“The Color of Law is one of those rare books that will be discussed and debated for many decades.”
A Better Cambridge is thrilled to host this Boston-metro community conversation with Richard Rothstein, author of the highly acclaimed book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.
On: Tuesday, May 22nd at 6:30 pm
At: CRLS - Fitzgerald Theater, 459 Broadway, Cambridge
To attend, click to register.
Rothstein's explosive presentation describes the forgotten story of how our federal, state, and local governments explicitly encouraged racial segregation across the country. It will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by The Boston Globe’s Ideas Editor, Dante Ramos and featuring local luminaries:
- Chrystal Kornegay, Executive Director of MassHousing;
- Dr. Atyia Martin, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Northeastern and former Chief Resilience Officer of Boston;
- David Harris, Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School and founding former Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston
ABC founder and chairman, Jesse Kanson-Benanav, is thrilled to welcome Mr. Rothstein, saying that “in a progressive community like Cambridge and a deep blue state like Massachusetts, we often lose sight of how our own housing and land use policies have contributed to the government-sanctioned segregation that Mr. Rothstein writes about.” And while Cambridge makes a small but ominous appearance in the book, specifically with regard to the intentional racial segregation when the Washington Elms & Newtowne Court public housing developments were first built, “the community discussion following Mr. Rothstein’s presentation will provide more local context, explore how we continue to perpetuate segregation in Cambridge and Greater Boston, and examine what we can do about it.”
Doors open at 5:30 pm to allow an opportunity for attendees to purchase the book, now out in paperback, courtesy of The Harvard Bookstore and to have Richard sign them. Seating begins at 6:00 pm and the program begins at 6:30. Early arrival is highly recommended.