The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism

by Jemar Tisby

Unfortunately, Levittowns repeated the patterns of residential racial segregation that existed in other communities. In a nod to social pressures, federal policies, and the pursuit of profit, Levitt & Sons maintained a policy of racial restrictions. The company’s president, William Levitt, defended his racist policies by proclaiming his innocence in serving the needs of his customers: “That is their [white customers’] attitude, not ours.” He went on to emphasize that the commercial nature of the business precluded their ability to promote racial integration: “As a company our position is simply this: ‘We can solve a housing problem, or we can try to solve a racial problem. But we cannot combine the two.’ ”45 In this way, private businesses participated in forming the racially segregated housing patterns that have permeated municipal areas in every region of the United States, not just the South.