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A law firm recently put property on the market, stating that the land was for sale to "whites only." A complaint was filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination as a result of the sign. The legal notice, which appeared May 17th, was a reprint of the language in the deed of the property, stating:
"The said land shall not be sold, leased or rented to any person other than of the Caucasian race."
The statement was placed in the New Bedford Standard-Times.
Both the newspaper and the law firm placing the ad issued an apology:
''We do not condone the language and do not believe that it would be enforceable. It is industry practice to include in the notice of sale the exact legal description as set forth in the mortgage,'' said Harmon Law in a statement. And Mary Harrington, the publisher of the newspaper, said, ''It was a gross error on our part to publish the notice and we sincerely apologize to our readers.''
The ads were generated by scanning deeds of properties that have been subject to foreclosure. The high number of foreclosure notices is what led to the oversight. Mandi Costa, a resident of New Bedford, is the one who filed the complaint.
''I was shocked when I read it,'' Costa said. ''I did a lot of research and found out that this used to be a common practice in property deeds. It just goes to show that racism and discrimination is still out there.''
Obviously, the world is a better place because of Ms. Costa's complaint. The ad also reminds us that although our nation has changed dramatically since the days of slavery and Jim Crow, there are quite a few remnants of discrimination in our society. In fact, I would argue that language such as this in a property deed is among the least dangerous forms of residual racism in our society.
More damaging reminders of racial inequality, which are created by past racism, are asymmetries in America's systemic power structures, where African Americans find themselves on the bottom rung of opportunity and access.
For example, many corporations do not have African-American managers, universities don't hire African-American professors and prisons are full of black people. None of these disparities occurred overnight and are primarily the result of inherited power and opportunity constructs that started during slavery and Jim Crow.
One of the reasons I was so disturbed about the Supreme Court nomination of former Harvard Dean Elena Kagan was because Kagan simply followed Harvard tradition closely and hired zero tenured or tenure track black faculty members during her time as dean. In Harvard's 250-year history, it has been a closely held tradition to keep African-American faculty out of the law school.
These hiring practices occur within universities and corporations across America and are nothing more than the result of brainless commitment to dysfunctional traditions. If we do not directly confront remnants of past discrimination, they will continue to haunt and cripple our society. We must all work deliberately for the next 100 years to fulfill the dreams of Dr. Martin L. King Jr. and clean up the mess from our country's unfortunate conduct.
It is because of such a commitment that I have agreed to speak at the march on Washington on August 28th, the 47th anniversary of the original march by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We have a lot of work to do in order to make our country what it was meant to be. We must all make a contribution.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (243)
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By: alie on 6/08/2010 11:25AM
segration is alive and kicking in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ONE NATION UNDER GOD!
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By: Kyoteee on 6/08/2010 6:46PM
Segregation IS alive and well ... within the NAACP, within La Raza, within black-only beauty pageants and proms, etc.
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By: djkut on 6/08/2010 10:30AM
Here they go these Whites folks with those codes words " Take our Country Back !! "
Now I want to see if Bill will be in here defending it or better yet will he be in this thread period ?
Lord knows if it is something negative about Blacks and Brown folks he is all in the thread the 1st to post !
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By: Bill on 6/09/2010 12:33PM
My Name is Bill but I don't think I am the one you are looking for. I don't get offended when you paint with a broad brush and make prejudiced statements like "here they go these white folks..." even though it is an blindly ignorant comment. There are real people and real organizations involved that we can discuss,I don't think they answer to "hey white folk." That said, I support a groups right to free association and to isolate people they might not wish to cater to, such as NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus, Black Miss America etc. it is only logical that like minded individuals should wish to hang together and exclude others, without hating those others.
So here is a thought, census analyst predict that sometime in the 2020 decade those "white folks" you detest so much will no longer be in the majority. Do you suppose then it will be okay for a Congressional White Caucus? I'm just wondering what your take will be on that? Maybe you will see it as most rich people are white therefore the law should stop all whites from free association because 3% own 90% of the nations wealth. Help me out with this one.
Seems to me, a poor (I mean that literally) white guy just can't catch a break. It appears that in your mind, he is evil by nature of his skin color. What does that remind you of?
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By: Arianna on 6/08/2010 10:47AM
This story is only trying to stir up racial tensions. The picture above is not the sign that was placed to sell this property. If you notice The ads were generated by scanning deeds of properties that have been subject to foreclosure. It is the exact wording on the mortgage which was probaly written many years ago. The story is a non issue, the ad should have definitely been proof read before being placed, but who would even think that a mortgage would read the way this one did. Give it up Dr. Watkins, stop making issues where there are none.
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By: james lawson on 6/08/2010 3:27PM
Finally, somebody that knows what's going on, and here I thought I was the only one. You tell em'.
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By: Arianna on 6/08/2010 4:31PM
First of all this picture was a Sign with American flag "We want white tenants in our white community," directly opposite the Sojourner Truth homes, a U.S. federal housing project in Detroit, Michigan. A riot was caused by white neighbors' attempts to prevent Negro tenants from moving in. This picture was taken in February 1942 so why is Boyce Watkins displaying it as if it just happened?? Secondly, as I mentioned previously, the wording was from a mortgage probably written back in the 30's or 40's, don't fall for this type of "journalism" from Watkins. He is a race baiter trying to cause a problem where there isn't one. Smarten up people. Just because he is a black man doesn't mean he is on the side of black people.
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By: Shannon on 6/08/2010 2:08PM
"For example, many corporations do not have African-American managers (YEAH AND MANY DO SO WHAT?), universities don't hire African-American professors (WHAT?????, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS "FACT"???) and prisons are full of black people (I THINK YOU MEAN BLACK CONVICTS)"
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By: Veronica on 6/08/2010 4:53PM
Many corporations have Black managers to only satisfy a quota. Major Universities do not hire Black peoples at the same rate the do whites. And lastly, the amount of Blacks in the prison system is alarming. How can 10-11% of the population make up the majority of the prison population. That makes no sense. There is a cycle that America has created in hopes to keep the Black population under control.And yes the are convicts but first and foremost the are PEOPLE.
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By: Ciss on 6/08/2010 8:18PM
Isn't the majority of the University run by liberals? Can someone tell me if this is true or not? I've been told this by hispanics, blacks, whites just about everyone, is this true? And if so, I thought they proclaimed them self the fighters for the minorities and getting them equal rights. They are also the same people who continue to give more money to the poor. Telling them they deserve this because they are the minorities, they've had a rough life and so on. This just teaches and re-enforces each generation to feel/think that its the governments job to give them money because its everyone else's fault that they are were they are today. Our system makes it to easy to be poor, you get housing, food, money and so fourth. And the poor still have the latest phones, TV's, sneakers and so on. Being poor isn't supposed to be that easy its supposed to be hard; hard in the sense that it will encourage you to get out of that system and work hard for a better life. What is the incentive if everything is given to you at no cost to you?
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