Racial covenants, like the one from Weber County, UT in 1947 shown here, were embedded in deed restrictions on residential properties in order to exclude people of color from certain neighborhoods and subdivisions. They are an artifact of the structural racism in our community that systematically denied people of color, particularly black individuals, the opportunity to purchase a home and build equity in the early to mid 20th century.

In 2021, the Utah Legislature passed HB 374, Racial Covenant Amendments, which formally voids all racial covenants on residential properties in Utah. (This was effectively done at the federal level with the 1968 Fair Housing Act.) HB 374 also gives Utah homeowners the opportunity to record individual statements with their county recorder, free of charge, to affirmatively renounce racial covenants on their own property. For information on how to find out if your home has a racial covenant and how to renounce it, click here.

Racial covenants were powerful because neighbors enforced them on each other. Can we, as Weber County neighbors, work together to establish and enforce norms of fair housing and inclusion? Our work is just getting started. We hope you join us!

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