About the Event

Registration is now open for a free lecture presented by ICCF Community Homes featuring Leah Rothstein, celebrated author of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law.

Rothstein’s presentation, hosted by ICCF and the Calvin University Sociology/Social Work Department, will describe practical ways that activists and supporters can address historical inequities. Co-authored with Richard Rothstein, Just Action is a follow-up to R. Rothstein’s bestselling book The Color of Law, which provided “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to the reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). The Color of Law recounted how government at all levels created segregation, while Just Action describes how we can begin to undo it.

Registration Required

Tickets are free but space is limited and advance registration is required.

Lecture Summary

Racial segregation characterizes every metropolitan area in the U.S. and bears responsibility for our most serious social and economic problems. We’ve taken no serious steps to desegregate neighborhoods, however, because we are hobbled by a national myth that residential segregation is de facto—the result of private discrimination or personal choices that do not violate constitutional rights. The Color of Law demonstrates, however, that residential segregation was created by racially explicit and unconstitutional government policy. Just Action describes how we can begin to address this, providing dozens of strategies local groups can pursue to redress segregation in their own communities. By starting with achievable local victories, we can build a national movement that can remedy our unconstitutional racial landscape.