Racism in Property Ownership in Seattle

Racism in Property Ownership and Neighborhoods in the City of Seattle

Introductory Facts

Racial deed restrictions became common after 1926 when the U.S. Supreme Court validated their use. The restrictions were an enforceable contract and an owner who violated them risked forfeiting the property. Many neighborhoods prohibited the sale or rental of property by Asian Americans and Jews as well as Blacks.  In 1948, the court changed its mind, declaring that racial restrictions would no longer be enforced, but the decision did nothing to alter the other structures of segregation. It remained perfectly legal for realtors and property owners to discriminate on the basis of race. In 1968, Congress passed the Housing Rights Act, finally outlawing discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity in the sale or rental of housing. Since then it has been illegal to act on the race restrictions that are embedded in so many deeds in Seattle and other King County communities.

(Remember that I was born in 1963, and this was allowed until 1968, so this is not ancient history!)

Here are a few examples:

Capitol Hill

935 properties, 38 blocks

That no part of said premises shall ever be used or occupied by or sold conveyed, leased, rented, or given to negroes or any person or persons of negro blood,

Greenlake

Greenlake Circle

Said tract shall not be sold, leased, or rented to any person or persons other than of white race nor shall any person or persons other than of white race use or occupy said tract.

Laurelhurst

Laguna Vista

No person or persons of Asiatic, African or Negro blood, lineage, or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property, or any building thereon except a domestic servant or servants who may actually and in good faith be employed by white occupants of such premises

West Seattle/ High Point

High Point

The purchaser covenants, and said covenants shall run with said land, that no part of said described premises shall ever be used or occupied by any person not of the White or Caucasian race.

Bellevue (on Lake Washington shore)

Enatai, Enatai Waterfront Addition

No person of African, Japanese, Chinese, or of any other Mongolian descent shall be allowed to purchase, own or lease said real property or any part thereof.