The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is honored to welcome renowned New York Times bestselling author Richard Rothstein and his daughter and co-author, housing policy expert Leah Rothstein, to Harrisburg for a conversation and signing on their new book, JUST ACTION: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law.
Richard and Leah Rothstein will be in conversation with Rep. Smith-Wade-El. Books will be available for purchase at the event. This event is free and open to the public.
The Color of Law brilliantly recounted how government at all levels created segregation. Just Action describes how we can begin to undo it.
In the six years since its initial publication, The Color of Law, “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson), has become a landmark work, which—through its nearly one million copies sold—has helped to define the fractious age in which we live. Aware that twenty-first-century segregation continues to promote entrenched inequality, Richard Rothstein has now teamed with housing policy expert Leah Rothstein to write Just Action, a blueprint for concerned citizens and community leaders. This book describes dozens of activities that readers and supporters can undertake in their own communities to make their commitment real, producing victories that might finally challenge residential segregation and help remedy America’s profoundly unconstitutional past.
About the Speakers:
Richard Rothstein, the author of The Color of Law and father to co-author Leah Rothstein, has written many books and articles on educational policy and racial inequality. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Leah Rothstein’s expertise in the full range of housing policy stems from more than two decades of experience as a consultant to affordable housing developers and local governments and as a community and union organizer. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Born and raised in Lancaster, Ismail Smith-Wade-El graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with degrees in Anthropology & Theatre. Prior to his election to the PA House of Representatives, Rep. Smith-Wade-El served on Lancaster City Council for five years, serving as President of Council for the last two. Passionate about issues of housing access and affordability, Izzy has worked in the nonprofit anti-poverty sector for almost a decade, most recently as a specialist for the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition. In his short time in the House, Rep. Smith-Wade-El has organized with other legislators to turn his community’s shared values into reality, such as passing the Fairness Act out of the PA House, and continues to fight for racial justice, workers’ rights, and a fully-funded education for every student in the Commonwealth. In their personal life, Izzy loves cycling, and considers themselves an amateur student of the Civil Rights Movement, American poetry, and Catholic theology.
