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A review by kevin_shepherd
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
5.0
Residential segregation, the focus of this book, exists primarily in two forms: de jure segregation and de facto segregation. By definition, de jure denotes segregation that is legally recognized regardless of whether or not it is practiced or enforced. De facto, on the other hand, describes segregation that exists in reality even if it is not legally sanctioned or condoned.
There is a widespread misperception in America that today’s black/white residential segregation is mostly caused by the private choices of individual renters and homeowners; The Color of Law blows that myth right out of the water. Rothstein convincingly makes a case that de jure segregation exists in this country because federal and state sponsored programs made it possible.
As America transitioned from a slave supported economy to reconstruction to Jim Crow to mass incarceration, government and community entities were instrumental in repressing African American liberties and resisting changes to the racist status quo. Many police departments and churches were verifiably complicit in the segregation and subordination of Black Americans especially (but not exclusively) in the Jim Crow south. Rothstein terms this complicity “social engineering.”
At the start of Jim Crow, little or no effort was made to mask white supremest doctrines and laws. Real estate contracts were written with verbiage that prohibited the “infiltration,” “invasion,” and “infestation of negroes.”
When public sentiment started to shift in the Civil Rights Era, the language of segregation became more covert and discreet. Dog whistle terms like “slums” and “blight” were commonly used to refer to predominantly black neighborhoods. Even the seemingly benign term urban renewal frequently meant negro removal.
In areas where integration plans were implemented, segregationists often employed scare tactics in the form of mob violence and the destruction of property. Real estate agents who sold houses to black clients in white neighborhoods were fired. In at least one instance a landlord who rented an apartment to an African American family in a “white complex” was charged with inciting a riot. Eventually, even the Federal Housing Administration refused to insure interracial communities citing that they were considered a “bad risk.”
The problem was nationwide. Litigation was introduced against integration programs claiming that mixed communities lowered property values. Oklahoma, California, Montana, and New York all had law suits alleging that Black home owners in predominantly white neighborhoods decreased real estate selling prices by as much as 75%.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
From Rothstein’s perspective, the 2016 presidential election showed that Americans are almost equally divided between those who think we have done too much to fix our racial divide and those who think we have not done nearly enough. Today, studies show the majority of whites and the majority of Blacks want to reside in integrated communities—but there is still a rather large elephant in the room. African Americans, when polled, define integrated communities as 30% to 50% Black. That number drops to 10% when caucasian Americans are polled. To this day, white flight commonly accompanies Black populations in double-digit percentiles. Obviously we Americans still have work to do.
There are, of course, many other factors at play here: wage suppression, inner city gentrification, police corruption, systemic poverty... Rothstein touches on all this and more. For me, this was definitely an eye-opening read—easily 5 stars.
There is a widespread misperception in America that today’s black/white residential segregation is mostly caused by the private choices of individual renters and homeowners; The Color of Law blows that myth right out of the water. Rothstein convincingly makes a case that de jure segregation exists in this country because federal and state sponsored programs made it possible.
As America transitioned from a slave supported economy to reconstruction to Jim Crow to mass incarceration, government and community entities were instrumental in repressing African American liberties and resisting changes to the racist status quo. Many police departments and churches were verifiably complicit in the segregation and subordination of Black Americans especially (but not exclusively) in the Jim Crow south. Rothstein terms this complicity “social engineering.”
At the start of Jim Crow, little or no effort was made to mask white supremest doctrines and laws. Real estate contracts were written with verbiage that prohibited the “infiltration,” “invasion,” and “infestation of negroes.”
When public sentiment started to shift in the Civil Rights Era, the language of segregation became more covert and discreet. Dog whistle terms like “slums” and “blight” were commonly used to refer to predominantly black neighborhoods. Even the seemingly benign term urban renewal frequently meant negro removal.
In areas where integration plans were implemented, segregationists often employed scare tactics in the form of mob violence and the destruction of property. Real estate agents who sold houses to black clients in white neighborhoods were fired. In at least one instance a landlord who rented an apartment to an African American family in a “white complex” was charged with inciting a riot. Eventually, even the Federal Housing Administration refused to insure interracial communities citing that they were considered a “bad risk.”
The problem was nationwide. Litigation was introduced against integration programs claiming that mixed communities lowered property values. Oklahoma, California, Montana, and New York all had law suits alleging that Black home owners in predominantly white neighborhoods decreased real estate selling prices by as much as 75%.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
From Rothstein’s perspective, the 2016 presidential election showed that Americans are almost equally divided between those who think we have done too much to fix our racial divide and those who think we have not done nearly enough. Today, studies show the majority of whites and the majority of Blacks want to reside in integrated communities—but there is still a rather large elephant in the room. African Americans, when polled, define integrated communities as 30% to 50% Black. That number drops to 10% when caucasian Americans are polled. To this day, white flight commonly accompanies Black populations in double-digit percentiles. Obviously we Americans still have work to do.
There are, of course, many other factors at play here: wage suppression, inner city gentrification, police corruption, systemic poverty... Rothstein touches on all this and more. For me, this was definitely an eye-opening read—easily 5 stars.