SPOKANE, Wash. – Eastern Washington University released a map of Spokane properties they say have racially exclusion language in their covenants that previously prohibited people from owning or occupying them.
EWU released the map while explaining that while many of the covenants are not enforceable under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that the ‘painful legacy and racial discrimination’ still exists in the language of many property records.
One large section of the publicly available map is the Shadle neighborhood with some clauses stating, “No persons of any race, other than the white race, shall use or occupy any building upon these premises, except as a domestic servant domiciled with owner or tenant.”
The map was created as part of the Racial Covenants Project lead by Dr. Tara Kelly.
“We, at the EWU Racial Covenants Research Project, are excited that, after two years of research, we are releasing our first map to the public so that homeowners can decide how they will respond to our segregated history and the way it impacted homeownership and generational wealth,” Kelly said.
EWU is hoping to change the narrative of these legal documents and is hosting workshops to help property owners remove these clauses.
There are two workshops available on Oct. 26 and Nov. 9 and more information about the events can be found here.
