Read Yes
Length 331
Quick Review Race is a complicated issue in the United States. The Color of Law goes a long way to explaining some of the intricacies. I have heard nothing but good things, and I can’t agree more.
American history is riddled with inequality. Laws have been made and changed and changed and changed. Laws made in the name of “equality” have been instituted, and, yet, inequality thrives even today. Richard Rothstein unravels some of the assbackward, sorry, I mean, laws about equality in The Color of Law.
We have come a long way… ish. There is still so far to go. Discrimination doesn’t necessarily look the way it did 100 years ago or even 50 years ago, but it is still rampant. Rothstein, obviously, in The Color of Law that discrimination is and has been de jure. It may not have begun in the legal system, but the discrimination has been bolstered in the policy decisions of the federal, state, and local governments. These policies have reverberated throughout history and are still felt today.
One example, which spans several chapters in The Color of Law, talks about the housing situation. Housing is a necessity similar to air, nourishment, clothing, and puppy cuddles – wait, that may just be me. Housing discrimination has been in the legal system for… ever. Even when there were fewer or no laws explicitly denying certain people access to housing, there were laws allowing discrimination to continue. I would explain more, but it is a complicated topic to explain in a paragraph.
Basically, laws have kept people of color in particularly unpleasant and unequal circumstances through many routes.
If The Color of Law is your first read on the inequities of the American legal system and society in general towards people of color, you will definitely find many parts to be distressing. I do. Everytime, I delve into these topics, I am disturbed. I believe this is a good thing. Reading books about uncomfortable topics affects the way we see the world. As a white person, it’s very important to be aware of the difficulties people of other skin colors face.
I highly suggest reading The Color of Law. Today, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 is midterm elections. Our votes matter. Our votes matter to the country. Our votes matter to our friends and family. Our votes matter to people of color. When we vote, those votes allow people to make and decide on policies that will affect our lives, the country, and, in a way, the world. When we vote, we vote for people who will make this world a better or worse place. Books like The Color of Law help inform and influence the way we vote.
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Memorable Quotes:
“De facto segregation, we tell ourselves, has various causes.”
“Let bygones be bygones is not a legitimate approach if we wish to call ourselves a constitutional democracy.”
Title: The Color of Law
Author: Richard Rothstein
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9781631494536