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r i <br /> -ARVEN HILLS <br /> CITY OF ARDEN HILLS <br /> COUNTY OF RAMSEY <br /> STATE OF MINNESOTA <br /> RESOLUTION NO. 2023-018 <br /> RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE USE OF DISCRIMINATORY <br /> COVENANTS, DISCHARGING DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS ON <br /> CITY-OWNED PROPERTY,AND APPROVING PARTICIPATION IN <br /> THE JUST DEEDS COALITION <br /> WHEREAS,discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers to prevent <br /> BIPOC and non-Christian individuals from buying or occupying property in certain areas,and they <br /> were common throughout the United States from the early 1900s to the 1960s; and <br /> WHEREAS, the purpose of discriminatory covenants was to explicitly exclude BIPOC <br /> and non-Christian individuals from living in Arden Hills. These tools segregated the metro area <br /> and built a hidden system of apartheid; and <br /> WHEREAS, in 2016, the University of Minnesota founded Mapping Prejudice to expose <br /> the racist practices that shaped the landscape of the metro area. Mapping Prejudice researched <br /> restrictive covenants in Hennepin County and created the first-ever comprehensive map of racial <br /> covenants in an American county. The project mapped 24,131 covenants in Hennepin County,and <br /> over 2,000 covenants in Ramsey County; and <br /> WHEREAS, it is historically understood that local leaders knew about the use of <br /> discriminatory covenants and sanctioned their use. While no specific examples could be located <br /> in City of Arden Hills records, such covenants were used before Arden Hills was incorporated as <br /> a city; and <br /> WHEREAS,the City of Arden Hills may own parcels of land that contain a discriminatory <br /> covenant; and <br /> WHEREAS, restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable. Legal efforts to eliminate <br /> Discriminatory Covenants include Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), in which the United <br /> States Supreme Court prohibited courts from enforcing Discriminatory Covenants and the <br /> Minnesota legislature in 1953 enacted statutes that prohibited new covenants, but existing <br /> covenants were still legal in Minnesota until 1962; and <br /> WHEREAS, as a result of these judicial and legislative actions,today, Minnesota law and <br /> federal law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race, color, creed, <br /> religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, <br /> sexual orientation, or familial status and those state and federal prohibitions extend to the refusal <br /> Page 1 of 3 <br /> 12231574v1 <br />