Over the past couple of years, a book published in 2017 called The Color of Law has received a lot of attention, showing the impact that segregation has had on our communities and nation. Patty Elkis, a planner at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, describes what this book meant to her:
Every so often, one reads a book that changes the way one perceives the world. That happened to me when I read The Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein. The book outlines, in meticulously detailed research, how our governments – at all levels – intentionally segregated residential neighborhoods, by policy or demolition. We now live in predominantly segregated communities, with many Black neighborhoods suffering from disinvestment and poor schools, and many Black families lacking generational wealth to move up. Most people understand what is wrong with segregation, but may believe that residential segregation is “de-facto” or by choice, in that people like to live among their own race. The Color of Law debunks many prevailing myths about why things are the way they are, and explains how many of our political and social conflicts arise from our lack of familiarity with fellow citizens.
Reading this book was transformative to my knowledge and understanding of segregation and its implications in America, and opened my eyes to possible remedies. As a planner, I have faith that our profession, with our training in listening and learning about what we do not know, coupled with a willingness to create new approaches to promote transformative impact in solving problems, can bring our collective skills and tools of the trade to address some of these big complex problems, and lift everyone up.
