URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — It was a common practice in the real estate business in the 1930s and 40s: putting racial covenants in real estate deeds to prevent minorities, especially African Americans, from moving into white neighborhoods.
Red Lining Map from the 30s or 40s of Decatur, Illinois used to discriminate against minorities in lending and zoning.
Banned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, some of those restrictive racial covenants are still on real estate deeds in 2024.
In the past it took an expensive trip to the courts to have the racist wording removed from a real estate deed. But in the past couple of years the Illinois legislature passed a law making it easier for property owners to remove the offensive sections of the deed.
Champaign County recently had its first person come in to strike the wording. The individual was able to remove the racial covenants for an entire subdivision. Clerk & Recorder Aaron Ammons expects to see a second person do the same thing in the near future.
As of now Champaign County still has 18 subdivisions with the covenants. Along with about 900 properties.
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