The Color of Law Terms

A sales scheme common during the 20th century. First, real estate agents would try to convince white people that African Americans were planning to move into their neighborhoods. Then, they would buy those white families’… read analysis of Blockbusting

A labor union whose full name is the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers. This union represented a wide range of factory workers in defense manufacturing industries during and after… read analysis of Boilermakers

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… read analysis of Brown v. Board of Education

A 1917 case in which the Supreme Court determined that the city of Louisville, Kentucky violated the Fourteenth Amendment by implementing block-by-block racial zoning laws. As a result of the Buchanan decision, local governments began… read analysis of Buchanan v. Warley

Latin for “by fact,” describing something that exists but without sanction by law. This contrasts with things that are de jure, meaning created “by law.” The vast majority of Americans, from high school students… read analysis of De Facto

A verb that refers to a borrower’s failure to repay a loan, which can have various consequences depending on the circumstances. In the case of home mortgages, default can often result in foreclosure. But… read analysis of Default

Latin for “by law,” a legal term referring to acts, practices, or conditions that are put in place by the law. This contrasts with things that are “de facto,” or present because of… read analysis of De Jure

A law passed by President Johnson’s administration as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibits both explicit housing discrimination and any government housing programs with “disparate impacts” on different racial groups. Because… read analysis of Fair Housing Act

A government agency, started by President Roosevelt’s administration as part of the New Deal, that regulates housing in the United States and insures housing-related loans made by private banks. Although the FHA’s loan… read analysis of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

A poor, segregated, primarily African American inner suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, which is best-known as the site of the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown, and a hotbed of subsequent racial justice activism. Ferguson… read analysis of Ferguson, MO

One of the 10 amendments comprising the Bill of Rights, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a number of legal rights, including “due process of law,” which the Supreme Court has agreed… read analysis of Fifth Amendment

A large and historically important American car manufacturer. During World War II, the federal government took control of Ford factories and used them for war-related manufacturing purposes. Although Ford did not hire “Mexican or Black… read analysis of Ford Motor

The process by which a lender seizes the property of a borrower who defaults. In the context of this book, this specifically refers to a bank taking away someone’s house when one fails to… read analysis of Foreclosure

Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically promises “due process of law” and “equal protection of the laws” to all Americans, guarantees a handful of other rights, and includes a… read analysis of Fourteenth Amendment

Although “ghetto” is often used pejoratively to denigrate African Americans and other minority populations who live in neglected urban neighborhoods, Rothstein uses the word in its original, technical sense: “a neighborhood where government has not… read analysis of Ghetto

A worldwide economic downturn that began in the United States in 1929, and ended during different parts of the 1930s in different countries. In the United States, the Great Depression led to widespread unemployment and… read analysis of Great Depression

A now-abandoned town in South Carolina, near the Georgia border, that was the site of the Red Shirts massacre during Reconstruction. Robert Mereday and his brother Leroy were from Hamburg. read analysis of Hamburg, SC

The proportion of a home’s value that a homeowner actually owns—or, in other words, the difference between the market value of a home and the amount of debt that an owner owes on their home… read analysis of Home Equity

The United States Internal Revenue Service, the government agency responsible for implementing tax laws and collecting taxes. In Chapter Seven, Rothstein notes how the IRS has supported the tax-exempt status of segregationist organizations including “churches… read analysis of IRS

A segregated, all-black suburb on Long Island, where Vince Mereday was forced to move after he was unable to buy a home in all-white Levittown. Even though Lakeview and Levittown houses both sold for… read analysis of Lakeview

The name of a number of suburban neighborhoods built for white World War II veterans by the famous developer William Levitt. Often considered the father of the postwar housing boom, Levitt was the first to… read analysis of Levittown

An enormous insurance company from New York that invested substantially in real estate during the 20th century, most importantly by building a number of segregated housing complexes in New York City (including Parkchester and Stuyvesant… read analysis of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

A city south of San Francisco, about an hour’s drive from Richmond, where Ford Motor decided to relocate its large factory after World War II. Unlike in Richmond, there was virtually no housing for… read analysis of Milpitas, CA

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a prominent American civil rights and legal advocacy group that has fought against racial discrimination since its foundation in 1909. The NAACP has filed a number… read analysis of NAACP

A principle that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Public Works Administration (PWA) used to segregate public housing built during the Great Depression, through the New Deal. Essentially, the PWA agreed to construct housing for… read analysis of Neighborhood composition rule

An extensive program of legal reform and public expenditure that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration implemented in the United States from 1933 to 1939, as part of a largely successful attempt to alleviate… read analysis of New Deal

A highly-segregated city near Milpitas, in the Bay Area south of San Francisco, and the location of Stanford University. When the Peninsula Housing Association, an integrated co-operative group, tried to buy land to… read analysis of Palo Alto

An integrated housing cooperative comprised of middle-class families, which tried to buy a plot of land in Palo Alto, California after World War II. Because it included black families, the Peninsula Housing Association could… read analysis of Peninsula Housing Association

A government agency, created by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration as part of the New Deal, that was responsible for constructing much of the earliest public housing in the United States from 1933 to… read analysis of Public Works Administration (PWA)

A description of the racial hierarchy that has governed American society since its beginnings in the 17th century. Rather than seeing racism as the product of isolated beliefs or actions, removed from a broader social… read analysis of Racial Caste System

The period from the end of the American Civil War in 1865 until 1877. During Reconstruction, the United States was reunited under a single federal government, which abolished slavery and extended civil rights to African… read analysis of Reconstruction

The practice of denying services (especially home financing) to all residents of certain, typically African American neighborhoods. This started during the New Deal, when a government lender called the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation color-coded… read analysis of Redlining

A white supremacist terrorist militia that led a massacre of African Americans, with backing and support from the local police department, in Hamburg, South Carolina in 1876. This was part of a wave of such… read analysis of Red Shirts

Paragraphs inserted into property deeds, typically for suburban houses, that prevented the property from being sold to or occupied by anyone who was not white. Real estate agents, neighborhood associations, government agents like the Federal… read analysis of Restrictive Covenants

A common 21st-century discriminatory practice, in which banks specifically target African Americans for predatory subprime loans (rather than specifically denying them loans, as in redlining). These subprime loans are designed to bankrupt borrowers rather… read analysis of Reverse Redlining

A city east of San Francisco, in the famously “liberal and inclusive” Bay Area, that Rothstein repeatedly uses as an example of de jure residential segregation. Home to Frank Stevenson, Wilbur Gary, and… read analysis of Richmond, CA

A huge, publicly-funded suburb built by David Bohannon’s company in Richmond, California. Rollingwood was explicitly segregated by government policy: it was reserved for white people, both by FHA and VA loan requirements and… read analysis of Rollingwood

A federal program that gives low-income families vouchers to support their rent payments. Although the program remains very controversial, it is essentially the only large-scale housing support the federal government currently gives to low-income Americans… read analysis of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

An often exploitative system of semi-indentured labor, in which landless workers pay landowners for the right to farm their land. In the United States, a sharecropping system replaced slavery in the Southern United States after… read analysis of Sharecropping

A landmark case in which the Supreme Court determined that the enforcement of racially discriminatory restrictive covenants would violate the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore be unconstitutional. Since restrictive covenants themselves are private agreements between homebuyers… read analysis of Shelley v. Kraemer

An often derogatory word with a wide range of meanings and connotations, which generally refers to a densely-populated, badly-maintained, impoverished, and/or informally-constructed urban neighborhood with poor access to government services and infrastructure. In an American… read analysis of Slum

A loan given to someone who would not ordinarily be considered creditworthy, or who is unlikely to be able to repay. The proliferation of subprime housing loans in the United States—especially to African Americans and… read analysis of Subprime loans

An official designation by the IRS that reduces or completely eliminates an organization’s obligations to pay taxes to the government. This status is intended to help charitable, religious, and other not-for-profit organizations, and in theory… read analysis of Tax-exempt status

A government corporation formed during the Great Depression as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Its purpose was to build infrastructure and create economic opportunities in the hard-hit Tennessee Valley region… read analysis of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Ratified in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishes slavery—“except as a punishment for crime”—and gives Congress the “power to enforce [the abolition of… read analysis of Thirteenth Amendment

A guide published by the Federal Housing Administration, which set rules for real estate agents to assess the value and creditworthiness of different homes and neighborhoods. The Underwriting Manual explicitly promoted segregation, defended restrictive… read analysis of Underwriting Manual

A large and historically powerful labor union, which played an essential role in the rise of the American middle-class in the 20th century by promoting the interests of car factory workers. Employees at the Ford… read analysis of United Auto Workers (UAW)

A nonprofit organization that provides entertainment services and private clubs to American war veterans. The USO was officially segregated for many years and actively promoted residential segregation in the areas where it operated. read analysis of United Service Organizations (USO)

The predecessor to the present-day Department of Veterans Affairs, an agency in the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which is responsible for providing social benefits to veterans of the United… read analysis of Veterans Administration (VA)

The pattern of white families “fleeing” city centers and moving to the suburbs. Although generally imagined as a de facto process, the result of individual white families choosing suburban comforts over deteriorating urban neighborhoods, Rothstein… read analysis of White flight