As we’ve reported here before, residents in many Austin neighborhoods have been horrified to discover “whites only” clauses still on their property deeds. Though held unconstitutional and unenforceable decades ago, these racially restrictive covenants remain on deeds all over town – they exist in every council district that fell within the Austin city limits before 1950, including District 1 (Natasha Harper-Madison), District 3 (Pio Renteria), District 4 (Greg Casar), District 5 (Ann Kitchen), District 7 (Leslie Pool), District 9 (Kathie Tovo), and District 10 (Alison Alter).
Common throughout the Jim Crow South, some of Austin’s deed restrictions were added as late as 1948, according to a UT study on the subject. But until now, the process to remove these offensive clauses has been cumbersome, opaque, and, in many cases, virtually impossible. But help may be on the way from, of all places, the Texas Legislature. At least four bills were filed this session that would address the issue in different ways, to clarify and simplify the process to remove racially exclusionary provisions from real property records. Now it appears that first across the line may be Senate Bill 30 from Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, whose office announced Wednesday that the bill “has garnered the signatures of all 31 members of the Texas Senate as joint authors.” SB 30, filed by West along with Sens. John Whitmire and Bryan Hughes, who had each filed their own bills on the topic, “will instruct county clerks to retrieve deeds to properties at the request of a property owner or an interest in real property, and remove language that prohibits ownership of the property based on race, color, religion or national origin.”
It’ll remain interesting to see if any opposition appears for this simple fix to begin to erase racist language from our legal documents. Stay tuned for the predictable dog whistles from the Texas House.
I’ve been reporting for the last couple of months on the slow-simmering controversy over Hancock Golf Course and the push by some neighbors to make it a park, and by others to improve it as a golf course (“Conserve What?” Feb. 12). Here’s the next step in the process: a city survey gauging public opinion, asking, centrally, “Do you support continuing Hancock Golf Course as a public course open to all?” Check out the survey here, and please weigh in, but frankly, this seems like one of those “outreach” efforts that’s more about checking the boxes than about getting useful feedback. Given the polarized opinions, the complexity of the money issues, and the limited amount of bandwidth available for getting the message out (have you heard about this anywhere but here?), it’s hard to imagine the Parks and Recreation Department’s going to hear anything new. So, stay tuned…
Expect some fireworks at tonight’s Austin ISD board meeting (yes, tonight; remember, they’ve moved them to Thursdays) as Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde unveils her administration’s new staffing plan. With district enrollment down sharply in the pandemic, it’s not going to be a pretty picture, and cuts are expected to fall mostly on classroom teachers. But if logic then dictates that electives are the first things to go, the district loses a lot of its richness, and a lot of the things that keep marginal kids in school. Arts and music teachers may be particularly looking over their shoulders today, and if Austin truly values its creative community, we may need the new school board members to stand up for that principle tonight.
The city’s Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center has reopened, starting this week, by appointment only. They take household hazardous waste, electronics, tires, plastic bags, Styrofoam, clothing, and more at 2514 Business Center Dr., with face coverings and social distancing required; schedule an appointment at www.austintexas.gov/dropoff.
This article appears in March 12 • 2021.