If you own an old home, there might be discriminatory language in your deed barring Black people from owning the property. It’s called a racial covenant, and even though this language isn’t enforceable anymore, it’s still on the books in the subdivisions of at least a few Pittsburgh neighborhoods — and especially in our suburbs. Local writer and historian David Rotenstein joins us to talk about what got us here, and a new law that could help homeowners address these ugly remnants of the past.

You can read David’s reporting on racial covenants in PublicSource and Pittsburgh City Paper.

**This episode originally published May 8, 2024.

Learn more about the sponsors of this August 7th episode:

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Tree Pittsburgh

Rivers of Steel

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