04-13 Resolution No. 11841RESOLUTION NO. 11841
RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE USE OF DISCRIMINATORY
COVENANTS, DISCHARGING DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS ON
CITY -OWNED PROPERTY, AND APPROVING PARTICIPATION IN THE
JUST DEEDS COALITION
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers
to prevent Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and non-Christian individuals
from buying or occupying property in certain areas, and they were common throughout
the United States from the early 1900s to the 1960s; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of discriminatory covenants was to racially and
religiously homogenize communities by excluding BIPOC and non-Christian individuals
from communities. These tools segregated the metro area and built a hidden system of
apartheid; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the University of Minnesota founded Mapping Prejudice to
expose the racist practices that shaped the landscape of the metro area. Mapping
Prejudice researched restrictive covenants in Hennepin County and created the first -
ever comprehensive map of racial covenants in an American city. The project mapped
24,131 covenants in Hennepin County, including 3,714 covenants in Richfield; and
WHEREAS, an example of a common covenant in Richfield declared that "No
persons of any race other than the Caucasian race shall use or occupy any building or
any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of
different race domiciled with an owner or tenant;" and
WHEREAS, the discriminatory covenants in Richfield are spread throughout the
community; and
WHEREAS, the City of Richfield owns 27 parcels of land that contain a
discriminatory covenant, including parcels occupied by Adams Hill Park, Milner Pond,
Upton Park, Jefferson Park, Taft Park, and the Woodlake Nature Center, as well as
parcels owned by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority; and
WHEREAS, City leaders knew about the use of discriminatory covenants and
sanctioned their use. For example, the plat of Betcher's Addition includes the language
"no race or nationality other than white persons shall use or occupy any dwelling on any lot
except that this covenant shall not prevent the occupancy by domestic servants of a
different race when employed by any owner or tenant," and was approved by the City
Council on August 23, 1937; and
WHEREAS, restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable. Legal efforts to
eliminate Discriminatory Covenants include Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), in
which the United States Supreme Court prohibited courts from enforcing Discriminatory
Resolution No. 11841
Covenants and the Minnesota Legislature in 1953 enacted statutes that prohibited new
covenants, but existing covenants were still legal in Minnesota until 1962; and
WHEREAS, as a result of these judicial and legislative actions, today, Minnesota
law andfederal law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race,
color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public
assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status and those state and federal
prohibitions extend to the refusal to sell or to circulate, post or cause to be printed,
circulated, or posted, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, color,
creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public
assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law authorizing
property owners to individually discharge or renounce discriminatory covenants by
recording a discharge form in the county property records; and
WHEREAS, removing the covenant from a property deed merely erases the
painful evidence of past wrongdoing, while formally renouncing the covenant
acknowledges the painful past and shines the light on discriminatory practices and the
impacts that can still be felt today; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants promoted and established residential racial
segregation, which historically and currently has impacted property ownership,
accumulationof wealth, property transfers, mortgage eligibility, rental eligibility, property
values, property tax base, internet access, and more. Discriminatory covenants fortified
systemic racism and compounded economic divestment in specific communities within
Hennepin County; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants created disparities and benefitted White
communities as 70% of white households own a home in Richfield compared to just
31 % of households of color; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants created demographic patterns that remain
in place today; and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, including the City of Richfield, recognizes
the harm that Discriminatory Covenants —and the racial, religious, and other
discriminatory practices that they represent —cause to society in general and to the
individuals who areadversely affected by racial, religious, and other discrimination
through the presence of discriminatory covenants in the public land records.
BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Richfield that:
1. The City of Richfield disavows and condemns the past use of discriminatory
covenants and prohibits discriminatory covenants from being used in the future.
Resolution No. 11841
2. Staff and the City Attorney are directed to investigate and to identify all real property
owned by the City that contains discriminatory covenants and to prepare and record
an affidavit or request an examiner's directive discharging such discriminatory
covenants pursuant to Minnesota Statute § 507.18, subd. 5.
3. City staff is directed to participate in the work of the Just Deeds Coalition to educate
the community about this and other historically discriminatory practices; to identify
contemporary discriminatory systems, policies, and practices; and to take action to
dismantle racist systems, practices, and policies in the City of Richfield to create
equity for all.
Adopted by the City Council of Richfield, Minnesota this 13t" day of April, 2021.
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Maria Regan Gonzalez, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Elizabeth VanHoose, City Clerk
Resolution No. 11841