Written by Coco Barrett
While not especially known for history of racism, Seattle, Washington widely employed a discriminatory housing policy called ‘racial restrictive covenants’, which created a segregated racial landscape, homeownership disparity, and a significant wealth gap. Racially restrictive covenants are defined as “legal instruments that barred certain populations, based on race, from buying, renting or occupying property in designated areas”. Written into the deed of a property, developers and homeowners could mandate that their property could only be sold on to white people, or the seller would risk legal action. It created a mutually enforced segregation from owner to owner, so no one legislative body or entity could be held responsible for racial segregation. The Racial Restrictive Covenants Project has found over 50,000 records of racially restrictive covenants from 1907 to 1968.
The American Board of Realtors actively promoted and campaigned for the adoption of these covenants, after the Supreme Court ruled in 1917 that segregating zoning laws violated the 14th Amendment. The covenants became increasingly popular after 1926 when such covenants were ruled ‘enforceable contracts’ in Corrigan v Buckley. The Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) further institutionalized discriminatory practices, with redlining maps and FHA loans restricted to just white homeowners. Many major real estate companies each bought hundreds of acres of land, and put such covenants in their deeds, especially William E. Boeing, founder of the Boeing Aircraft Company. Eventually, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed explicit housing discrimination, but the impact of decades of racially restrictive covenants persisted, contributing to today’s disparities in homeownership and generational wealth. The effects of such covenants were not simply that people of colour were excluded from certain neighbourhoods, it was also that the opportunity to buy homes overall was significantly, and intentionally, restricted. See the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project website for more details on other instruments of segregation, and the financial impact this had on individuals.
Professor James Gregory at the University of Washington is the director of the ‘Racial Restrictive Covenants Project: Washington State’. The Project seeks to identify and document the covenants, as well as the specific properties and neighbourhoods affected. They have found over 50,000 restricted property records so far. The language used in these records is explicit and clear about their intentions. A covenant in a property owned by William E. Boeing said:
“No property in said addition shall at any time be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased in whole or in part to any person or persons not of the White or Caucasian race.”
Covenant for Innis Arden, 28 August 1941. Database of Racial Restrictive Covenants.
Other covenants named specific races or ethnicities they wanted to exclude, restricting selling, or renting to “any person of the Ethiopian, Malay, or any Asiatic race” (Database of Racial Restrictive Covenants). Inspired by the research project and the legacy of racially restrictive covenants, the Washington state legislature is looking to rectify current homeownership disparities based on race.
In April 2023, the Washington legislature passed the Covenants Homeownership Act (CHA). The first of its kind, this legislation is essentially a specific form of reparations for the victims of segregation and housing exclusion. The lawmakers anticipate future legal challenges and therefore must prove “harm” done by the state of Washington, that it “was both an active and passive participant” in housing discrimination that caused significant financial harm. The reparations it seeks to provide come in the form of interest-free down payment loans for those affected. In order to qualify, one must be a first-time home buyer, with an income at the median or below income of the area, who is, or is descended from, a pre-1968 Washington resident. It is estimated that 2000 to 4000 loans will be given as a result of the new legislation. As Washington State takes a proactive approach to rectifying historic injustice, the Covenants Homeownership Act may serve as a model for reparations and how to undo the enduring effects of housing exclusion. It demonstrates how we cannot just stop discrimination in the future, but also remedy the injustices of the past.
Volunteer for the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project here.
Bibliography
Gregory, James, “A new law addresses the harm done by decades of racist housing practices”, The Washington Post, May 10, 2023. https://depts.washington.edu/covenants/images/docs/new_law_Gregory_%20WashingtonPost.pdf
Gregory, James, “Understanding Racial Restrictive Covenants and their Legacy” Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium, The University of Washington. https://depts.washington.edu/covenants/segregation.shtml
Silva, Catherine, “Racial Restrictive Covenants History, Enforcing Neighborhood Segregation in Seattle”, The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, The University of Washington. https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants_report.htm
Image credit: https://depts.washington.edu/covenants/
Retrospect Journal 