To confront an uncomfortable relic from its past, Contra Costa County is taking a deliberate step towards historical reckoning with the launch of the Mapping Prejudice initiative. Collaborating with the University of Minnesota Libraries' Mapping Prejudice Project, the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder's office aims to locate and map the discriminatory covenants once embedded in its property records. These clauses, characterized by an ugly intent to exclude non-white individuals from property ownership, although illegal now, were once a common feature, contributing to persistent patterns of inequality and segregation.
As indicated by the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder's Office, a staggering initial review of 9 million documents has resulted in thousands being earmarked due to their potentially restrictive language. This endeavor is not merely a bureaucratic exercise but is an active response to Assembly Bill 1466, an acknowledgement of historical injustices and a stride towards their redressal. "Mapping Prejudice in Contra Costa County is about more than finding discriminatory language in old documents—it’s about community education and engagement," Kristin B. Connelly, the County's Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters, said. The project, thus, shifts the narrative of discrimination from a distant past to a tangible, living document that has shaped the residents' present neighborhoods.
Volunteers are the linchpin of this community-centered initiative, with citizens across Contra Costa County encouraged to participate. They are offered a unique training opportunity to pore over historical property deeds, searching for those that contain the restrictive clauses. This process aims to foster education and dialogue among the community members, creating a bridge between the community's past and present.
