# Lies told by prominant democrats **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 2, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428 "2010-01-02T20:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/281 "2010-01-06T14:53:40Z")
[Here](http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants.htm) is an article containing a study of just one county in Seattle, Washington. 414 racially restrictive deeds and covenants were found. These apply to whole neighborhoods, sections, or subdivisions, which means we’re talking about considerably more than 414 individual property parcels. The article also says that it wasn’t until 2006 that: > [@](#): > > …Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 6169, which makes it easier for neighborhoods governed by homeowners associations to rid themselves of racial restrictive covenants. Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, introduced the measure after this project focused attention on the lingering effects of these covenants. An article on the passage of that law begins: > [@](#): > > The language of segregation still haunts Seattle. It lurks in the property deeds of thousands of homeowners living in neighborhoods outside of the Central and International districts. Many Queen Anne residents, for instance, have this clause in their deeds: "No person or persons of Asiatic, African or Negro blood, lineage, or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property … " > > Racial restrictions were routinely added to deeds prior to 1948 and in many neighborhoods prohibited the sale, rental or use of property by Asian Americans and Jews as well as blacks. These covenants have not been legally binding for half a century, but they are an important reminder of deep patterns of residential segregation that have not entirely disappeared. Well, **Zoe**? How’s your thinking now? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/282 "2010-01-06T15:17:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > [Here](http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants.htm) is an article containing a study of just one county in Seattle, Washington. And here’s a map of Chicago, showing that in 1947, about the entire South Side had restrictive covenants: > **[Racial Restrictive Covenants on Chicago's South Side in 1947](http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1761.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/283 "2010-01-06T15:40:26Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > And here’s a map of Chicago, showing that in 1947, about the entire South Side had restrictive covenants: > > [Racial Restrictive Covenants on Chicago's South Side in 1947](http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1761.html) That would include the Kenwood neighborhood, according to that map. So odds are that that clause was in the deed for President Obama’s house. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/284 "2010-01-06T15:54:15Z")
I seriously doubt that. If that were true, somebody would have found it during the election. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/285 "2010-01-06T16:57:42Z")
Kenwood did have restrictive racial covenants, though. That was what led to the Hansberry v Lee case ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/286 "2010-01-06T17:02:24Z")
Not disputing that, I just think that if it were still in Obama’s own deed, somebody would have dug it up. I’m sure Hillary’s and McCain’s research teams must have combed through every document he ever signed. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/287 "2010-01-06T17:19:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Not disputing that, I just think that if it were still in Obama’s own deed, somebody would have dug it up. I’m sure Hillary’s and McCain’s research teams must have combed through every document he ever signed. Can’t see how that would be a winner for them. Especially if they had the same covenant in some properties they owned (dunno if they did or not…just saying). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/288 "2010-01-06T17:43:23Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Not disputing that, I just think that if it were still in Obama’s own deed, somebody would have dug it up. I’m sure Hillary’s and McCain’s research teams must have combed through every document he ever signed. I don’t see it as a winner either – clearly Obama’s ownership would illustrate the nullity of such a clause. What would the message be? If McCain or Clinton had owned such a property, they might have been dinged from the Zoes of the world, but Obama’s ownership wouldn’t say anything at all. Now, if someone else had attacked McCain or Clinton with that info, then Obama’s similar situation would have taken the sting out of it. But I think, Zoe notwithstanding, that most people today have only to look around their own neighborhood to understand that such clauses are of no effect whatsoever. So I have no idea if Obama’s Chicago residence has such a clause, but I don’t believe we can conclude from the lack of news about it that it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/289 "2010-01-06T17:47:21Z")
Not to mention that it wouldn’t make sense to fault Obama, a Black man, for living in a Black (or at least racially mixed) neighborhood where Blacks supposedly aren’t allowed to buy property. If anything, it would show the absurdity of claiming that these laws mean anything these days. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/290 "2010-01-06T19:50:10Z")
Nah. There would be enough “deeders” or “covenanters” out there who would manufacture some outrage. He’s a hypocrite! ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428/291 "2010-01-06T21:30:41Z")
I’m going mark this thread as a failed experiment. Staying on topic has proven too difficult. I apologize for my lose definitions but feel no matter how well worded and how well defined the rules of the thread were we’d have ended with similar results. I appreciated most **elucidator** ’s quotes throughout the thread. While he is often to wordy for my taste but I enjoyed his insight. Thank you all for participating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-told-by-prominant-democrats/523428.md?page=14)