By Yascha Noonberg, June 5, 2018
By Yascha Noonberg, June 5, 2018
OPB’s Erica Morrison recently published a story about discriminatory language inserted into the deeds of multiple Portland neighborhoods that restricted certain ethnic groups from purchasing homes in those neighborhoods.
Fortunately the National Fair Housing Act made those restrictions unenforceable but they are still recorded and when you read through some of the restrictions it can be shocking.
The Fair Housing Act was part of the sweeping Civil Rights Act of 1968, and the housing portion protects buyers and renters from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability and the presence of children.
Morrison’s article talks about the daunting task of removing these discriminatory restrictions from deeds in Portland
I’ve read through a few of these deeds and it is disturbing not only to imagine the racism that was motivating people to record these deeds but what it must have been like to be a person restricted from buying a home because of their race.
The article can be found here.