The Color of Law

This was a very thought-provoking book. Its topic was how governmental policy at all levels has contributed to the creation of racially segregated neighborhoods. As someone who grew up in the South, in a town that had a “wrong side of the tracks”, it was eye-opening. I've always scoffed just a little at the idea that I could benefit from white privilege - I mean, I was a farmer's daughter, my dad wasn't well to do, we weren't living high on the hog, what did they mean, white privilege? But this book made me realize that I have never been, will never be, told I can't buy a house in a neighborhood because of the color of my skin. No one will protest if I move in next door and gather a mob to try to “persuade” me to live elsewhere. No mortgage company will tell me that I don't qualify for a loan to buy the house I like, and no realtor will direct me to consider multi-family housing in an urban setting because that's all the law will let me live in. Zoning restrictions, mortgage lenders' policies, realtors' policies, governmental regulations as to what mortgages they would insure and what mortgages they wouldn't (VA and FHA in particular), all of this contributed to drive African American individuals and families into the only neighborhoods where they were allowed to settle. For them, “choice” as to where they lived may have been a lot more like “the only option available”. Read it if you don't know why anyone would call you “privileged”, and maybe it will open your eyes like it did mine.