Racism, in deed (HamptonRoads.com/Pilot Online)
Thanks to Nancy Levy for spotting this story on the continued existence of race restrictive covenants that includes some comments from me:

PORTSMOUTH – When Cephas and Jessie Wright found their dream home in 1962, they knew they were not welcome in Prentis Park. “In order to look at the house, we had to come at night,” Cephas said. “You didn’t have to tell us why. We knew what it was. That was the times back then.” The homeowners admitted to the Wrights they had promised their neighbors they would not sell to a black family. But it wasn’t until 25 years later that the couple learned that racial discrimination in Prentis Park was based on more than a handshake. The deed arrived by mail after the Wrights made their final mortgage payment. Cephas leafed through the document and stared in amazement at one page that read: “no part of the property hereby conveyed shall be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of, to any Negro or persons of African descent.”...Though they’re void, those restrictions still can be found on deeds for many homes built in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. Fair-housing advocates say the offensive language should be removed. They plan to ask the Virginia legislature to pass a law next year that would automatically strike discriminatory clauses from deeds whenever property is sold...Evan McKenzie, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, believes all racist restrictions should be removed from deeds and homeowners association bylaws, but he said no state has been that ambitious. “These covenants are insulting and stigmatizing,” said McKenzie, who has written about the use of covenants by homeowners associations. “I can’t prove it but there’s a tremendous amount of racial discrimination going on in the sale and renting of houses. If you drive through the neighborhoods, particularly, suburban neighborhoods, you will see a lot of segregation even though it’s illegal.” McKenzie said racial covenants first appeared after the Civil War but became more common after World War I, when black families moved to cities in search of industrial jobs. Most covenants were written into deeds by developers of suburban housing projects, he said. In other cases, real estate agents or homeowners themselves organized associations in existing neighborhoods to block integration. Even where those associations have disbanded, covenants remain on the deeds.