This sign from the Innis Arden subdivision in north Shoreline dates from the 1940s. William Boeing subdivided the land in 1941 and wrote into the deeds a set of restrictive covenants. Below are numbers 14 and 15 covering “RACIAL RESTRICTIONS” and “ANIMALS.” These covenants still greet potential homeowners in the Innis Arden subdivision.

Although no longer enforceable, they are still part of the deeds that accompany properties as they are bought and sold. Below are a few examples that show the variety of restrictions.

Broadmoor neighborhood

“No part of said property hereby conveyed shall ever be used or occupied by any Hebrew or by any person of the Ethiopian, Malay or any Asiatic Race…excepting only employees in the domestic service on the premises of persons qualified hereunder as occupants and users and residing on the premises.”

Greenlake neighborhood

“No person or persons of Asiatic, African, or Negro blood, lineage or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property or any building thereon except a domestic servant or servants who may actually and in good faith be employed by white occupants of such premises.”

Lake City neighborhood

“No person of African, Japanese, Chinese, or of any other Mongolian descent shall be allowed to purchase, own or lease said real property or any part thereof.”

Queen Ann neighborhood

“No person or persons of Asiatic, African or Negro blood, lineage, or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property”

Magnolia neighborhood

“No person or persons of Asiatic, African or Negro blood, lineage or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property, or any building thereon; except, domestic servant or servants may be actually and in good faith employed by white occupants of such premises.”

Bellevue neighborhood

“No person other than one of the white and Gentile and Caucasian race shall be permitted to occupy any property in said addition or portion of a building theron except a domestic servant”

Clyde Hills neighborhood

This property shall not be resold, leased, rented or occupied except to or by persons of the Aryan race.

Kenmore neighborhood

“None of this property shall be sold, leased or rented to any person or persons other than of Caucasian race use or occupy said premises.”

White Center neighborhood

“No part of said property hereby conveyed shall ever be used or occupied by any Hebrew or by any person of the Ethiopian, Malay or any Asiatic Race…”

Housing discrimination still rampant in 2015

Each year the Seattle Office of Civil Rights tests a selection of apartment complexes for evidence of illegal discrimination. 124 properties were tested in 2014. Two-thirds failed, showing evidence of disparate and illegal treatment of prospective renters on the basis of race, national origins, gender, or sexual orientation. “Discrimination Alleged at 13 Seattle Rental Properties” (Seattle Times, June 13, 2015)

2015 Fair Housing Testing