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Seattle has a long history of policies and practices that prevented people of certain racial and religious backgrounds from buying, renting, or occupying homes in many parts of the city and surrounding areas. Starting with the 1865 ordinance that banned Indigenous people, University of Washington Prof. James Gregory details this history of exclusion by showing how it was implemented through laws, zoning, deed restrictions, redlining, urban renewal, and other governmental actions and through the organized efforts of real estate professionals, banks, and neighborhood associations. The excluded often fought back, and some forms of resistance including campaigns by Black, Japanese American, Chinese American, and Filipino American community groups will be examined. Finally, this talk will also assess the way this history shapes the present, highlighting continuing patterns of housing exclusion and ongoing efforts to open opportunities, including discussion of the 2023 state law (Covenant Homeownership Account Act - HB 1474) that provides compensation to victims of racial restrictive covenants and other forms of state sanctioned housing discrimination.

Video Courtesy of the University of Washington's History Lecture Series titled "Seattle and the Salish Sea: Building and Belonging"