HOA Racism Remains

In my book, Neighbors At War, I delve deeply into this nation’s history of the enforcement of racially restrictive covenants in millions of property deeds across the country. Yes, we’ve made a ton of progress in the last five decades in wiping out housing discrimination. But in little spots around the country the old mindset remains. Every time I see one of these stories pop up I consider it a national shame that a few people still live in the racist past.

A black man in Texas is in court trying to rent a home in an all-white property owners association. A covenant in the Clearwater Bay POA mandated that homeowners never rent or sell to “anyone of African descent.”

As I write these words I’m looking at an amazing anthropology article in the current issue of National Geographic. The article is about the recent discovery of a new species of bi-pedal hominid in a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa.  No matter what your religious or political beliefs are, every human being on the face of this planet is “of African descent.” The black man in that Texas POA should hire a few expert witness anthropologists for his federal discrimination case. They’ll be able to prove in court that not a single member of that Association qualifies for home ownership under its own covenants.

We are all black. And yes, black lives matter.

(link to KSLA story on Texas discrimination case)

(link to National Geographic story on Homo naledi, a new species on the human family tree)

 

 

 

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About

Ward Lucas is a longtime investigative journalist and television news anchor. He has won more than 70 national and regional awards for Excellence in Journalism, Creative Writing and community involvement. His new book, "Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association," is now available for purchase. In it, he discusses the American homeowners association movement, from its racist origins, to its transformation into a lucrative money machine for the nation's legal industry. From scams to outright violence to foreclosures and neighborhood collapses across the country, the reader will find this book enormously compelling and a necessary read for every homeowner. Knowledge is self-defense. No homeowner contemplating life in an HOA should neglect reading this book. No HOA board officer should overlook this examination of the pitfalls in HOA management. And no lawyer representing either side in an HOA dispute should gloss over what homeowners are saying or believing about the lawsuit industry.

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