The Color of Law

The Color of Law

by

Richard Rothstein

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Brown v. Board of Education Term Analysis

A landmark 1954 Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously rejected the explicit segregation of American public schools and the principle that “separate but equal” services could be provided to white and African Americans. This decision—and especially the desegregation and backlash it spawned—played a crucial role in the American civil rights movement. However, in The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein shows how local governments managed to segregate schools through other, less explicitly racist tactics, like forcing African Americans into particular ghetto neighborhoods through zoning laws or continuing to maintain the tax-exempt status of segregated private schools.
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Brown v. Board of Education Term Timeline in The Color of Law

The timeline below shows where the term Brown v. Board of Education appears in The Color of Law. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7: IRS Support and Compliant Regulators
De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation Theme Icon
Racism, Profit, and Political Gain Theme Icon
Separation of Powers, Legal Activism, and Minority Rights Theme Icon
...years it gave the same advantages to “private whites-only academies” in the South, even after Brown v. Board of Education . In an important 1983 case, the Supreme Court examined whether giving “tax-exempt status to... (full context)
Chapter 8: Local Tactics
De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation Theme Icon
Segregation and the Preservation of Racial Caste Theme Icon
...Rothstein explains one last segregation tactic, which was particularly popular in the South before the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954: local governments zoned school systems so that black students had to live... (full context)