HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 051-21 - City Partnership with the Just Deeds Coalition
RESOLUTION
Resolution Approving Participation in the Just Deeds Coalition and Condemning the
use of Discriminatory Covenants and Discharging Discriminatory Covenants on City
Owned Property.
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers to prevent
non-Caucasian and non-Christian individuals from buying or occupying property in certain
areas; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of discriminatory covenants was to homogenize communities
racially and religiously by excluding non-Caucasian and non-Christian individuals from living
in certain areas of Rochester; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the University of Minnesota founded Mapping Prejudice to identify
the racist practices used to exclude non-Caucasian and non-Christian individuals from
certain areas. Mapping Prejudice researched restrictive covenants in Hennepin County
and created the first-ever comprehensive map of racial covenants in an American county;
and
WHEREAS, Mapping Prejudice is interested in mapping Rochester and assisting in
identifying and removing prejudicial covenants; and
WHEREAS, it is known Rochester contains discriminatory covenants; 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; 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
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; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants benefitted Caucasian communities. For example,
homes that were racially covenanted are still predominantly owned by Caucasian people
and are worth approximately 15% more today than non-covenanted properties; and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, including the City of Rochester, 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 Common Council of the City of Rochester
that:
1. The City of Rochester disavows and condemns the past use of discriminatory
Cove ants and prohibits discriminatory covenants from being used in the future.
2. The City Attorney is directed to investigate and to identify any real property owned or
leased 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
dismantling racist systems, practices, and policies in the City of Rochester to create equity
for all.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, THIS _DAY OF , 2021.
PRESIDENT OF SAID COMMON COUNCIL
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
APPROVED THIS DAY OF , 2021.
MAYOR OF SAID CITY
(Seal of the City of
Rochester, Minnesota)