HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 9951RESOLUTION NO. 9951
CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW
COUNTY OF RAMSEY
STATE OF MINNESOTA
RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE USE OF DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS, DISCHARGING DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS ON CITY-OWNED
PROPERTY AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE JUST DEEDS COALITION
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers to prevent Black, indigenous, and 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 Mounds View. 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 Ramsey County and created the first-ever comprehensive map of racial covenants in an American city. The project mapped 2,000 covenants in Ramsey County, including 532 covenants
in Mounds View; 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 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 and federal 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
Resolution 9951
Page Two
WHEREAS, the City of Mounds View owns six pieces of land that contain a discriminatory
covenant and has filed the property paperwork to discharge these covenants; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants promoted and established residential racial
segregation, which historically and currently has impacted property ownership, accumulation of
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 Ramsey County; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants benefitted white communities; for example, homes that
were racially covenanted are still predominantly owned by white people and are worth
approximately 15 percent more today than non -covenanted properties; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants created demographic patterns that remain in place
today; and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, including the City of Mounds View, 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 are adversely
affected by racial, religious, and other discrimination through the presence of discriminatory
covenants in the public land records.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mounds View City Council that the City of
Mounds View disavows and condemns the past use of discriminatory covenants and prohibits
discriminatory covenants from being used in the future.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that 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 dismantling racist systems, practices, and policies in the City of Mounds View to
create equity for all.
Adopted this 8►h day of July, 2024.
ATTEST:
(SEAL)
Lindstrom, Mayor
i
NyYtiVm Administrator
The Mounds View Vision
A Thriving Desirable Community