Richard Rothstein

Richard Rothstein, Author of "The Color of Law"

Richard Rothstein, Margaret Anadu

Historian Richard Rothstein demonstrates that U.S. residential segregation stems from explicit federal policies, such as FHA loan restrictions and exclusionary zoning, which systematically denied Black families the intergenerational wealth built by white homeowners in the mid-20th century. Although the Supreme Court eventually struck down early racial zoning laws, subsequent government actions like Nixon's cancellation of George Romney's "Open Communities" program effectively maintained these divides, leaving deep economic inequalities that persist today. Rothstein argues that while policy solutions have long existed, the primary obstacle remains a lack of political will, though he points to modern civil rights movements as a potential catalyst for the legislative pressure needed to enforce true integration.