On July 1st, 2020, Virginia joins a handful of states that ban discriminatory housing restrictions referred to as “racial covenants” that were, until recently, still presented to homeowners in 2020—more than fifty years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

This year, we’ll explain how we got here, why it took so long, and how other states can help make racial covenants a thing of the past.

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Media coverage about our research and legislative efforts

  • Chris Fullman reviews deed records at Henrico County Courthouse. Photo by Catherine Komp-VPM

    Mapping Projects Show Lasting Impact Of Redlining, Racial Covenants In Virginia

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  • Interior of the Virginia's General Assembly House chambers. Photo by Craig Carper-VPM

    House Adopts Bill Banning Racist Housing Covenants

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  • ‘Legacy of Shame’: How Racist Clauses in Housing Deeds Divided America

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  • Downtown chicago during sunrise. Photo by Scott Olson-Getty Images

    Everyone Pays A Hefty Price For Segregation, Study Says

    There’s a compelling question at the heart of a report released this week by the Metropolitan Planning Council.

    Read more
  • CNN logo

    Racist language is still woven into home deeds across America. Erasing it isn’t easy, and some don’t want to

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  • Mapping Cville

    A joint project with the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) that maps inequities in Charlottesville from past to present.

    Read more
  • Mapping Prejudice

    Mapping Prejudice

    Visualizing the hidden histories of race and privilege in the urban landscape in Minnesota

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  • Detroit's Brewster-Douglass towers seen from behind barbed wire. Photo by Paul Sancya-AP

    A ‘Forgotten History’ Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America

    Read more

Recommended reading on how others are dealing with racial covenants

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    Make Better Deeds is a privately-run volunteer research and public awareness project by members of the 2019 Leadership Metro Richmond Leadership Quest program’s Civil War History Immersion Group.

    We currently receive no funding or donations, nor does this group endorse or contribute to any political candidates, parties, campaigns. That said, we are open to potential financial assistance to support our public awareness efforts.