Essential... Rothstein persuasively debunks many contemporary myths about racial discrimination.... Only when Americans learn a common--and accurate--history of our nation's racial divisions, he contends, will we then be able to consider steps to fulfill our legal and moral obligations. For the rest of us, still trying to work past 40 years of misinformation, there might not be a better place to start than Rothstein's book.--Rachel M. Cohen, Slate
Masterful... The Rothstein book gathers meticulous research showing how governments at all levels long employed racially discriminatory policies to deny blacks the opportunity to live in neighborhoods with jobs, good schools and upward mobility.--Jared Bernstein, Washington Post
Rothstein's comprehensive and engrossing book reveals just how the U.S. arrived at the 'systematic racial segregation we find in metropolitan areas today, ' focusing in particular on the role of government.... This compassionate and scholarly diagnosis of past policies and prescription for our current racial maladies shines a bright light on some shadowy spaces.--Publishers Weekly [starred review]
Virtually indispensable... I can only implore anyone interested in understanding the depth of the problem to read this necessary book.--Don Rose, Chicago Daily Observer