US cities were segregated by design. This video shows how we’re still affected.

This article was originally published on October 8, 2019. We thought the issues in this piece remain relevant today and wanted to share it again.

Generations of housing segregation in the United States has had lasting effects on social issues such as crime, education, achievement, and the environment. Many of the factors that led to the segregated housing situation in America and its subsequent wealth gaps stemmed from policies, often at the federal level, enacted to keep white Americans away from people of color, particularly African Americans.

The film is narrated by Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America, which expounds upon the intentional methods explicitly aimed at maintaining housing segregation in American cities and metropolitan areas. The schemes and policies outlined in his book proved to be unconstitutional in many instances. They ruined cities and left minority residents to languish in the aftermath. Their impact has been felt over generations.

Racial covenants, redlining, blockbusting, and slum clearance are some of the major schemes and policies that exploited and segregated African-American populations throughout the last century. This video, Segregated by Design, summarizes the progression of these prejudiced policies and their compounding impact on social issues plaguing African-Americans.

Rothstein’s message is simple: acknowledge the problems. If they are unconstitutional, we have and obligation to remedy it. If we do, it can benefit all of us. Please enjoy the video below and share your thoughts.