Episode 2: Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law

Prof. Sachs speaks with historian Richard Rothstein about his groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, in which Rothstein explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions. Rather, he makes clear that it was the laws and policy decisions of local, state, and federal governments that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to affect Black Americans to this day.

The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.

Footnotes:

• Richard Rothstein. (2020, Jan. 20). The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share. The New York Times.

• Richard Rothstein. (2020, Aug. 14). The Black Lives Next Door. The New York Times.

• Richard Rothstein. (2004), Modern Segregation.

• Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

• Levittown, NY

• Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution

• Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution

• Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution

• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007)

• Braden v. United States :: 365 U.S. 431 (1961)

• Princeton’s decision to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its school of public policy and residential college

• The Warren Court (1953 – 1969)

• American Apartheid

• Black Lives Matter

• The First Step Towards Reparations in Evanston, Illinois. The Takeaway.