121 neighborhoods in Washtenaw County still have racially restrictive covenants. This one did someth

121 neighborhoods in Washtenaw County still have racially restrictive covenants. This one did something about it.


(Detroit Metro Times) Like many neighborhoods of its time, an Ann Arbor subdivision in the late 1940s enforced a racially restrictive covenant that prohibited “any person other than the Caucasian race” from using or occupying a house except for “domestic servants.”

Until recently, that 1947 covenant, while no longer enforced, was still on the books in the Hannah Subdivision, serving as a painful and ugly reminder of the racist attitudes that barred Black people from owning or renting a home in neighborhoods across the country in the mid-20th century.

Homeowners in the subdivision recently repealed and replaced the covenant and delivered the amendment to the Washtenaw County Register of Deeds.

“Even though racially restrictive covenants are illegal and cannot be enforced, it is important to take a stand,” Patricia Stepp, a resident of the Hannah Subdivision, said in a statement Thursday. “These covenants need to be acknowledged and addressed in order for us to heal.”

In Washtenaw County alone, 121 neighborhoods still have racially restrictive covenants. Across the country and in metro Detroit, many neighborhoods also have racial restrictive covenants that remain on the books. .............(more)

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