A Legacy Indeed in Deed
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The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on a project to locate and expunge segregationist covenants that linger in the legal language of residential deeds. The covenants no longer have force of law, but, as property transfers have taken place, they continue to exist in the fine print. Here’s a bit:
It’s long been rendered unenforceable by state legislation and federal law, but it’s jarring nonetheless for Holman, a construction attorney, who said he’ll try to get a court to nullify it.
(snip)
So far, members of the Mapping Prejudice project have discovered some 5,000 deeds with racist restrictions. The covenants appear to be concentrated in the whitest Minneapolis neighborhoods, illustrating the long historical reach that racial restrictions have had on the city’s residential housing, while helping to explain the de facto segregation housing patterns that exist today.
If you are foolish enough to think that the past does not live into the present (or even if you are not), read the whole thing.
