I cannot even imagine how AA GIs, who put their lives on the line for their country, felt after they found out that they cannot purchase homes because the US Govt. (through VA) wouldn’t guarantee the mortgage loans and were specifically excluding AA through the use of “Restrictive Covenant.”As an immigrant who has done well in American, I am very thankful to America’s bounty of welcoming immigrants and cannot attribute discrimination to the people of America, but the US Govt. was guilty or culpable of a gross discrimination.I always thought that it was a societal choice that resulted in the current socio-economic conditions of America and I believe individual choices do matter, but they are small part and the government-imposed racial discrimination is the culprit of the gaping socio-economic conditions.

This is such an incredibly important book. Buy it, read it, and talk about it with everyone you know. The author carefully sets forth in painstaking detail every policy and practice of the federal and local governments that led to the historical exclusion of blacks from homeownership and residence in integrated communities. Never has a more compelling case been made that segregation is not an accident of history; it is born of deliberate and conscious policy decisions made over centuries. Neither this book nor this review is meant to guilt anybody, but I am a firm believer that we have to be informed about our nation’s dark (and in some cases, recent) history. We must understand this history if we are to remedy its effects.

This book tells the true story of how federal, state and local governments required or encouraged segregation in housing. It will change the way you view segregation.

Finally, somebody takes the time to confirm what many of us had always suspected, that is was the law that prevented integration. I grew up one of the all black communities the author talked about. Made up of temporary housing left over the WW2. My Father a returning war vet, tried, again and again, to get a VA loan to get a house the only places where the houses were, the white communities where he watched white vets get their loans and move out years before. Finally my parents saved their money and checked out several places (By then fair housing was the law in California but it did nothing about federal law forbidding financing), they found a white owner not only willing to sell but loaned them part of the down payment (this was in the mid 60’s, 20 years after the end of WW2). Not only did that owner catch flack but the other white neighbors were not happy with us moving in, one of whom was an officer…in the German army during the war(so an African-American vet can’t move into a neighborhood that a former enemy can – just because he’s white?).We were “lucky” there was no violence, many neighbors just ostracized us, and a few wanted to buy us out. Other Black families who moved out found themselves all put into the same block. Imagine in the 60’s in an era where there was no internet, faxes, bulletin boards, nor large realtors like Century 21. Realtors were all local, and territorial and yet they all decided to forgo competition and agreed to block place all the black families in one block where they can be “monitored”.Every time I hear someone spread that myth “Oh Black people don’t want to move into white neighborhoods because they love being among their own” I straighten them out, African Americans never had a choice!

This, for me, was an eye opening book on what systemic racism looks like. The more I read, the more uncomfortable and angry I became at how our government bought into racist views and policies. A prime example is the explicit denial of loans to black Americans (including veterans) by both the FHA and VA! As a child in the San Francisco Bay Area I watched Daly City, Westlake, Milpitas, etc. being built after WW2. I did not know until I read this book, that Black people were ineligible, only by virtue of their color, for housing loans! And this was true throughout the United States! I highly recommend this book. recommend

It was informative, and used for education

America, it seems, it finally beginning to recognize the depth, breadth and extent to which organizations from the federal government on down to local neighborhood associations have intentionally segregated neighborhoods – literally the definition of “institutions” and “racism”. This uncomfortable and incontrovertable realization is no doubt hard for white Americans to face. It is past time we do so.As a Portlander, I am intimately familiar with red-lining (whereby banks coordinated to only give loans for Black-owned businesses within a certain area of the city and where city leadership sought to create racially homogenous neighborhoods.) Not surprisingly, Portland isn’t the only city in the nation that did this. It was surprising that these kinds of policies were so ubiquitous and done with the approval of the federal government and were upheld in numerous court decisions.Rothstein shows in painful detail how it wasn’t just local and neighborhood policies, but federal policies and explicit instructions that actively sought to prevent the integration of neighborhoods or that put obstacles in front of African-Americans (and Latinos and Jews) from home-ownership, and by extension preventing these groups from building equity and passing on inter-generational wealth. That these polices were done intentionally is insidious – but I’d wager the extent to which this was done is something the majority of white Americans are hitert0 blissfully unaware of. It is past time this is brought to light, hence the glowing review.That said, the depth of Rothstein’s analysis is dense, as much of his scholarship is focused on case law. I found this difficult to easily digest. On the balance, however, the information is of such importance and relevance that as burdensome as the legal wrangling may be, it warrants five stars. Highly recommended reading.

All these times, I had blamed Southern Whites for the ills of African-Americans until I read this book. It is a revelation that most liberal cities, people and Presidents were also responsible for the segregation along with the conservative Southern Whites. If you are a liberal, libertarian, progressive, socialist or centrists, you have to read this book.I urge the experts of law to think hard if a Class Action Law Suit is possible by the African-Americans to get compensation from the Federal, State and City governments, Banks and Insurance Companies. The compensation could reach 100’s of Billion dollars or more.

One of my goals is to further understand what the government and we, as Caucasian people, historically did to create the income/housing disparity between races in America. This book gives a great history on the government side. So much could have been done better and differently. We need to figure out ways to close the gap. We all deserve better.

Based on the title I bought this book thinking it would be about incarcerations. I have been curious about that issue, but 4 chapters in it’s been about housing, although I can’t rightly say it isn’t about incarceration. Why? Because once you read this book you will be able to connect the dots on Everything about segregation and unfair politics in America.For every person who ever asked me why black people “like” to live in ghettos,(a very upsetting question) I can now explain those areas weren’t “ghettos” when people of color moved in, they were neighborhoods, which BECAME ghettoized due to Federal and local zoning laws. Soft segregation became rigid segregation under the leadership of our government – not some fringe groups.Personally I am not white and I am not black, I am mixed from two races neither of which is white nor black, and from the sidelines I have noticed that many white Americans are disinterested in learning their history. They have a confirmation bias towards internet rumors and stories that match what they already believe. They have a narrative that benefits them, believing people of color don’t want to live near whites. They act like we like to live in neighborhoods that have no trash pick up, no snow plowing, no parks or playgrounds, hospitals or schools.That’s too bad. I wish they would read this book. But this book isn’t just for them, it’s interesting for Everyone. Everyone who lives in this country should make an attempt to understand this country and how we got here because we are perilously close to reinventing Jim Crow, this time with a wider net – one that excludes all people of color including anyone of mixed race

Superbly written, clear as a bell, the multiple truths told here are deeply disturbing and a call to action. Only by acknowledging the central tenet of this book, that segregation was and is caused by government actions and law, can we hope to move forward to a more equitable society.

Wow. This book was just… wow. Incredibly insightful. First off, it’s called ‘The Color of Law,’ but it deals specifically with the geographical segregation of black and white America, not just systemic sociopolitical segregation. I was expecting something more akin to The New Jim Crow where it delves deeply into a wide array of legal systems that keep people oppressed, but this book is very localized to geographical/location based segregation and real estate discrimination. It’s still fascinating, I just wasn’t expecting it.That being said, I truly don’t think this book could accurately cover each topic adequately if it tried to research other subjects, with how expansive the history of segregated real estate is. The author goes into great detail, starting at the very beginning (though focusing a lot on mid-century to early 2000s) on how the government has structured its states and localities in such a way that prevents comingling and integration. He addresses each and every facet of this issue in depth- from natural migration, zoning law, discriminatory practices, deed provisions, and more. He uses a combination of objective law discussion and illustrative examples of these laws in practice with interviews of the people who dealt with them. It’s an in-depth book, and my only complaint is there wasn’t more, because I really feel like he could have gone into even more detail, and shared even more examples. But even so, it was a really insightful book and a quick read. The language is easy to digest, and it doesn’t take long to click in with the legal jargon. Definitely a must read for those curious about institutionalized racism and how it came to be.

BOOK REVIEW: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard RothsteinI was blown away by the book and the phenomenal research that went into it. The bottom line is that our federal, state, and local governments played a major role in legislating and sanctioning American segregation. Churches, universities, law enforcement, and the courts ALL upheld blatant violation of the 13th (1865), 14th (1868), and 15th (1870) Amendments of the United States Constitution. The book is an indictment of the role that each of these agencies of segregation played with a specific focus on housing.Why housing? Housing has played a major role in building wealth in this country. Housing plays a role in the education one receives, the job opportunities one might get, and the wealth one can pass on to progeny. Housing served as a means of integration. Integration that would have been deemed normal by the time the 1920s rolled around in a post 15th Amendment ratification era. But this was not the story of America. From the interference of racial covenants to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) only approving, issuing, and insuring loans for developers and owners for White-only properties, Blacks would never experience the full impact of homeownership and all the benefits attached to the way their White counterparts would and did. Banks, like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and many others also would not approve loans for Blacks or would charge rates much higher than their Whites even when risk was equivalent.Chapters of this book paint a picture and help define terms used today. Every real estate agent, developer, city planning office, city councilperson, county commissioner, mayor, etc. etc. should read this book. I don’t even think people should talk about reparations without reading and understanding the information in this book and many other revealing authors who have uncovered American History most of us have never heard before.In short, we were all duped to some level. White fear was played on the most. Even if Whites did not believe and were against what was happening, eventually they paid through public shame, loss of property, damaged property, death threats, and some lost their lives if they stood by their Black brothers and sisters. Some Whites were even sued and jailed for renting to Blacks and other minorities. Ultimately, however, Blacks paid the highest price through generational poverty, abuse, and death carefully crafted by a system that was supposed to protect them through Constitutional rights.You will learn about the difference between “de facto segregation” and “de jure segregation.”What blew me away the most was the role of the Church. I have commented in many of my book reviews on Christianity or the Church and this shall be no different, especially as I see most churches still do nothing today or they struggle in how to address the issue. Bob Jones University is specifically mentioned in the book. The case of “Bob Jones University vs the United States” in 1983 where the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 1976 IRS decision and concluded that “an institution seeking tax-exempt status must serve a public purpose and not be contrary to establish public policy.” In other words, the university had to give up their practice of “NOT allowing interracial dating by its students.” The bottom line to all industries that receive some form of a government benefit through tax-exemptions, subsidies, grants, etc. is that they CAN NOT discriminate as to whom they will serve nor place discriminatory requirements upon people (taxpayers) that utilize their services. If they do, and the evidence shows they do, they put their government-assisted business at risk.I believe in the American Dream. I believe that people can and should choose and define for themselves the life that they’d like to live within the parameters of our laws. However, I do not believe anyone should get any kind of assistance from my tax dollars (i.e. the government) to discriminate against another person. Our government should reinforce structures and systems that make it difficult for those that receive a government benefit to discriminate. They should be penalized if caught and the data shows it to be a proven fact. And it should take years! This book provides plenty of those proven facts and requires an answer from our elected officials, law enforcement agencies, courts, churches, and education bodies.I highly recommend this read. It will blow your mind at how carefully segregation was crafted, maintained, and exercised. Even today, some of the same “code-switching” language is used to continue some forms of discrimination based on the old system under which it was established. This book will help you recognize some of that language, but not all.To Blacks and minorities I will say this, get in a position to own a home or property. Save up for it! Make the necessary sacrifices. Leverage it instead of unsecured credit. Most lenders are looking for their money or repayment to be guaranteed by some form of equity, which a home can provide if you want to launch a business. You can borrow against your own equity to send your kids to college. Waiting on the government, that has been overwhelming against BIPOC, may and probably is not the best answer until officials are in place that will reverse the serious damage done. That can take decades, so for those that are able, start today. Utilize services that will help you get debt-free, that will help you build a nest egg of YOUR OWN, and will help you get into a property you can afford with a modest down payment. This book may also challenge you to leave your all Black neighborhood the way it challenges Whites to accept integration as a means of increasing property value, moving closer to their egalitarian beliefs, and demonstrating an America that truly only exists in a few locales (i.e. neighborhoods) of excellence but not in the country as a whole.I believe the book will challenge us all…and quite uniquely too!

Read this book for a research project. It was an easy read and very educational.

As this book shows, government mandated racism did not end in 1865, but continued for another century. I had thought that redlining was just something realtors did, but it was actually required by the federal government to get government insured mortgages. The resulting segregation, across the US, made black people easy targets. Required reading for anyone trying to understand what structural racism today.

Last semester I purchased this book to help me write a paper after a fellow law student recommended it. It was more than worth it. I learned so much about (ongoing) discriminatory housing practices in America. Now, six months later, this book is number 5 on the Amazon bestsellers list because of the tragic murder of George Floyd and the protests happening across the United States because of that murder and the wider problems of systemic racism in America. If you are even vaguely considering purchasing it, do so. It will open your eyes to so much, and you’ll never look at any city or town the same way again.

The Color of Law was an amazing, eye opener book. I was not aware of how the US government legalized so many aspects of our lives that resulted in formalizing segregation. It is daunting to consider the long term impacts and sad to see how difficult it is to undo the damage! Even today with the increased visibility of white supremacy and attempts to legalize voter suppression- it’s obvious we have a long way to go. I was overwhelmed by the amount of research that was done to create this book. Thank you for educating me on such a difficult topic.

It can be a difficult read to come to terms with the constitutional violations generations of families endured and to think about how these people have missed out on economic opportunities and communities have declined systematically. A worthwhile read and one that should be done with an open mind and heart to truly understand and empathize with the struggles inflicted upon minorities, particularly black Americans.

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein Liveright Publishing Corporation 2017This is a very detailed, interesting and tragic account of how Federal, state and local governments perpetuated and imposed residential segregation from at least the early 20th century. The key point that the author makes is that most of De Facto segregation is actually De Jure segregation. As the Post-Reconstruction South imposed Jim Crow , the Federal government and states and localities in the North, were enforcing their own segregation policies. The author largely rejects the whole distinction between De Facto and De Jure apartheid.The author almost only discusses residential segregation. This means that the Southern legal policies that created separate Black and white restaurants , water fountains etc. are not addressed. He therefore underemphasizes the difference between the North and the South. In the North, similar policies were often carried out by private actors while in the South these were written in law.The distinction between North and South is often overemphasized so this is a useful corrective. The stress on De Jure action by Federal and Northern governments is important and very well taken ! The excuse often given was the need for community harmony. Yet relatively integrated “slums” were often cleared to make way for segregated housing. The author notes that private bigoted action including physical attacks was often the back up to public policy.The Democratic Party’s reputation is skewered in this account. From Woodrow Wilson to FDR and beyond, Federal policies specifically reinforced legal apartheid. The FHA had specific pro-segregation policies. Much of home lending required FHA support. This meant that it was impossible to get loans for Black people to move into white areas. The only exception was conscious block busting by real estate agents.Local racist zoning policies were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1917. The ground for this was the freedom to contract—not anti-racism! It went along with other decisions outlawing minimum wages, etc. Local governments often found ways around the decision. They also began to shift to economic zoning—single family only, size of lots etc.aThe author also explains the role of the police in enforcing racist laws. They allowed mobs to physically attack Black families moving into white areas. They also enforced racist covenants by evicting Black families that violated the covenants.One effect of all this was concentration of wealth and income among whites. Rothstein explains this in some detail. Whites could build wealth after WWI by buying in the white only suburbs with VA and FHA loans. Blacks could not , so never build equity at the rate that whites did.In order to win U.S. workers from support of Bolshevism, the U.S. government engaged in a major campaign to encourage home ownership. There were 2 million posters put out etc. This was a slow roll-out. At first buyers were only given mortgages that did not build equity and had to be paid off in a few years. A shift toward the current form took place in the 30’s . In all cases, restrictions made it harder for Black families.Overall, this book is an excellent contribution to our understanding of institutional racism in the U.S. The contrast between North and South though real in certain respects has long been over-emphasized. Institutional racism is an AMERICAN problem, not a Southern problem alone. The U.S. ruling class endorsed racism from the end of Reconstruction onward. The forms used in different in different areas but the overall program was similar. The potential of the unity of poor Blacks and whites had to be eliminated . In the South this was done with Jim Crow. In the North ,it was done with segregation.The author’s politics are liberal. This comes across strongly. He stresses that the real problem with segregation is that it violates the U.S. constitution. He advances other moral considerations but constitutionalism is the key one. Of course this is contradictory. The U.S. constitution enshrined an unequal racial order. Even the 13th amendment which ended slavery consolidated slavery through the criminal injustice system. The 14th amendment has been interpreted in different ways. The structure of the constitution with its Senate, Electoral College, judicial and presidential veto, exclusion of immigrants and felons from voting etc. is inherently racist and undemocratic. Further, the constitution was founded on the expulsion, dispossession and genocide of native people. We cannot logically base anti-racism on constitutionalism.Related to this is the author’s acceptance of the capitalist system. While favoring measures to improve opportunities and even transferring some wealth, he strongly accepts the current class divisions. He stresses the needs of middle class Blacks. He favors the right of poor Blacks to become middle class, but accepts the existence of the middle class. Of course he defines class on an income basis. In spite of this, his explanation of and attack on the concentration of wealth is important.Beyond this, the weakest political point in the book is its exclusion of other BIPOC groups. He doesn’t discuss Natives . He believes that the other racial groups will assimilate over time as did European ethnic groups. He downplays the effect on racism on Latinos compared to Blacks. Yet the laws and covenants he discusses exclude ALL who are not “Caucasian”. It is true that due to the role of slavery in the foundation of U.S. wealth , that Blacks have historically been the largest BIPOC group and most spread across the U.S. , Blacks have been central economically and politically. However, his downplay of other groups is misplaced.Finally, the centrality on integration is a bit off. The problem with segregation is that it was a policy for the enforcement of oppression. What needs to be ended is oppression. Some of his proposals for what amount to reparations are very useful. The ones that just promote integration are less. He notes that the reforms are unlikely to be passed. Education is the key to changing political realities he feels.Because of his liberal politics, he doesn’t consider the real solution to institutional racism: a socialist revolution that will center the fight against exploitation and class division. To be successful, this movement will have to bring the fight against oppression to the very center of the struggle.In spite of the limitations of the author’s liberal politics, the documentation of institutional racism in the North and West is VERY important and needs to be widely understood !

Just as I was reading about how the government segregated the Bay Area, I saw images of the torch-lit march in Charleston. I recognized my sickening kinship of whiteness I shared with those marching. It is the kinship of willed cultural ignorance that forms the foundation of white privilege in America. That I was shocked as a 57 year old white American man aware of this nation’s racist past is part of the bond I share with those young men in Charleston.My shock is that of my white privilege hitting up against the racist reality from which I benefit. I can’t hold on to the fact of intentional governmental, societal and cultural segregation against the everyday belief that we are a liberal, tolerant and diverse society. And because I am surrounded by my own kind, we share our collective amnesia which allows us to ponder why is it that African-Americans haven’t worked their way out of poverty.‘The Color of Law’ is a great book because it is focused on disputing the legal amnesia of the Robert’s Court that plays to the safety of continued white privilege by denying the reality of decades of intentional racism which manifests itself as segregation. Rothstein marshals his evidence like a lawyer to show all the ways in which this nation knowingly pursues policies to keep the American dream white and restricted.Incidentally the book makes it clear that American racism is cold and systemic. It is merciless and as relentless as a shark. White people love to claim that they aren’t racist not understanding that when they do that, they are admitting to the racism they refuse to see. American racism isn’t about an individual white person’s warm feelings towards an African American. No doubt many slave-owners had warm feeling about individual African-American slaves. No, American racism is about the system that whites pretend not to know exists that gives them the freedom to like individual African-Americans while spouting ‘law and order’ slogans. It is time for us white people to own our racism and expose our comfortable lies that make the system work. Only then can we start the hard work we have ahead of us.

The answers you need, are in one place. Do you want to know why America still has a ways to go? Start here and make your mind see, for the first time, the real truth hidden in plain sight. Or keep your comfortable ignorance.

This book should be required reading for everyone. It is insightful as to how we as a nation was and are complicit in systematic and astemic racism. I especially enjoy the fact that the author allows the reader to come up with thier own solutions to the ongoing issues. This book is definitely a conversation starter. The information presented is so informative and insightful, it gives the reader so much to think about. If you ever wondered how and why the African American community is in the state that it is in this book will enlighten you.

If there is ever a book you need to read, it is this!! If you think that systemic racism is a myth , sit and really read the book. It illustrates how politics follows the whims of white Americans; that true change and improvement to the American society is a slow- moving machine.I always wondered how a white factory worker and a black factory worker could work at the same facility, but still have wealth and housing disparity. What is redlining? Why couldn’t affluent Black families move into neighborhoods comparable to their financial portfolio? Why is school district a key factor in buying single family homes?This book shows the history of segregated housing and how federal government agencies and the Supreme Court contributed to the practice which was outlawed in the 14th Amendment. I will admit that it took me a long time to read this from cover to cover. It hurt me to the core because I could see how America is regressing back to old ways. Progress is not a bad word!!I have recommended this book to everyone I know who reads for knowledge, enlightenment, and validation. Some have downloaded the Audible version. I highlighted so much it looked like a coloring book when I was done.There’s currently a case where a Black family had their house appraised for a refinance loan. The house was valued at X. When the same house was appraised with “white owners”, the value increased $300k. Learn how this happens in 2022.The solution is not given to this problem, but the first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem. Then we as a society can work together to fix it.

I found the information in this book to be fascinating and deeply enlightening, as well as expertly organized and thorough. Perhaps its thoroughness could be a drawback for some readers, some in by book club certainly felt so, but nearly all agreed that the examples of de jure bias throughout the country over the decades were a true education on how endemic the problem is. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a scholarly breakdown that helps frame personal conversations or to add context to news and narratives.

This is a powerful book! It contains so much information that I will have to reference it in my next book. The Color of Law contains a brilliant perspective on how this nation aggressively tried to pursue segregationist policies and practices. The book details numerous ways throughout American society that the federal government, real estate organizations, and housing policies were implemented to prevent African-Americans from advancing. I also discuss some of these issues in my book: The Real Wakandas of Africa by Maurice Miles Martinez. Many people don’t understand that racism is not a series of individual actions against Black people. Instead, racism as Rothstein points out, was an is a system of institutions. Like an attorney presenting a case, Rothstein explains many of these institutions and how they operated. In numerous instances, the federal government under the FHA refused to back loans that paid for developments where black people might live. These developments often excluded African-Americans and others. When black people did happen to settle in white neighborhoods, they were often driven from these neighborhoods by racial violence. These policies and practices continued throughout the 20th century resulting in economic and social inequality. This inequality still exists today. This book comes highly recommended and is packed with information. It is a must read!

It’s price and delivery from Amazon was great.The book itself is one of the best, and most remarkable, books I’ve read in years. And I read several hours each day. I am very interested in race. I have been trying to find answers as to why the black race has had so much trouble. This book documents, in incredible detail, how America and it’s communities, organized local, state, and federal laws to keep African Americans segregated. This books sites, in original documents, the white mans openess in keeping Africans in “their place”. The bibliography is huge. And yet it’s not just court cases. It’s personal. The author sites individuals and their plight. As I said at the beginning, this may be the best, non-fiction book I have read this century.Get it. Read it. It will give you the tools to combat segregation and racism. But, be prepared to be disappointed in your country.

This book details how US laws were used to marginalize Blacks. Very informative! I highly recommend this book to all who inquire about how the wealth gap between Blacks and other races has broadened.

The author meticulously documents the official and unofficial actions of the US government (from the various branches of the Federal government to local city and county zoning boards) to prove that since the passage of the 13 and 14 amendments various political actors and policies have violated the constitutional rights of African Americans. It is very academic in its approach, but the personal stories within are still captivating. A must read for any person who thinks they know about the modern history of race and policy in America.

This is one of the most important books I have ever read. It should be required reading in all High School American History and Civics classes, and again required in such classes in college for anyone who missed it in High School.It should be made into a documentary for all adult Americans who either can’t read or won’t read such a book, and the documentary should be featured on every channel and online venues, until this extremely important information is common knowledge, as it should be.

This examination of how our government – mostly the federal government, Washington – passed laws and imposed ordonnances to keep Blacks from access to fair housing is sometimes infuriating – the subject, that is; not this study of it – but always well documented. It is truly astounding what the Feds did across the country, even while condemning what states were doing in the Jim Crow South.

I enjoy reading this book in my spare time.

I had to take frequent breaks while reading due to my anger. I literally shook my fists a number of times at the fervor with which government and public agencies zealously stomped on the rights and humanity of Black people in America. If anyone doubts that systemic racism plays a primary role in the second class status of Black people today, this book is a must read. It should be required reading in high schools. Further, every member of government should read it.

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s in New York, I had no idea there was imbedded racism in mortgages. Thanks for educating me.