The Color of Law

1. Government-Sponsored Segregation: A Deliberate Policy

Today’s residential segregation in the North, South, Midwest, and West is not the unintended consequence of individual choices and of otherwise well-meaning law or regulation but of unhidden public policy that explicitly segregated every metropolitan area in the United States.

Intentional segregation. The book challenges the common belief that residential segregation is the result of private prejudice or economic factors. Instead, it argues that it was a deliberate policy of federal, state, and local governments. This policy was so systematic and forceful that its effects endure to the present time.

De jure vs. de facto. The author distinguishes between de jure segregation (segregation by law and public policy) and de facto segregation (segregation resulting from private practices). He contends that what most Americans call de facto segregation is, in fact, de jure segregation, a violation of the Constitution.

Constitutional violations. The author argues that government-sponsored residential segregation violates the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendments. These amendments prohibit unfair treatment of citizens, the treatment of African Americans as second-class citizens, and unequal treatment by states or local governments.

2. Public Housing as a Tool for Segregation

The purposeful use of public housing by federal and local governments to herd African Americans into urban ghettos had as big an influence as any in the creation of our de jure system of segregation.

Segregation in public housing. Public housing, initially intended for working- and lower-middle-class families, was often explicitly segregated. The Roosevelt administration constructed separate projects for African Americans, segregated buildings by race, or excluded African Americans entirely from developments.

New Deal programs. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) also practiced segregation. The TVA housed its African American workers in shoddy barracks some distance away from white workers, and the CCC established segregated work camps, even in the North.

Post-war continuation. After World War II, this policy continued, with local governments, supported by federal funds, building segregated high-rise projects, solidifying racial divisions in cities like Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco. This practice reinforced existing segregation and created new patterns of racial homogeneity.

3. Racial Zoning: Legally Sanctioned Separation

A reasonable segregation is normal, inevitable and desirable.

Early zoning ordinances. In the early 20th century, many cities adopted zoning ordinances that prohibited African Americans from buying homes in white neighborhoods and vice versa. Baltimore was the first to do so in 1910.

Supreme Court intervention. In 1917, the Supreme Court overturned a Louisville, Kentucky, racial zoning ordinance in Buchanan v. Warley, ruling that it interfered with freedom of contract. However, many cities ignored the decision or attempted to circumvent it with slightly different rules.

Economic zoning. After Buchanan, cities began to use economic zoning to achieve racial segregation. This involved reserving middle-class neighborhoods for single-family homes that lower-income families of all races could not afford, with a barely disguised racial overlay.

4. Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Subsidizing White Flight

If a neighborhood is to retain stability it is necessary that properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social and racial classes.

FHA's role. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), created in 1934, insured bank mortgages, making homeownership more accessible to working- and middle-class families. However, the FHA's appraisal standards included a whites-only requirement, promoting racial segregation.

Underwriting Manual. The FHA's Underwriting Manual instructed appraisers to give higher ratings to properties in racially homogenous neighborhoods and to discourage loans in integrated areas. This policy effectively redlined African American neighborhoods, making it difficult for African Americans to obtain mortgages.

Suburban development. The FHA financed entire subdivisions, like Levittown, with the condition that they be all-white. This policy contributed to the suburbanization of America on a racially restricted basis, denying African Americans the opportunity to build wealth through homeownership.

5. Restrictive Covenants: Private Agreements, Public Enforcement

The real property above described, or any portion thereof, shall never be occupied, used or resided on by any person not of the white or Caucasian race, except in the capacity of a servant or domestic employed theron as such by a white Caucasian owner, tenant or occupant.

Deed restrictions. Restrictive covenants were clauses in property deeds that prohibited future resales to African Americans. These covenants were used to create segregated neighborhoods, with the support of the real estate industry and the courts.

Supreme Court ruling. In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kraemer that state court enforcement of restrictive covenants was unconstitutional. However, the FHA and other federal agencies continued to support segregation by other means.

Undermining the ruling. The FHA continued to finance developments with restrictive covenants and to discriminate against African Americans in its mortgage insurance program, even after the Shelley decision. This undermined the Court's ruling and preserved state-sponsored segregation.

6. State-Sanctioned Violence: Maintaining the Color Line

In the selection of tenants . . . [we shall] not insofar as possible enforce the commingling of races, but shall insofar as possible maintain and preserve the same racial composition which exists in the neighborhood where a project is located.

Mob violence. African Americans who attempted to move into white neighborhoods often faced mob violence, including cross burnings, vandalism, and arson. Police often stood by or even participated in the violence, failing to protect African American families.

Legal system complicity. Even when perpetrators were arrested, they often faced minor charges or were acquitted. This lack of accountability sent a message that violence to maintain segregation was tolerated by the authorities.

Examples of violence. The book cites numerous examples of state-sanctioned violence, including the Sojourner Truth Homes riot in Detroit and the attacks on the Gary family in Rollingwood and the Myers family in Levittown. These incidents demonstrate the systemic nature of the problem.

7. Suppressed Incomes: Economic Disadvantage by Design

That our people should live in their own homes is a sentiment deep in the heart of our race.

Exclusion from labor markets. Throughout much of the 20th century, African Americans were denied access to free labor markets and were unable to save from wages. This denial of access was another badge of slavery that Congress was duty bound to eliminate, not to perpetuate.

New Deal policies. New Deal programs like Social Security and minimum wage protection excluded occupations in which African Americans predominated, such as agriculture and domestic service. This further depressed African American wages.

Union discrimination. The federal government protected the bargaining rights of unions that denied African Americans the privileges of membership or that segregated them into lower-paid jobs. This limited African Americans' access to better-paying jobs and economic advancement.

8. The Myth of De Facto Segregation: A Barrier to Progress

The core argument of this book is that African Americans were unconstitutionally denied the means and the right to integration in middle-class neighborhoods, and because this denial was state-sponsored, the nation is obligated to remedy it.

Challenging the narrative. The book challenges the widespread belief that residential segregation is de facto, resulting from private choices and economic factors. It argues that this myth has been adopted by conventional opinion, liberal and conservative alike.

Misrepresentation of history. The author contends that courts have misrepresented racial history by ignoring evidence of government activity that caused residential segregation. This misrepresentation has become the consensus view of American jurisprudence.

Constitutional obligation. The author argues that because residential segregation was state-sponsored, the nation is obligated to remedy it. Desegregation is not just a desirable policy but a constitutional and moral obligation.

9. The Enduring Legacy: Multigenerational Disadvantage

By failing to recognize that we now live with the severe, enduring effects of de jure segregation, we avoid confronting our constitutional obligation to reverse it.

Wealth gap. The book highlights the vast wealth gap between white and black households, which is largely attributable to the denial of homeownership opportunities to African Americans in the mid-20th century. This wealth gap has been passed down through generations, perpetuating inequality.

Limited mobility. African Americans have less upward mobility than whites, in part because they are more likely to be stuck for multiple generations in poor neighborhoods. This exposure to neighborhood poverty has negative consequences for children's education and future opportunities.

Reinforcing policies. Contemporary federal, state, and local programs, such as housing subsidies and tax credits, have often reinforced residential segregation rather than diminished it. This makes remedial action even more difficult.

10. Remedies: Acknowledging the Past, Building an Integrated Future

As citizens in this democracy, we—all of us, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and others—bear a collective responsibility to enforce our Constitution and to rectify past violations whose effects endure.

Need for aggressive policies. The author argues that remedies for de jure segregation will have to be as aggressive as the policies that created it. This requires a shift in mindset, from accepting the myth of de facto segregation to acknowledging the government's role in creating it.

Potential remedies. The book suggests several potential remedies, including:

• Subsidies for African Americans to purchase homes in white suburbs
• Banning exclusionary zoning ordinances
• Requiring inclusionary zoning
• A national "Fair Share Act"
• Reforming the Section 8 voucher program

Shared responsibility. The author emphasizes that all Americans, regardless of race, bear a collective responsibility to enforce the Constitution and to rectify past violations whose effects endure. This requires a commitment to building an integrated society, even if it involves costs and sacrifices.

Last updated: March 28, 2025