SPOKANE, Wash. — In Spokane, many homeowners may be unaware of the racial covenants embedded in property deeds.
An Eastern Washington University research project found that in Spokane County there are more than 6,400 homes that still have racial covenants, which are property records that restrict who can live in a home according to their race. Although these are not enforced, they are still written in documents.
These covenants, which date back to the 1920s, often included clauses prohibiting non-white individuals from occupying homes.
Dr. Larry Cebula, a history professor at Eastern Washington University, highlighted the challenge of removing these covenants, as they are typically buried deep within property records.
“I bet you not a fraction of the homeowners has any idea,” said Dr. Cebula
Dr. Cebula and his team have been researching racial covenants across 20 counties in Eastern Washington.
“I want people to understand the omnipresence of white supremacy in American history and the ways it is baked into even things like property records, where you wouldn’t expect to find,” said Dr. Cebula.
He emphasized the importance of understanding the historical context of these restrictive agreements, pointing out their deep-rooted connection to white supremacy in American history.
Spokane neighborhoods affected include Comstock, the North Side, Airway Heights and Spokane Valley.
Click here for an interactive map of the EWU Racial Restrictive Covenants Project.
Latrice Williams sits on the Oversight Committee for the Covenant Home Ownership act. She has seen these covenants first hand as a relator.
“Rights for all people should be equal,” she said. “I think that removing those covenants takes it a step further. It gets us a step further on how we can repair the harm that was made so long ago.”
One title company in Spokane has started to help its clients get rid of these customers. Its CEO, Anthony Carollo said the reasoning felt simple.
“While the restriction is unenforceable by law and Supreme Court decision, we don’t know what the future holds,” Carollo said. “In terms of U.S. law, here’s an opportunity. Here’s this window of time that we have now where a homeowner can declare it void. Why not take that opportunity?”
There are two workshops coming up to inform interested homeowners and homebuyer on how to file a racial covenant amendment form, which is needed to get rid of these covenants.
The workshops will take place on October 26 at 10:00 a.m. at South Hill Library, and November 9 at 3:00 p.m. at Shadle Park Library.
You can find more information on them here.
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