The City of Columbia and local partners present the second community conversation on The Color of Law

The City of Columbia and local partners have worked together to host four virtual sessions on the book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. The purpose of these sessions is to explore the concepts presented in the book to understand their role in shaping Columbia and explore ways we can address the effects of past policies to create a more equitable community.

Session 1 was held on December 10, 2020, and focused on gentrification and other urban renewal efforts and how Columbia’s neighborhoods changed because of it.

A recorded version of Session 1 can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/4w473iOAxXo

The second session will take place on January 7, 2021 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, where the discussion will be centered around the effects of redlining on today’s disparities.

Panelists for the second session, to be moderated by Cynthia Hardy, include:

1. Cheryl Scott, DHEC
2. Dr. Ron Epps , Retired Richland 1 Superintendent
3. Dr. Aditi Srivastav Bussells, Director of Research, Children’s Trust of South Carolina
4. Dominik Mjartan,  President/CEO, Optus Bank
5. Anne, Sinclair, Retired Member Columbia City Council

To participate in the virtual forum, visit: https://www.historiccolumbia.org/events/2021/2021-01/color-law-session-two-redlining-and-todays-disparities

Register for Session 2 now so you won’t miss out. Session 1 was filled to maximum capacity!

1. Session 3 will be held on January 21, 2021, featuring a discussion with The Color of Law author Richard Rothstein (This program is made possible thanks to funding from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation and SC Humanities.).
2. Session 4 will be held on February 4, 2021, where the topic is Where Do We Go from Here: Innovative Solutions from Today’s Mayors.

Additional details for these sessions will be provided closer to their dates.

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America recovers a forgotten history of how federal, state, and local policy explicitly segregated metropolitan areas nationwide, creating racially homogenous neighborhoods in patterns that violate the Constitution and require remediation. It’s author, Richard Rothstein, is a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute and a Senior Fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

For more information on how to access The Color of Law, visit www.columbiasc.gov