Richard Rothstein, the author of The Color of Law and father to co-author Leah Rothstein, has written many books and articles on educational policy and racial inequality. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
"A powerful and disturbing history of residential segregation in
America . . . One of the great strengths of Rothstein’s account is
the sheer weight of evidence he marshals. . . . While the road
forward is far from clear, there is no better history of this
troubled journey than ‘The Color of Law.’"
*David Oshinsky - New York Times Book Review*
"Masterful…The Rothstein book gathers meticulous research showing
how governments at all levels long employed racially discriminatory
policies to deny blacks the opportunity to live in neighborhoods
with jobs, good schools and upward mobility."
*Jared Bernstein - Washington Post*
"Essential…Rothstein persuasively debunks many contemporary myths
about racial discrimination….Only when Americans learn a common—and
accurate—history of our nation’s racial divisions, he contends,
will we then be able to consider steps to fulfill our legal and
moral obligations. For the rest of us, still trying to work past 40
years of misinformation, there might not be a better place to start
than Rothstein’s book."
*Rachel M. Cohen - Slate*
"Rothstein’s work should make everyone, all across the political
spectrum, reconsider what it is we allow those in power to do in
the name of 'social harmony' and 'progress' with more
skepticism…The Color of Law shows what happens when Americans lose
their natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, or in the case of African-Americans, when there are
those still waiting to receive them in full."
*Carl Paulus - American Conservative*
"Virtually indispensable… I can only implore anyone interested in
understanding the depth of the problem to read this necessary
book."
*Don Rose - Chicago Daily Observer*
"Rothstein’s comprehensive and engrossing book reveals just how the
U.S. arrived at the ‘systematic racial segregation we find in
metropolitan areas today,’ focusing in particular on the role of
government. . . . This compassionate and scholarly diagnosis of
past policies and prescription for our current racial maladies
shines a bright light on some shadowy spaces."
*Publishers Weekly [starred review]*
"The Color of Law should be required reading for every American
student… What an amazing accomplishment and what a contribution to
restorative justice. Truly a tour de force, and exceptionally
moving."
*Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor of Columbia University and
author of The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and
Institutions*
"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."
*Sherrilyn A. Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund*
"Original and insightful…The central premise of [Rothstein’s]
argument…is that the Supreme Court has failed for decades to
understand the extent to which residential racial segregation in
our nation is not the result of private decisions by private
individuals, but is the direct product of unconstitutional
government action. The implications of his analysis are
revolutionary."
*Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Sex and the Constitution*
"Masterful…Rothstein documents the deep historical roots and the
continuing practices in law and social custom that maintain a
profoundly un-American system holding down the nation’s most
disadvantaged citizens."
*Thomas B. Edsall, author of The Age of Austerity*
"This wonderful, important book could not be more timely…With its
clarity and breadth, the book is literally a page-turner."
*Florence Roisman, William F. Harvey Professor of Law, Indiana
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."
*Wiliam Julius Wilson, author of The Truly Disadvantaged*
"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."
*Ira Katznelson, author of the Bancroft Prize–winning Fear Itself*
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