Why You Should Read The Color of Law

Another part of my Contemporary Lit project

         Most people believe that there is very little segregation in America these days, when in reality, this is farther from the truth. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein explains how segregation came about in America and how it is still prevalent in today’s world. Richard Rothstein first touched on housing segregation during World War II.
         In his book, Rothstein visited and discussed multiple places in the US. Our first stop is Richmond, California. Throughout the book, we also visit Palo Alto, New York City, St. Louis, and others. We also meet a variety of different people from all over the country. Before going to many places, Rothstein would sometimes interview, interact with, and talk to people who lived during the worst of the segregation period. He talked to multiple people, such as Frank Stevenson, Vince and Robert Mereday, a family, etc. The amount of detail that Rothstein included in his book is very impressive. He made sure to leave nothing out, and in this specific subject, I believe that, that is a very important thing.
Learning about segregation in America is extremely important, especially for white people. To prevent people from intentionally or unintentionally segregating themselves, every person needs to learn about racism and segregation and how to prevent them. Reading this book will help you to understand the effects that racism has on not just the black and African American people that it is happening to, but also to the white people who are doing the segregation. Reading this book will also help you to understand that the effects of racism that happened in the 1900s are still seen today. In 1910, the population of black people peaked at 420. In 1970, this number went down to 45 black people. The population of black people is at 280, which was last updated in 2023.
         As you can see, just because racism may be at a lower level than it was in the 1900s, you can see the effects that it has on the world decades later.