The Forgotten History Of How Our Government Segregated America

Have you ever wondered about the origins of racial segregation and how it affected America's society as we know it today? The history of systemic racial discrimination in the United States runs deep, with the government playing a significant role in perpetuating segregation for many years. This forgotten history sheds light on the struggles faced by marginalized communities and the ongoing fight for equality.

The Seeds of Segregation

The roots of segregation in America can be traced back to the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, African Americans faced immense challenges as they sought to build new lives for themselves and exercise their newly acquired rights.

However, instead of providing equal opportunities, the federal government began implementing policies that further marginalized and segregated African Americans. One such policy was the widespread adoption of "Jim Crow" laws, which enforced racial segregation in schools, public facilities, and housing.

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

by Richard Rothstein(Kindle Edition)

4.8 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	25415 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
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Print length	:	370 pages

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Redlining and Discriminatory Housing Policies

In the early 20th century, the federal government actively promoted discriminatory housing policies through a practice known as redlining. Under this system, neighborhoods were rated based on their perceived financial risk, primarily using racial and ethnic composition as a determining factor.

Areas with predominantly African American or other minority populations were labeled as high-risk and deemed ineligible for financial assistance, effectively shutting them out of the home loan market. Meanwhile, predominantly white neighborhoods were favored and received preferential treatment from lenders, allowing them to accumulate wealth through homeownership.

The Federal Housing Administration's Role

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA),created in 1934, further perpetuated segregation through its lending practices. The agency explicitly refused to insure mortgages in areas deemed "hazardous," a euphemism often used to refer to minority neighborhoods.

This practice made it nearly impossible for African Americans to secure loans to buy homes in desirable areas, preventing them from accumulating generational wealth and limiting their access to quality education and resources. The result was a systemic cycle of poverty and segregation that persists to this day.

Urban Renewal and Displacement

In the mid-20th century, the government embarked on an urban renewal movement aimed at revitalizing declining urban areas. However, this process often led to the forced displacement of predominantly minority communities, exacerbating the segregation problem.

Entire neighborhoods, typically in historically African American or immigrant communities, were bulldozed to make way for highways, public housing projects, and other developments. This practice served to further segregate minority communities and disrupt their social fabric.

Continuing Effects and the Fight for Equality

The impacts of government-sanctioned segregation are still felt today. Many minority communities continue to face disproportionate poverty rates, limited access to quality education, and inadequate healthcare options, all stemming from the historical systemic discrimination.

Efforts to dismantle these long-standing barriers to equality have been ongoing, with civil rights movements and advocacy groups fighting for change. However, it is crucial to acknowledge and learn from the forgotten history of how our government played a significant role in perpetuating segregation to fully understand the challenges ahead.

The forgotten history of how our government segregated America provides vital context to the systemic racial inequalities that persist today. By understanding the roots of segregation and the policies that perpetuated it, we can address the ongoing fight for equality and work towards a more just and inclusive society.

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

by Richard Rothstein(Kindle Edition)

4.8 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	25415 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
X-Ray	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	370 pages

FREE

New York Times Bestseller • Notable Book of the Year • Editors' Choice Selection

One of Bill Gates’ “Amazing Books” of the Year

One of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Best Books of the Year

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction

An NPR Best Book of the Year

Winner of the Hillman Prize for Nonfiction

Gold Winner • California Book Award (Nonfiction)

Finalist • Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History)

Finalist • Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize

This “powerful and disturbing history” exposes how American governments deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide (New York Times Book Review).

Widely heralded as a “masterful” (Washington Post) and “essential” (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law offers “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “virtually indispensable” study that has already transformed our understanding of twentieth-century urban history (Chicago Daily Observer),The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.