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Dane County Prejudice in Places Project

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Covenants in property deeds

Racial and discriminatory covenants in property deeds were commonly included from the 1910s through the 1960s. While these covenants are no longer legally enforceable, the language still appears on many deeds today.

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This lingering text serves as a historical reminder of the systemic racism embedded in housing policies and practices of the past, affecting property ownership, community dynamics, and access to equitable housing opportunities.

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In partnership with Realtor Associations, Dane County launched the Prejudice in Places project. This project has mapped the properties across the county, including Madison, that contain these covenants and provide links to the documents' text.

To look up your property and see if this applies to you and for more information, visit Prejudice in Places.

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Dane County is gathering the property and legal professionals you need to perform this restorative act at this free event. Be one of several hundred property owners to share in this significant collective action.  Opening remarks from County Executive Melissa Agard, Board Chair Patrick Miles, Wes Sparkman, Director of the Office of Equity & Inclusion, and others.

Call to Action!

Come to the Alliant Energy Center, Lake Rooms, Exhibition Hall (upstairs) to fill and file "Discharge and Release of Discriminatory Restriction Affecting Real Property," June 17 from 5-7:30 p.m. Bring a legal form of identification.

Document recording fees may be waived thanks to a Wisconsin Realtors Association Foundation grant.

A project of the County Executive, Board of Supervisors, Planning & Development, and Office of Equity & Inclusion. This project is supported by WI Act 210 and Dane County Resolution 2024-305.

Repudiating Racial and Discriminatory Covenants in Madison Property Records Resolution

WHEREAS, the City of Madison values and promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our community, and has made a commitment to identify, address, and repair discrimination based on race and ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex and gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity within the community; and

WHEREAS, racial covenants, also known as discriminatory covenants, were restrictions inserted into property deeds that prohibited purchase, rental, or occupancy of a residence based on race and other protected classes. They were used nationwide for most of the 20th century as an insidious tool to prevent non-whites, non-Christians, and other minorities at the time from buying or occupying land in America’s growing suburbs and residential neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, although these covenants are illegal and they are no longer valid or enforceable, they can still be found in the land deeds of almost every American community, including in Madison; and

WHEREAS, the legacy of these covenants remains in our communities in the form of entrenched segregation and lower rates of homeownership and generational wealth for people of color; and 

WHEREAS, the Dane County Prejudice in Places project has identified and confirmed discriminatory restrictive language in Dane County real estate records, including those in Madison, and the land records are now mapped; and

WHEREAS, these old land records with racially restrictive covenants for various subdivisions and communities contain language such as the following, which reads, “Only members of the Caucasian race shall use or occupy any dwelling on said plat, excepting that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race employed by an owner or tenants” (1937) and “The premises shall not be sold or conveyed to any Jew, Italian, Negro or member of the yellow race.” (1938); and

WHEREAS, the aforementioned language is morally repugnant, immoral, and has no basis in law, having been declared unenforceable under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1948 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), as well as outlawed by the Fair Housing Act in 1968; and

WHEREAS, on March 22, 2024, Governor Evers signed the 2023 Wisconsin ACT 210 declaring discriminatory restrictions in instruments that affect real property void and unenforceable, and allowing an owner of real property to discharge and release such a discriminatory restriction [see Wisconsin Statutes 59.43 (9) (d) and 710.25]. 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Madison Mayor and Common Council repudiate racial and discriminatory covenants as enduring signs of embedded and systemic racism and other discrimination in our society, and commit to continuing to redress the harmful legacy of these covenants in our community.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council encourages residents of Madison to utilize the Dane County Prejudice in Places website to identify whether their property contains a racial or discriminatory covenant and how to remove covenants.

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District 10 - Alder Figueroa Cole

Alder Yannette Figueroa Cole

Alder Yannette Figueroa Cole

District 10
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