Like a sequel to the prescient warnings of urbanist Jane Jacobs, Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove reveals the disturbing effects of decades of insensitive urban renewal projects on communities of color. For those whose homes and neighborhoods were bulldozed, the urban modernization projects that swept America starting in 1949 were nothing short of an assault. Vibrant city blocks--places rich in culture--were torn apart by freeways and other invasive development, devastating the lives of poor residents.

Fullilove passionately describes the profound traumatic stress--the "root shock"--that...