Andrew W. Kahrl, co-director of the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy's Repair Lab and professor of history and African American studies, discusses his newest book, The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America.

 In The Black Tax, Kahrl reveals the shocking history and ruinous consequences of inequitable and predatory tax laws in this country—above all, widespread and devastating racial dispossession. Throughout the 20th century, African Americans acquired substantial amounts of property nationwide. But racist practices, obscure processes, and outright theft diminished their holdings and their power. Of these, Kahrl shows, few were more powerful, or more quietly destructive, than property taxes.