Topic: Slums

2 chapters across the catalog

51: Civil Wrongs
• 19:53 - 24:31

51: Civil Wrongs

Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law and FHA Segregation

Mo Facts plays clips of Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law, explaining how the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Public Works Administration intentionally created segregation. Rothstein describes how the government demolished integrated neighborhoods to build race-specific public housing. This policy concentrated Black families in urban centers while subsidizing white flight to the suburbs, creating the modern metropolitan landscape.

51: Civil Wrongs
• 34:26 - 37:55

51: Civil Wrongs

De Facto vs De Jure Segregation, Legal Creation of Slums

The segment concludes the Richard Rothstein clips, emphasizing that segregation was a legal creation (de jure) rather than an accidental occurrence (de facto). Rothstein argues that the deterioration of Black neighborhoods was a result of denied services and overcrowding caused by government policy. This created a false image of Black Americans as "slum dwellers" in the eyes of the white public.