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

New York Instances Bestseller • Notable E book of the Yr • Editors’ Selection Choice Certainly one of Invoice Gates’ “Wonderful Books” of the Yr Certainly one of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Finest Books of the Yr Longlisted for the Nationwide E book Award for Nonfiction An NPR Finest E book of the Yr Winner of the Hillman Prize for Nonfiction Gold Winner • California E book Award (Nonfiction) Finalist • Los Angeles Instances E book Prize (Historical past) Finalist • Brooklyn Public Library Literary PrizeThis “highly effective and disturbing historical past” exposes how American governments intentionally imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide (New York Instances E book Assessment).  Extensively heralded as a “masterful” (Washington Publish) and “important” (Slate) historical past of the trendy American metropolis, Richard Rothstein’s The Coloration of Legislation presents “essentially the most forceful argument ever revealed on how federal, state, and native governments gave rise to and bolstered neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the parable of de facto segregation arising from non-public prejudice or the unintended penalties of financial forces, Rothstein describes how the American authorities systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated beforehand combined communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for establishments that enforced segregation; and assist for violent resistance to African Individuals in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “just about indispensable” research that has already reworked our understanding of twentieth-century city historical past (Chicago Day by day Observer), The Coloration of Legislation forces us to face the duty to treatment our unconstitutional previous. 13 illustrations