Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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The existence of these covenants is not news, but a report published Tuesday provides far greater detail than was previously known regarding the prevalence of the clauses.
It shows, for example, that Monroe County, the town of Gates and the Gates public school district all signed such clauses around 1940.
Private actors who agreed not to sell property to Black people include the Eastman Kodak Co., the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester and Wegmans co-founder Walter Wegman.
"The history of racial covenants helps counter a long-taught assumption that racial segregation is due to 'natural' forces like the housing market or personal preferences," the introduction to the report reads. "The facts in this guide are proof of what Black and Brown communities have long known: that segregation in Monroe County is driven by White supremacy — a system built specifically to increase the dignity, power, and wealth of White people by taking those things from Black and Brown people."
This is the report and I'm still reading through it.
I have some problems with this article. I want to point that out. I have never, ever, ever come across anything that remotely suggested there were no racial covenants. Starting out of the gate with a fictitious argument is not helpful. I have a problem with this as well: "Anyone living in Monroe County in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s could have found a neighborhood to live without a covenant," he said. "They also could have fought the covenant. … People had choices whether or not to sign onto these things." I looked up one of the authors of the report and the above comment: Conor Dwyer Reynolds - Yale Law School
I don't buy that comment unless you were white and your family had been born in the US, could read and write English and could pick and choose where to live. I know that my family arrived in 1917. My great grandmother never spoke English. I think my great grandfather learned enough to get by. She went to Mass, the markets, and the occasional outing to another relative's home. She raised 9 children. Everyone that lived on the block was from Abbruzzo. You didn't marry out of your region. Other regions may be located on the next block.
My thing is that I'm not sure how much actual history that many of these people know. There had to be more groups than Italians in the area that didn't speak English, etc. Secondly, the whole ZOMG there were clauses and we have proof is definitely off putting. I mean, how did you not know? It's like dealing with the never ending noobs who just picked up a book and are outraged.
It shows, for example, that Monroe County, the town of Gates and the Gates public school district all signed such clauses around 1940.
Private actors who agreed not to sell property to Black people include the Eastman Kodak Co., the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester and Wegmans co-founder Walter Wegman.
"The history of racial covenants helps counter a long-taught assumption that racial segregation is due to 'natural' forces like the housing market or personal preferences," the introduction to the report reads. "The facts in this guide are proof of what Black and Brown communities have long known: that segregation in Monroe County is driven by White supremacy — a system built specifically to increase the dignity, power, and wealth of White people by taking those things from Black and Brown people."
Use of racial covenants in Monroe County property deeds was pervasive and encouraged
For decades, many of Rochester's key institutions perpetuated the use of racial covenants in property deeds that barred Black people from home ownership.
www.democratandchronicle.com
This is the report and I'm still reading through it.
I have some problems with this article. I want to point that out. I have never, ever, ever come across anything that remotely suggested there were no racial covenants. Starting out of the gate with a fictitious argument is not helpful. I have a problem with this as well: "Anyone living in Monroe County in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s could have found a neighborhood to live without a covenant," he said. "They also could have fought the covenant. … People had choices whether or not to sign onto these things." I looked up one of the authors of the report and the above comment: Conor Dwyer Reynolds - Yale Law School
I don't buy that comment unless you were white and your family had been born in the US, could read and write English and could pick and choose where to live. I know that my family arrived in 1917. My great grandmother never spoke English. I think my great grandfather learned enough to get by. She went to Mass, the markets, and the occasional outing to another relative's home. She raised 9 children. Everyone that lived on the block was from Abbruzzo. You didn't marry out of your region. Other regions may be located on the next block.
My thing is that I'm not sure how much actual history that many of these people know. There had to be more groups than Italians in the area that didn't speak English, etc. Secondly, the whole ZOMG there were clauses and we have proof is definitely off putting. I mean, how did you not know? It's like dealing with the never ending noobs who just picked up a book and are outraged.