The Color of Law is a detailed exposé of the systematic residential segregation of Black Americans established by government policies in the United States.

The mainstream opinion is that residential racial segregation in the U.S. has been a function of private practices in the housing market, and not in any way a result of the law or government policies.

This widespread belief has been the basis for several landmark court rulings that have continuously made it impossible to rectify the unconstitutional segregation of Black Americans into poor housing.

In The Color of Law, renowned scholar and author Richard Rothstein sets out to demonstrate the flaws of this vision, and how continuing to hold this position can have far-reaching consequences for all Americans, regardless of race.

According to Rothstein, residential segregation is a direct result of the explicit state, federal, and government policies that remained functional until the last quarter of the twentieth century.

Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute where his work focuses on the history of education and housing segregation in the U.S.

He's also a Senior Fellow at the Othering & Belonging Institute, and a Senior Fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.