Racial Restrictive Covenants Project
The Racial Restrictive Covenants Project investigates how racial covenants were used in real estate contracts to prevent people of color or religion from buying or renting homes in certain neighborhoods. These covenants, which were widespread in the early to mid-20th century, enforced racial segregation and created long-lasting barriers to wealth-building for marginalized communities. The project aims to uncover these historical injustices and raise awareness of their continued impact.
Racist restrictions, although now void, remain in the property records of hundreds of neighborhoods, a toxic residue from the decades when segregation and exclusion were allowed, indeed promoted, by local governments and state authorities.
The Racial Restrictive Covenants Project involves teams of researchers at the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University. Authorized by the Washington legislature under HB 1335 (May 2021), this project is charged with identifying and mapping neighborhoods marked by racist deed provisions and restrictive covenants. With more than 80,000 restricted properties identified so far, the project provided the research for the newly enacted Covenant Homeownership Account Act that will compensate victims of restrictive covenants.
Bringing Magnolia’s Past to the Present
MCC is partnering with the the Racial Restrictive Covenant Project research team at the UW to share information on Magnolia’s history with racial restrictive covenants, what home deeds are impacted and how to modify the racist covenants.
The UW team identified a list of over 1,300 properties in Magnolia that carried racial and sometimes religious restrictions. The map on the right illustrates the specific neighborhoods impacted, which are typically homes build before 1948.
Most Magnolia Homeowners are unaware that their land deed may contain racial restrictive land covenants since they have not been enforceable since 1969.
Click on the map to access the University of Washington’s Racial Restrictive Covenants Project interactive map.
Learn More and Take Action
Read about Racial Restrictive Covenants and the Project
Learn About Your Land Deed
If your home was built before 1948 and you are interested in learning if your deed includes a racially restrictive covenant, please provide your address and email through the form below. An MCC Trustee will follow up with information for your property and the process to modify your deed if a racially restrictive covenant exists. Please note that we only have access to records for Magnolia.
Notary Resources
Completed modifications forms will need to be notarized prior to submitting.
MCC would like to thank Jade’s Notary & Bookkeeping Service, a local notary for volunteering her time to support this project.
Citation: The information provided on this page is credited to the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project at the University of Washington and The Great Depression in Washington State Project.