Interactive map of racial covenants in Northern VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what?

I live in a 1920s-30s neighborhood with racial and anti-Jewish covenants. It was never a secret. We talked about it 40 years ago and how it was wrong back then too.

None of this is new and none of this is telling us anything we already didn't know. And none were legally enforceable since 1948.

I'd classify it as more meaningless virtue signaling so overprivileged academics can feel better about their moral superiority in "discovering" something that was always already known and established and long since made illegal.

Why are you so afraid to have this conversation? It's not "virtue signaling." It's quantification. How dare you?

[Anonymous]

White neighbors became segregate a large part due to “block busting”.

Shady realtors world place a black family on a white block then start going door to door dating neighbor is changing get out while you can. Home prices would start to plummet and white peers would sell quickly and cheaper and cheaper while realtors would collect commissions

My block got a double block buster when little. My parents stayed way longer than we should but we were renters.

The first set of black families were nice middle class people married people with kids, bus drivers, cops and garbagemen.

But as the prices continued to escalate down very quickly they also got out

By 1973 we had crack heads in hallway, needles everywhere, gun fire in middle in night. Stolen cars, cars very piece of brass and copper stripped from buildings and bars up on all windows.

Mind you neighbor hood 100 percent white in 1968 to almost 100 percent minority by 1976.

The block busting hurt everyone, it actually hurt the black buyers worse. But it also hurt the white sellers as they sold at a discount and the “safer” area could only afford a tiny place or nothing at all.

My old neighborhood started getting gentrified in 2006. But the people who sold in 1976 at a huge fire sale are long dead. They never lived to see it.

[Anonymous]

Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I as expecting more in Fairfax County

Most of Fairfax was still farmland when new racial covenants were outlawed in 1948.

Restrictive covenants still appeared in Virginia real estate contracts well into the 1960s. This study is not exhaustive.

This has been legally unenforceable since the 1940's. Yes, this is sad, but these were put on a property deed around 100 years ago and the supreme court made them illegal for 76 years ago. Things have changed since then.

true but it does still have an impact on today's racial makeup, and the property ladder game.

[Anonymous]

Who cares?

This is part of history. I find it fascinating. Lots of people enjoy learning about the past. I don't know why people are afraid of learning about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what?

I live in a 1920s-30s neighborhood with racial and anti-Jewish covenants. It was never a secret. We talked about it 40 years ago and how it was wrong back then too.

None of this is new and none of this is telling us anything we already didn't know. And none were legally enforceable since 1948.

I'd classify it as more meaningless virtue signaling so overprivileged academics can feel better about their moral superiority in "discovering" something that was always already known and established and long since made illegal.

Why are you so afraid to have this conversation? It's not "virtue signaling." It's quantification. How dare you?

No one is afraid. Just reveal your agenda and get to your point. You are sharing this info because you are priming us for a policy idea. Just let us know what you demand we think and stop beating around the bush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what?

I live in a 1920s-30s neighborhood with racial and anti-Jewish covenants. It was never a secret. We talked about it 40 years ago and how it was wrong back then too.

None of this is new and none of this is telling us anything we already didn't know. And none were legally enforceable since 1948.

I'd classify it as more meaningless virtue signaling so overprivileged academics can feel better about their moral superiority in "discovering" something that was always already known and established and long since made illegal.

Why are you so afraid to have this conversation? It's not "virtue signaling." It's quantification. How dare you?

Conversation about what? This story went cold 75 years ago. What do you actually want to talk about?

[Anonymous]

Very interesting. I’ve actually read my deed and didn’t see any covenants, so it must have been part of the original plan of subdivision.

I don’t understand why some people are so afraid of the history of this area. It wasn’t pretty and yes, it has had lingering effects on who lived here, what they built, and the wealth they were able to build over generations. Looking at Arlington, Highview Park looks a lot different than Tara Leeway, for example. Lots of “Missing Middle” in HVP and no one ever seemed to care.

What we do from here with this information (or what don’t do) is a different question. But we all need to be informed of why and how we are where we are before we can make any intelligent decisions about where we need to go. .

[Anonymous]

The research team looks exactly like I'd expect

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why the black population is very low in NoVA relative to MD or DC. Even if the covenants were unenforceable, the culture of the neighborhoods was still outwardly racist and hostile for decades afterwards. Desegregation of schools in NoVA did not de facto happen until the 1970s. And even then, those black kids in NoVA public schools had a very rough go of it.

What are you talking about? A large swath of Old Town Alexandria is comprised of historic homes owned by the first freed slaves. Much of the Parker-Gray area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who cares?

This is part of history. I find it fascinating. Lots of people enjoy learning about the past. I don't know why people are afraid of learning about it.

Because history is loooong and people seem fixated on this snippet without bothering educating themselves on the rest.