Restrictive or racial covenants
Restrictive or racial covenants were agreements that prohibited certain racial, ethnic, and religious minorities from owning or renting properties, often embedded in property deeds by developers. These covenants gained traction in the early twentieth century, particularly during the Great Migration when many Black Americans moved to northern cities. By barring minority groups from specific neighborhoods, these agreements contributed significantly to the segregation of urban and suburban areas, leading to the creation of inner-city ghettos and a shortage of housing options for minorities. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Corrigan v. Buckley (1926) affirmed the constitutionality of such covenants, but the landmark decision in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) later established that state enforcement of these covenants violated the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. Despite this ruling, the practice persisted due to barriers faced by those who wished to challenge the covenants legally. It wasn't until the Civil Rights Act of 1968, reinforced by the Supreme Court's decision in Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Company, that restrictive covenants were deemed illegal. Although these practices are no longer enforceable, many historical deeds still contain these covenants, and their legacy continues to influence the landscape and demographics of modern cities.
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Restrictive or racial covenants
Restrictive covenants, sometimes called racial covenants, were agreements that barred specific racial, ethnic, and religious minorities from owning or renting certain properties. These “covenants,” sometimes contracts but more often clauses placed in deeds by developers, became popular in the early twentieth century with the advent of the Great Migration, a period of mass Black migration to northern urban areas. Restrictive covenants prevented the integration of many urban and suburban neighborhoods by denying entry to minority groups, encouraging the formation of inner-city ghettos and precipitating shortages of housing available to minorities.
Restrictive covenants proliferated after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their constitutionality in the case of Corrigan v. Buckley (1926). Civil rights attorneys subsequently targeted restrictive covenants as part of their legal strategy, winning a major victory before the Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948). The Court ruled in Shelley that state courts, by enforcing the covenants, had violated the Fourteenth Amendment by denying minorities equal protection of the law. Yet, residential segregation through covenants continued virtually unabated as few of its victims could afford to challenge these private contracts in court. In 1968, the Supreme Court, in the case of Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Company, outlawed restrictive covenants by upholding the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which banned racial discrimination in the sale or rental of real estate. Though such covenants are illegal in the twenty-first century, they remain on many historical deeds because removing them is costly and time-consuming. The repercussions of these covenants remain evident in the structure of modern cities.
Bibliography
Brooks, Richard Rexford Wayne, and Carol M. Rose. Saving the Neighborhood: Racially Restrictive Covenants, Law, and Social Norms. Harvard UP, 2013.
Gonda, Jeffrey D. "Litigating Racial Justice at the Grassroots: The Shelley Family, Black Realtors, and Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)." Journal of Supreme Court History, vol. 39, no. 3, 2014, pp. 329–46, doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5818.2014.12052.x. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.
Jones-Correa, Michael. “The Origins and Diffusion of Racial Restrictive Covenants.” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 115, no. 4, 2000, pp. 541–68, doi.org/10.2307/2657609. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.
Kucheva, Yana, and Richard Sander. “The Misunderstood Consequences of Shelley v. Kraemer.” Social Science Research, vol. 48, 2014, pp. 212–33, doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2014.06.007. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.
Rich, Motoko. "Restrictive Covenants Stubbornly Stay on the Books." New York Times, 21 Apr. 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/garden/restrictive-covenants-stubbornly-stay-on-the-books.html. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.
Taylor, Dorceta. "The Rise of Racially Restrictive Covenants: Guarding against Infiltration." Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility. New York UP, 2014, pp. 192–227.
Thompson, Cheryl W., et al. "Racial Covenants, A Relic of the Past, Are Still on the Books across the Country." NPR, 17 Nov. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1049052531/racial-covenants-housing-discrimination. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.
"What Is a Covenant?" Mapping Prejudice, University of Minnesota, mappingprejudice.umn.edu/racial-covenants/what-is-a-covenant. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.