After learning of the existence of racial restrictive covenants in the old records of 955 properties in Island County, Commissioner Melanie Bacon proposed the commissioners issue an apology on behalf of their predecessors who approved them.

The restrictions, of which the University of Washington’s Racial Restrictive Covenants Project website provides photographic proof, have not been legally enforceable since the Fair Housing Act of 1968 but can still be found in the early records of hundreds of properties.

Most of the neighborhoods identified in the study are located in District 1, which Bacon represents. To her, this would in part explain why South Whidbey is so predominantly white.

Many of the documents show the signatures of the commissioners, auditors and other county staff of the time, who, among the various details and requirements, approved the exclusion of non-whites from buying, renting or occupying those properties.

“The prosecuting attorneys of those days apparently did not advise their clients of the despicable nature of these covenants, and the superior court judges of those days did not stop them from being enacted,” Bacon said.

While the board applauds the good work their predecessors did, Bacon said it’s important to also acknowledge their wrongs.

“They’re gone now, so this is our shame to contend with,” she said.

According to Bacon, the racial restrictions represent an example of systemic racism, in which non-whites were barred from buying beautiful properties on the islands’ coasts. Once the restrictions were outlawed, people of color with already limited resources continued to struggle finding housing in some neighborhoods as property values increased, reducing their chances to pass down wealth to their descendants in the same manner that many white families could.

While expressing her displeasure with the discriminatory covenants, Commissioner Jill Johnson said she felt unsure about apologizing for the actions of others, and it’s something she needs to think about before making a decision.

Similarly to the racist covenants, she observed, the Growth Management Act could be labelled as systemic racism because it places low-income people in urban areas where they would rent small apartment units, surrounded by less natural beauty and experiencing worse air quality.

“We know that those income levels are highly associated with racial demographics, and we still just do that. The state of Washington does that, Island County does that,” Johnson said.

Income, she said, is often a less blatant way to say “race.” Through the Growth Management Act, the county would still be protecting land that has historically been in the hands of white families.

Commissioner Janet St. Clair was not present and could not be reached for comment, though the conversation will resume at a later meeting.

These racial restrictive covenants are not unique to Island County or Washington, and current and past property owners are not to blame for their existence, as already stated in the News-Times story published in Wednesday’s issue.

Most, if not all subsequent property owners, weren’t even aware of the covenants’ existence because people often don’t read the original property documents when selling or buying a home, as stated in the previous story.

As stated in the story, it was the real estate developers who created these stipulations to keep neighborhoods white, allowing white families to pass down desirable properties to their children and descendants. Until 1968, buyers would face litigation if they did not comply.