Student uncovers racists language in thousands of St. Louis-area property deeds
By Justin Andrews
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — Thousands of homes across the St. Louis area share a common racial covenant restriction on property deeds.
The restriction means homes can only be sold to white or non-Jewish buyers.
Although the covenants are not enforceable under the law, Webster Groves is looking to create a more inclusive community.
Webster Groves High School sophomore Samantha Enlund is partnering with Webster Groves’ leaders to help people amend the language in their deeds. It’s a school project to help her community that she decided to do after a two-week camp at STL Changemakers.
“It makes me sad that it was something that actually happened in our history,” said Enlund. “It was very shocking.”
Enlund is an aspiring journalist and says she couldn’t believe her eyes when she began researching restrictive covenants and how common they are in the St. Louis area.
A link on the Webster Groves website shows a map detailing all the subdivisions across the St. Louis metro with racially restrictive covenants included in their property deeds, dating back to the 1800′s. Enlund calls it a “hidden cruelty in history.”
“It’s not something that we talk about, and it’s not something that people know about,” said Enlund.
Dr. Marie Peoples, Webster Groves City Manager, says the racially restrictive covenants were used as segregation tools
“We wanted to raise the issue and give homeowners the opportunity to look at their deeds,” said Webster Groves’ City Manager, Dr. Marie Peoples. [It was] to exclude certain types of people from purchasing, renting and being in neighborhoods and typically that was African Americans.”
Governor Mike Parson signed a bill into law in June 2023 to remove the racial language from all newly recorded deeds.
Enlund found the restriction offensive and is now educating homeowners – in hopes they’ll reject the words written in their property deeds. She says a few weeks ago, they got their first one amended.
“It’s something that my community cares about and wants to change. There were a lot of horrified reactions from people who had no idea it was a part of our history,” said Enlund.
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