S1240 – Racially Restrictive Covenants
This bill allows homeowners to remove racially restrictive covenants that still exist in the chain of title for many Idaho homes in Idaho.
During the twentieth century, both redlining and racial covenants were widely used tools to ensure housing disparities based on race. Developers and private land owners embedded racial covenants in property deeds, prohibiting all non-whites from owning, renting, or occupying property – unless doing so as a domestic servant.
INTERESTING NOTE ABOUT TESTIMONY BEING CUT OFF
This past week, I presented S1240 in House Judiciary and Rules and a very interesting thing happened…
The House committee cut off testimony for the bill after I presented the background for the bill and Professor McKay Cunningham shared how the racist language got on these deeds in the first place: through decades of red-lining where the federal and local governments incorporated racism in law to deny people of color the ability to own or live in a home in more lucrative neighborhoods. This caused wealth disparities that continue to impact communities of color to this day.
Organizations from the Boise Regional Realtors, NAACP, Idaho Fair Housing Council, Idaho Land Title Association, and Idaho Association of Cities endorsed the bill and people there to testify, along with Ed Labenski, my constituent, who was instrumental in bringing this legislation, were not allowed to testify. A committee member “called the question” which means debate is cut off and the question as to whether the bill should pass is voted on immediately.
I have only seen this motion used a couple of times in my 8 years in the legislature when debate gets contentious and goes on too long.
It’s so unfortunate because my white colleagues missed out hearing the impacts of decades of racist policy, and it was clear that from the start, many of them did not want to hear about the bill. Rep Scott had her light on to make a motion when I first started to talk, but the chair ignored it and let me present. It made me wonder: would these same people allow this basic history lesson in our schools? Would our Lt. Gov silence the discussion of this history through her “indoctrination task force?”
After decrying critical race theory for over a year, this bill actually presented a perfect example of Critical Race Theory being used to identify how government intentionally incorporated racism into law to deny access to wealth to people of color. My GOP colleagues in the House committee fell prey to their own feelings of misplaced guilt or bias and just didn’t want to hear anymore.
As I stated in my remarks on the Senate floor earlier in the session, quoting from H377 that the legislature passed last year and docked $2.5M from higher ed budgets for promoting social justice, we “may not be inherently responsible for actions committed in the past,” but we must take responsibility for our actions in the present and address injustices to create a better future for everyone.
- To read more about this bill and watch me chat about it on KTVB, click here