EP 737 The Government was the Architect of Housing Segregation in America: Now What?

Richard Rothstein did America a great public service back in 2017.  In his groundbreaking book, “The Color of Law” he laid out chapter and verse the complicity of American government, at all levels, in the discriminatory practices that have led us to a condition of housing segregation in America.  That segregation is apparent in our core cities, often disproportionately minority based, and our suburbs, except in the inner ring, lopsidedly white.  It also shows up in ownership patterns which result in yawning net worth disparities between whites and blacks. This form of discrimination shows up in unequal educational opportunities, worse health outcomes and minorities subjected to environmental indignities.  Before his book no one had quite put the finger on the many practices that got us here.  Many thought it was random and based on individual choice.  Well now Rothstein, and his daughter, Leah, have co-authored a new book entitled “Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law.”  Not willing to stop at exposing the problem, he’s joined with Leah, who has broad experience in the efforts to provide affordable housing, to describe how we can begin to undo the damage.

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