The city of Minneapolis is taking steps to eradicate a practice made illegal decades ago, but effects of which are still felt in neighborhoods across the city.
Minneapolis residents can now expunge racial covenants placed on their homes for free, thanks to the new Just Deeds Program. In a city with some of the largest disparities in homeownership by race, experts say more can and should be done to close the homeownership gap that racial covenants caused.
“I think [these practices] began our journey of seeing our white prosperity flow and flourish, and Black prosperity and then the prosperity of other races not flourish,” said Tawanna Black, founder and CEO of the Minneapolis-based Center for Economic Inclusion.
By Dr. Jeanette
Covenants, Deeds and Restrictions
This subject of land restrictions is of special interest to me. My husband, Clark Parker, Sr., tells a fascinating account of our own property ownership. We can therefore easily relate to covenants, deeds and restrictions research project, especially since he is an accomplished real estate expert and builder of multimillion homes, condominiums, schools and other real estate structures.
The research of the “Mapping Prejudice Project” and collaborating researchers is showing what communities of color have known for many decades. “Structural barriers stopped many people who were not White from buying property and building wealth for most of the last century. In Minneapolis, these restrictions served as powerful obstacles for people of color seeking safe and affordable housing. They also limited access to community resources like parks and schools. Racial covenants dovetailed with redlining and predatory lending practices to dep