Author Talk: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

As part of a program series honoring Black History Month, Glendale Library, Arts & Culture (GLAC) will present a conversation with author Richard Rothstein to discuss his book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. He will appear in conversation with Susan D. Anderson, History Curator and Program Manager at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. The book expands upon and provides a national perspective on Mr. Rothstein’s recent work that has documented the frequently overlooked history of state-sponsored residential segregation. In The Color of Law, he argues with exacting precision and fascinating insight how segregation in America—the kind that continues to dog major cities and has contributed to so much recent social strife—is the byproduct of explicit government policies at all levels. This program is one of many events in the Be the Change Series, an ongoing partnership between GLAC and the Southern California Library Cooperative that will build collective understanding of systemic racism, elevate the voices and stories of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and inspire our community to be the change.

As a former columnist for the New York Times, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, and a Fellow at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Mr. Rothstein has considerable experience documenting how the government both ignored and promoted discriminatory practices in the residential sphere. These exclusionary policies had a devastating impact on generations of Black Americans who were denied the right to choose where they wanted to live and raise their children.

The Color of Law is readily accessible through cloudLibrary as an eBook. Signed copies of The Color of Law are available from our partner, Once Upon a Time Bookstore. Watch a recording of the virtual event, which took place on Thursday, February 4 from 6:30–7:30 pm. Please click here for a wealth of additional Black History Month programming!