About the Author

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.

Reviews

"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*

"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 - The 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 - The Washington Post*

"There’s a really important book that came out... called The Color of Law. It explains how a lot of the racial segregation taking place in our neighborhoods that we maybe treat today as de facto actually happened as the result of very specific and very racist policy choices, going back at least to the F.D.R. Administration. You would think it would make sense if resources went into creating that racial inequity that resources would go into reversing it."
*Pete Buttigieg*