Week 5 Post 1

 Week 5 Post 1- Notes

Chapter name- Private Agreements, Government Enforcement





  • In 1948 the Supreme Court ruled that racial clauses in deeds could not depend on fed gov power to enforce them
    • Private deeds included forbidding African Americans or any non whites for many rentals, in the same way you agreed to paint windows a certain color
    • Most created exceptions for servants or non white workers of the tenants 
    • A house deed containing a racial convanant was limited to the seller and current buyer, so people started creating entire neighborhood covenants
    • Developers would create neighborhood associations 
    • 56 percent of developments built between 35 and 47 in nyc contained racial covenants
    • Largest subdivisions was 85 percent 
    • Dr Buckingham was sold a house by a white friend in a Berkeley neighborhood , when the other neighbors found out the buyer, they sued because of the Claremont improvement club and he was ordered to vacant the residence 





    • Judges endorsed these racial covenants because they said private clauses did not violate the constitution
    • Culver City air raid wardens who ensured people were leaving their lights off and curtains closed at night also had families sign documents saying they wouldn't sell their homes to african americans
    • SCOTUS upheld private covenants the same year they held up exclusionary zoning
    • The FHA would also lower risk estimates for properties with restrictive racial deed language
    • The FHA wanted to finance houses in areas which had deeds which allowed neighbors to sue for eviction when African Americans moved in 
    • Brown vs. Board included the court ruling that barring african americans from buying homes could only hpapen if state courts ordered aas to vacate homes purchased in white neighborhood
    • The court also banned gov enforcement of covenants in federal territory (DC)
    • A cooperative planned a suburb of Chicago which was integrated, so it got refused funding from the FHA. The FHA leader at the time said the 'infiltration of negros will be unacceptable to the local real estate market'.The FHA called the community a bad risk they could not insure
    • The solicitor general announced in 1949 that the FHA could no longer ensure houses with restrictions on race, but they did this nearly two years after the SCOTUS decision, since their previous properties would not have to comply
    • The FHA pushed back and did not care, and did not change their policies, only called them 'gentlemens agreement' and continued to use insurance the same way
    • the FHA evaded the courts decision by taking racialized language out of covenants and simply stating that neighbors or community boards had to approve any housing sale
    • The Oklahoma supreme court allowed evictions even after Shelley because they claimed that the seller and buyer were conducting conspiracy to ruin the character of the neighborhood
    • Still in 1953, the supreme court would not interfere with private contracts and deeds
    • Shelly v. Kraemer, which banned court enforcing racial covenants, won 6-0, three judges excused themselves from the trial because of objectivity because they live in racially restricted areas



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