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<br />States Supreme Court prohibited courts from enforcing Discriminatory Covenants and the
<br />Minnesota legislature in 1953 enacted statutes that prohibited new covenants, but existing
<br />covenants were still legal in Minnesota until 1962; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, as a result of these judicial and legislative actions, today, Minnesota law and
<br />federal law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race, color, creed,
<br />religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability,
<br />sexual orientation, or familial status and those state and federal prohibitions extend to the
<br />refusal to sell or to circulate, post or cause to be printed, circulated, or posted, any limitation,
<br />specification, or discrimination as to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital
<br />status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status;
<br />and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, in 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law authorizing property
<br />owners to individually discharge or renounce discriminatory covenants by recording a
<br />discharge form in the county property records; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants promoted and established residential racial
<br />segregation, which historically and currently has impacted property ownership, accumulation
<br />of wealth, property transfers, mortgage eligibility, rental eligibility, property values, property
<br />tax base, internet access, and more. Discriminatory covenants fortified systemic racism and
<br />compounded economic divestment in specific communities within Hennepin County; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants benefitted White communities. For example,
<br />homes that were racially covenanted are still predominantly owned by White people and are
<br />worth approximately 15% more today than non-covenanted properties; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants created demographic patterns that remain in place
<br />today. Due in part to this historical practice, the population of the City of Golden Valley is less
<br />racially diverse than the populations of all of its neighboring communities and has a lower
<br />percentage of minority owned businesses than many neighboring communities; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, in 2019, the City Council directed the Human Rights Commission to begin
<br />work on the Just Deeds Project, which connects residents to pro bono attorneys who can help
<br />remove discriminatory covenants from property titles in Golden Valley; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, including the City of Golden Valley, recognizes the
<br />harm that Discriminatory Covenants—and the racial, religious, and other discriminatory
<br />practices that they represent—cause to society in general and to the individuals who are
<br />adversely affected by racial, religious, and other discrimination through the presence of
<br />discriminatory covenants in the public land records.
<br />
<br />BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Golden Valley that:
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