Our Government Segregated America
On this episode of #SundayCivics, L. Joy has a conversation with the author Richard Rothstein about his book “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America”. The book is our first pick for the #CivicBookClub and it gives a detailed analysis of the history of housing segregation and breaks down how the policies and laws enacted by local, state and the federal governments helped support the practice.
Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a Fellow at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Haas Institute at the University of California-Berkeley. He is a leading authority on housing policy and the book is essential reading for understanding housing policy in the United States.
2:30 - Mr. Rothstein shares his #FirstCivicAction
4:23 - There is a national myth surrounding housing in America. Mr. Rothstein begins this interview explaining what this myth is, defining de facto and de jure segregation and shining a light on the fact that housing has not always been segregated. The introduction of the New Deal and the Public Works Administration (PWA) changed the face of housing.
13:35 - How was racial animus and economic anxiety used to drive a wedge in communities to promote segregation and how was the government complicit in violation of the Constitution.
17:50 - What you think about “the projects” and public housing may be all wrong.
22:32 - There were a lot of entities with their hands in the housing segregation pie! Meet the players, their covenants and how their actions then affect wealth today. Someone is responsible for the wealth gap, find out who Mr. Rothstein believes that to be.
37:28 - Finally, The definition of gentrification from a historian!
43:34 - What do we do about segregated housing now? Mr. Rothstein gives his call to action, and his concrete suggestions to #TakeCivicAction?
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