Director: Mark Lopez
Narrated by: Richard Rothstein
Based on the book: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
Release Year: 2019
Runtime: 17 minutes
Platform: segregatedbydesign.com watch the entire film online

Few animated documentaries tackle American history with the precision and gravity of Segregated by Design. Adapted from Richard Rothstein’s groundbreaking book The Color of Law, this film transforms decades of research on housing segregation into an elegant visual narrative that’s as informative as it is haunting.

Through minimalist motion graphics and archival textures, director Mark Lopez crafts a world where architectural plans, legal documents, and city maps move like living evidence. The animation serves not as decoration but as indictment—every pan, line, and transition reflects how laws and zoning codes physically shaped racial inequality in America’s cities.

Narrated by Rothstein himself, the documentary breaks down how government policy—through redlining, restrictive covenants, and federal housing discrimination—designed the racial geography of the United States. The pacing is deliberate, allowing viewers to absorb not just data but the moral weight of each policy. The clean linework and measured motion contrast with the heaviness of the subject, reminding us that segregation was not accidental—it was engineered.

What makes Segregated by Design exceptional is how it uses animation as a tool of empathy and clarity. Rather than dramatizing, it visualizes. Neighborhood grids unfold into color-coded patterns of exclusion; maps blur into human silhouettes; words like “neighborhood” and “equity” dissolve before our eyes. The effect is quietly devastating. It’s education meeting artistry—proof that design, in the wrong hands, can destroy as much as it builds.

💬 What part of Segregated by Design struck you most—the story, the visuals, or the uncomfortable truth behind America’s architecture? Share your thoughts.