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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-047 CCRMember Elliott introduced the following resolution and moved its adoption: RESOLUTION NO.2021-47 RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE USE OF DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS DISCHARGING DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS ON CITY -OWNED PROPERTY, AND APPROVING PARTICIPATION IN THE JUST DEEDS COALITION WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers to prevent 31ack/Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and non-Christian individuals from buying or occupying property in certain areas, and they were common throughout the United States from the early 1900s to the 1960s; and WHEREAS, the purpose of discriminatory covenants was to racially and religiously homogenize communities by excluding BIPOC and non-Christian individuals from Brooklyn Center. These tools segregated the metro area and built a hidden system of apartheid; and WHEREAS, in 2016, the University of Minnesota founded Mapping Prejudice to expose the racist practices that shaped the landscape of the metro area. Mapping Prejudice researched restrictive covenants in Hennepin County and created the first -ever comprehensive map of racial covenants in an American city. The project mapped 24,131 covenants in Hennepin County, including 150 covenants in Brooklyn Center; and WHEREAS, an example of a common covenant in Brooklyn Center declared that "No part of said premises shall ever be used or occupied by or sold, conveyed, leased, rented or given to Negroes, or Mongolians or Hebrews or any person or persons of the negro race, or Mongolian race or Hebrew race or blood; and WHEREAS, the discriminatory covenants in Brool�lyn Center are concentrated along its borders with Minneapolis and Robbinsdale, and in other desirable areas in the City, such as near downtown, around parks and open spaces, and near the private golf course; and WHEREAS, the City of Brooklyn Center has identified four City -owned parcels of land that may contain a discriminatory covenant, including Water Treatment Plant, Riverdale Park, and two EDA properties; and WHEREAS, restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable. Legal efforts to eliminate Discriminatory Covenants include Shelley v. Kraemer°, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), in which the United States Supreme Court prohibited courts from enforcing Discriminatory Covenants and the Minnesota legislature in 1953 enacted statutes that prohibited new covenants, but existing covenants were still legal in Minnesota until 1962; and WHEREAS, as a result of these judicial and legislative actions, today, Minnesota law and federal law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status concerning public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status, and those state and federal prohibitions extend to the refusal to sell or to circulate, post or cause to be printed, circulated, or posted, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status concerning public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status; and WHEREAS, in 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law authorizing property owners to individually discharge or renounce discriminatory covenants by recording a discharge form in the county property records; and WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants promoted and established residential racial segregation, which historically and currently has impacted property ownership, accumulation of wealth, property transfers, mortgage eligibility, rental eligibility, property values, property tax base, internet access, and more. Discriminatory covenants fortified systemic racism and compounded economic divestment in specific communities within Hennepin County; and WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, including the City of Brooklyn Center, recognizes the harm that Discriminatory Covenants —and the racial, religious, and other discriminatory practices that they represent —cause to society in general and to the individuals who are adversely affected by racial, religious, and other discrimination through the presence of discriminatory covenants in the public land records. BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center that: 1. The City of Brooklyn Center disavows and condemns the past use of discriminatory covenants and prohibits discriminatory covenants fiom being used in the future. 2. City Staff and the City Attor�rey is directed to investigate and to identify any real property owned or leased by the City that contains discriminatory covenants and to prepare and record an affidavit or request an examiner's directive discharging such discriminatory covenants pursuant to Minnesota Statute § 507.18, subd. 5. 3. City Staff is directed to participate in the work of the Just Deeds Coalition to educate the community about this and other historically discriminatory practices; to identify contemporary discriminatory systems, policies, and practices; and to take action to dismantle racist systems, practices, and policies in the City of Brooklyn Center to create equity for all. 4. Complete the City Housing Study with recommendations of strategies that would eliminate racist and discriminatory practices and policies in housing. March 22 2021 Date ATTEST: City Cleric The motion for the adoption of the foregoing resolution was duly seconded by member Ryan and upon vote being taken thereon, the following voted in favor thereof: Butler, Elliott, Graves, Lawrence -Anderson, Ryan and the following voted against the same: None whereupon said resolution was declared duly passed and adopted.