“Blighted by
Restrictive Covenants”
Restrictive covenants were
among the tools used by segregationists. Land developers,
realtors, and neighborhood associations wrote racial
restrictions into the property deeds. These provisions made it
illegal to sell or rent property to African
Americans, Asian Americans, and in some cases Jews.
Binding on future as well as
current property owners, the covenants were enforceable in court. That
changed after 1948, but the covenants can still be found in
the deeds to thousands of Seattle area homes.
New World, a left-wing newspaper, denounced the restrictive covenants in 1948