knowing is only half the battle

When I first read this book, I have to admit, I went through a range of emotions. While I have always known that segregation was by design, I never truly appreciated how our government, the legal system, and the Supreme Court have been instrumental in maintaining whiteness as the 'standard' of life.

I gave this book to my mother to read. She got to page 14 and stopped. She said that "it was too hard to finish" and that she was embarrassed that these things happened. She knew that there were "things" happening back then, but she did not realize the extent. "But it's better these days" she said. No mom, no it's not.  Aside from the privilege she has in being able to ignore the historical foundation of the legalization of segregation, I am saddened that she, like so many others, continue to see this as a non-issue simply because they are not directly affected by it.

red lines built white wealth

The housing policies that bankrolled white capital accumulation while halting Black social mobility, the effects of which are still seen in the disparate Black-white wealth-gap today. The damage that has been inflicted on generations of Black families through these policies, in conjunction with the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, The Federal Housing Administration, the Vetrans Administration, blockzoning, redliining, racially restrictive deeds and covenants, zoning, and violence against those Black families that dared to live in white spaces is a stain that America has ignored from its inception.

Housing segregation still exists today. The racial wealth gap is widening and gentrification is just another word for legal segregation. With ultra-conservative judges and policy makers, we are seeing a loss of the protections we have tried to put in to place to combat these policies. We are going backwards at a time we should be moving forward.

As this is an election year, and elections have consequences, this is a book that ERRYBODY needs to read before heading to the ballot box.

You don't have to take my word for it though. You can listen to Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policies and the author of "The Color of Law," discuss how the government systematically used its power to segregate America and how we continue these practices today.