{"id":6995,"date":"2025-11-19T08:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T13:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=6995"},"modified":"2025-11-19T08:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T13:02:12","slug":"beyond-bizarre-milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/beyond-bizarre-milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Bizarre: Milwaukee\u2019s Racial Deed Restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1420\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6996\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions.webp 1420w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions-300x117.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions-1024x399.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/milwaukees-racial-deed-restrictions-768x299.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1420px) 100vw, 1420px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Milwaukee is dealing with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/states-scrub-racial-deed-restrictions-from-the-records\/\">race matter<\/a> \u2014 affecting tens of thousands of the city\u2019s property deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two researchers, Profs. Anne Bonds and Derek Handley, shared their progress with more than 200 interested attendees this month at Milwaukee Central Library. The findings were beyond bizarre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strange Findings in Milwaukee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The team found racially exclusive language in deeds of particular homes \u2014 and whole subdivisions. Milwaukee isn\u2019t alone in its recordings of discriminatory documents. Deed language in the 1900s barred much of U.S. real estate from Black people, Indigenous people, and others with alarming frequency. References to race or national origin were inserted into deeds for decades, across the country, to keep certain areas white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in Milwaukee, prejudice takes some further turns. The research team leaders described:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Deed language excluding Black residents in the same paragraphs that banned cows and pigs from a property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Language forbidding properties to be sold or rented to non-citizens, and to Jewish, Irish, Italian, or Mexican-American people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Race-based keep-out language covering riverfront properties\u2019 water and ice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bans on deceased people of color from being laid to rest in certain cemeteries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Deed restrictions were inserted by developers, covering full subdivisions at the planning stage. Others resulted from petitions by homeowners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some deed language established bans for a generation, or several decades. Other clauses contained words like <em>in perpetuity.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prof. Derek Handley says today\u2019s de facto segregation in Milwaukee \u201cwas done by design.\u201d While reducing choices and economic opportunities for some groups of people, deed practices fortified a ladder of social status. And some people, Handley points out, made money off the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mapping Segregation by Deed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mapping-segregartion-by-deed.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mapping-segregartion-by-deed.webp 450w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mapping-segregartion-by-deed-300x210.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The project at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Milwaukee started with mapping. Aided by students and thousands of volunteers, the research team plotted out the locations of properties burdened by race-based deed restrictions on file with Milwaukee County. They processed nearly five million images of 20th-century deeds in the county records. Each deed went through five people, for the sake of precision. After about 30 months of work, the crew had found and transcribed more than 30,000 deed restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers and their legions of volunteers created a new, online map. The map is public. It enables lookups of the exact language in property deeds. Now, anyone can search for deed language by street address, or by zooming in on particular areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team wants advocates, researchers and policy makers to make use of this work. Users of the interactive map will be able to trace the growth of restrictive deeds, and how the restrictions engineered communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-accent-5-background-color has-background has-small-font-size\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\"><em><strong>More than 30,000 racial covenants exist in Milwaukee County. That\u2019s more than the total found in the pathbreaking mapping project for <\/strong><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/a-minnesota-first-twin-cities-suburb-requires-removal-of-race-based-deed-restrictions\/\"><strong><em>Greater Minneapolis<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fair Housing Act &nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the early 1900s, Black households were moving from the southern states in significant numbers, seeking economic opportunity. When cities attempted to create racial zoning, the Supreme Court obstructed them. So developers used deed language to skirt the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Race-based deed language got a green light from the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1926 case <em>Corrigan v. Buckley<\/em>. The Court considered property deeds private contracts for the transfers of titles. That left the language to the owners\u2019 discretion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1948, in <em>Shelley v. Kraemer<\/em>, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the court system could not enforce discriminatory language without offending the Fourteenth Amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The practice of racial restriction didn\u2019t stop, though. And all existing racial deed clauses stayed in the records, although rendered unenforceable. Not until the Fair Housing Act of 1968 did the United States bar deed restrictions based on race, color, or national origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>States, including Wisconsin, enacted their own anti-discrimination laws in support of the federal law. At that point, migration patterns into and out of Milwaukee began to change. Prof. Bonds, who teaches geography and urban studies, points to the way migration patterns follow from attitudes, policies, and laws. Segregation, says Bonds, doesn\u2019t just happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Turnabout for Fair Play<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Governments that used to go along with racial deed restrictions are now shifting their policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In just the past few years, resolutions against race-focused deed language have arisen in both the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, as well as Monona, Greendale, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood, and Wauwatosa. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/dane-county-wisconsin-event-helps-deed-holders-delete-racial-covenants\/\">Dane County<\/a>, and its best-known city, Madison, have enacted resolutions within the past year. For Greater Madison, there\u2019s the Dane County Prejudice in Places project. It offers a responsive map showing all the research done so far. Any deed holder can check to see if their title has racially offensive language. They can also find support for discharging the exclusive language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wisconsin Realtors\u00ae Association (WRA) came up with a widely supported proposal. Lawmakers adopted it. Under this new Wisconsin law, a form allows owners to address exclusionary words that remain in the county records. Residents are now able to record official discharges of the language, stating the restrictions are void and unenforceable. WRA\u2019s charity arm is helping to cover the recording fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">But Can the Progress Continue?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>UWM\u2019s Mapping Racism and Resistance Project has done a great deal of work with the mapping phase. The research team needs at least another $30,000 to bring the project to the finish line. There\u2019s still so much work to be done. The research leaders want to equip the website with more interactive features. They want to create a podcast for the volunteers. They want to interview people who have had to confront exclusionary deed practices. They want to document and sustain the stories of resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prof. Bonds says it\u2019s all crucial for policy making. Volunteer transcriber Heather Godley said the project shows how the use of deeds to exclude still affects our society: where the food deserts are, for example. Or the level of access to parks, recreation, and education. Understanding how disadvantages are deliberately maintained is the first stage in making life fairer for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, we\u2019re sorry to say, the Trump administration halted the National Endowment for the Humanities grant that the researchers have relied on so far. The researchers were granted $150K and only got about halfway through the work for which the funds were allotted. Three grad students and a postdoctoral fellow all lost their paid work assignments \u2014 after making remarkable headway in mapping history and providing a much-appreciated public service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope this project will be able to pick up where it left off. To explore what the Mapping Racism and Resistance Project has to offer, visit the page linked <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uwm.edu\/mappingracismresistance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-accent-5-background-color has-background has-small-font-size is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<p><strong>Supporting References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Corrigan v. Buckley, 271 U.S. 323 (1926).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2023 Wis. Act 210, enacted March 22, 2024; refer to Wis. Stat. section 710.25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jay D. Jerde for the State Bar of Wisconsin via <em>WisBar.org<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisbar.org\/NewsPublications\/InsideTrack\/Pages\/Article.aspx?Volume=17&amp;Issue=36&amp;ArticleID=31264\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Racial Covenants \u2013 Saying No to Past Prejudice<\/a> (Oct. 8, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kelly Meyerhofer and Angelika Ytuarte for the <em>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/em> (Gannett): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/education\/2025\/11\/08\/uwm-project-maps-racially-restricted-covenants-across-milwaukee\/87087929007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UWM Mapped Milwaukee\u2019s Racially Restricted Covenants. What&#8217;s the History Behind Your Address<\/a>? (Nov. 8, 2025; updated Nov. 12, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as linked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More on topics: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/facing-up-to-discriminatory-deed-language-what-pennsylvania-did\/\">Pennsylvanians repudiate racial deed restrictions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/st-paul-steps-up-city-begins-discharging-racial-exclusions-from-deeds\/\">St. Paul discharges racial deed restrictions<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/states-scrub-racial-deed-restrictions-from-the-records\/\">States scrub racial deed restrictions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:UWM_Sign.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Caelb375<\/a>, licensed under\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0 International<\/a>. Panoramic map of Milwaukee from Picryl (<a href=\"https:\/\/garystockbridge617.getarchive.net\/amp\/media\/milwaukee-wis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Domain Media<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Milwaukee is dealing with a race matter \u2014 affecting tens of thousands of the city\u2019s property deeds. Two researchers, Profs. Anne Bonds and Derek Handley, shared their progress with more than 200 interested attendees this month at Milwaukee Central Library. The findings were beyond bizarre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,59],"tags":[1078,2552,697,1026,2988,2986,1093,1367,2987,2554],"class_list":["post-6995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deed-restrictions","category-wisconsin","tag-deed-restrictions","tag-discriminatory-deeds","tag-fair-housing","tag-fair-housing-act","tag-mapping-racism","tag-milwaukee","tag-property-records","tag-racial-covenants","tag-segregation-history","tag-wisconsin-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beyond Bizarre: Milwaukee\u2019s Racial Deed Restrictions - Deeds.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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