The Effects of Deure Segregation on Black Lives

Rothstein documents the myriad ways in which men like Frank Stevenson and their families were forced into less desirable housing. These included official refusal by the Federal Housing Administration to ensure mortgages for black applicants seeking homes in white areas. They also included a putatively private practice such as blockbusting, real estate agents trying to stir up a white panic about declining house values if black people moved in or near. All of Northern California engage in these practices, which is largely why Stanford and Palo Alto have almost no black people today.