April 1, 2025

The video above is narrated by Richard Rothstein, the longtime researcher and writer on education subjects. From 1999 to 2002, he was the national education columnist for the New York Times.

The video explores the issues Rothstein pursued in his 2017 book, “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of how our Government Segregated America.” The video was a Best of the Month staff pick on Vimeo.

In Rothstein’s telling, every building block of today’s segregated cities was shaped by deliberate, intentional federal and state policies. The video’s subsection titles hint at the tale:

Forgotten history; The policies; Racial zoning; The slums; Slum clearance; State-sponsored violence; Wealth gap; Effects of segregation; Constitutional remedy; Promote an integrated society: Accept responsibility.