Colin Gordon

Samantha Enlund wants 950 more homeowners to disavow racially restrictive covenants still on the deeds to their homes. The now-illegal restrictions were long used to keep Black people and other ethnic and racial minorities out of white neighborhoods.

University of Iowa history professor Colin Gordon found that more than 70,000 St. Louis County homes are located in subdivisions that once barred people of color from living in them.

Unlike some states, Missouri doesn’t have a process laid out for homeowners to amend racially restrictive covenants. But some lawyers passionate about the issue are helping homeowners amend them and pushing for lawmakers to do more.

The covenants, widely used in the early- to mid-1900s, shut Black St. Louisans out of white neighborhoods for decades and had long-lasting impacts on communities. Many homeowners have no idea these legal documents still are associated with their deeds.