Reviewed by Pam Hinrichs

A desire for a place to call our own, a home, seems to be a fundamental part of who we are. The systematic, purposeful and comprehensive denial of that opportunity to African Americans, based solely on race, is a travesty and not a well-known or understood part of our recent history. In this book, Rothstein investigates and explains how in the 20th Century, the U.S. government at all levels, Federal, State and local, deliberately instituted racist policies that denied financing and therefore home ownership to African Americans and segregated our cities nationwide.

This book helps us understand the root causes of many of the injustices that we continue to see today, including housing segregation, school inequities and the wealth gap between white Americans and African Americans. While many of the government policies are now off the books, they have never been remedied and the effects endure. This book is dense with information but don't let that dissuade you from reading it.

Key Takeaways:

For me, one of the key takeaways from the book is that systems matter - systemic racism has been and is still real. The effects of racist systems don't magically go away when they are technically made illegal. The effects more than just linger, they continue to do real harm to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Racist systems affect individuals and families, real people. Another takeaway for me was how recent this all was. The systemic racism Rothstein talks about was not way back in the "old days". It was during my grandparents' lives, my parents' lives, and my life. It was going on during the 1950s and almost into the 1970s, with the adverse consequences continuing into the present and my children's lives.

If you don't have time to read the book, check out one of the resources below