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Racially restrictive covenants are clauses in property deeds that prohibit certain groups of people from buying, leasing, or occupying a property based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
The covenants are not enforceable because of a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case, but they still exist in property records throughout the country.
They’re said to exist in land records throughout Roeland Park, Prairie Village and Overland Park.
The City of Overland Park City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday night to release covenants from the original documentation.
Council President Logan Heley shared a copy of the clause that still exists in records for his family home.
It reads: “None of said lots or portions of lots can be sold, conveyed, transferred leased, rented, owned used or occupied by any person of negro blood.”
Credit: Councilman Logan Heley “When I first saw this issue, I was thinking of neighborhoods that weren’t mine but it turns out the house I grew up in has a restrictive covenant,” Heley said.