Rothstein has presented what I consider to be the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation." ?William Julius Wilson -- de factoThrough extraordinary revelations and extensive research that Ta-Nehisi Coates has lauded as "brilliant" ( -- The Death and Life of Great American CitiesThe Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited future discrimination but did nothing to reverse residential patterns that had become deeply embedded. Yet recent outbursts of violence in cities like Baltimore, Ferguson, and Minneapolis show us precisely how the legacy of these earlier eras contributes to persistent racial unrest. “The American landscape will never look the same to readers of this important book” (Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund), as Rothstein?s invaluable examination shows that only by relearning this history can we finally pave the way for the nation to remedy its unconstitutional past.
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