Author born in North Carolina writes book exploring history of street names and racial inequality

In many parts of the world, something as simple as your address can reveal your race and class--that's the thesis behind a local author's new book, The Address Book.

Originally from North Carolina, author Deirdre Mask looks at the history of street names and addresses, exploring the role they play in racial segregation and economic inequality.

Macmillan Publishers called the book "an insightful work of popular history of how streets got their names, houses their numbers, and what it reveals about class, race, power, and identity."

Deirdre Mask, the daughter of WRAL's very own Dr. Allen Mask, "looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr., the wayfinding means of ancient Romans, and how Nazis haunt the streets of modern Germany," according to the publisher.

She also explores the flip-side--not having an address at all, and how that impacts the homeless population by allowing them to be stripped of basic human rights.