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The cover of The Color of Law

The Color of Law

Richard Rothstein, 2017

How twentieth century governments used public housing, mortgage insurance, zoning and tolerated violence to segregate every American metropolitan area, and why that makes the segregation unconstitutional.

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15 parts, about 31 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Argues that segregation in American cities came from openly racial government policy rather than private choices alone
  • Documents specific tools, from public housing and zoning to federal mortgage insurance, tax exemptions and police tolerance of mob attacks
  • Traces how those policies still shape wealth gaps between white and black families today and weighs possible remedies

Who it is for

  • Readers trying to understand why neighborhoods remain segregated
  • Teachers, students and voters interested in housing policy and civil rights
  • Readers who were taught segregation was only private prejudice

What the summary covers

  1. Preface4 min
  2. If San Francisco, Then Everywhere?2 min
  3. Public Housing, Black Ghettos3 min
  4. Racial Zoning2 min
  5. "Own Your Own Home"2 min
  6. Private Agreements, Government Enforcement2 min
  7. White Flight2 min
  8. IRS Support and Compliant Regulators2 min
  9. Local Tactics2 min
  10. State Sanctioned Violence2 min
  11. Suppressed Incomes2 min
  12. Looking Forward, Looking Back2 min
  13. Considering Fixes2 min
  14. Epilogue1 min
  15. Frequently Asked Questions1 min

Recommended by

  • William Julius WilsonSociologist, professor emeritus at Harvard University
    One of those rare books that will be discussed and debated for many decades. Based on careful analyses of multiple historical documents, Rothstein has presented what I consider to be the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation.
  • Jeffrey D. SachsEconomist, professor at Columbia University
    What an amazing accomplishment and what a contribution to restorative justice. Truly a tour de force, and exceptionally moving.
  • Geoffrey R. StoneEdward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago
  • Ira KatznelsonPolitical scientist and historian at Columbia University
    At once analytical and passionate, The Color of Law discloses why segregation has persisted, even deepened, in the post – civil rights era, and thoughtfully proposes how remedies might be pursued. A must-read.
  • Sherrilyn IfillCivil rights lawyer, former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
    Through meticulous research and powerful human stories, Rothstein reveals a history of racism hiding in plain sight and compels us to confront the consequences of the intentional, decades-long governmental policies that created a segregated America.
  • Bill GatesCofounder of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation

About the author

  • Richard RothsteinAmerican academic and author affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute
    • Born in 1939
    • Research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, where his work has documented the history of state sponsored residential segregation
    • Senior fellow at the Haas Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, alongside his Economic Policy Institute work
    • National education columnist for The New York Times from 1999 to 2002
    • Earlier books on education: The Way We Were? (1998), Class and Schools (2004) and Grading Education (2008)
    • Senior fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
    • Won the 2018 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism for The Color of Law
    • In 2023 published Just Action with his daughter Leah Rothstein, a follow up on how to undo the segregation The Color of Law described

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