Private acts of housing discrimination common in the late 1800s and early 1900s included which practice?

• A. Deed restrictions
• B. Zoning restrictions
• C. Public housing
• D. Mortgage lending practices

Answer: (A)

Private deeds that included racially restrictive covenants show how housing discrimination was practiced privately in that era. Developers and property owners would place clauses in deeds or subdivision covenants that barred selling or occupying property to people of certain races, religions, or ethnic groups. Because these restrictions were private agreements—not government rules—they operated outside public zoning or housing programs and were enforced through private actions or court challenges. This approach helped create and sustain segregated neighborhoods well before modern anti-discrimination laws took full effect. Zoning restrictions are government-imposed, public housing is government-owned, and discriminatory mortgage practices involve lenders—not private deed terms, making deed restrictions the most accurate reflection of private housing discrimination in that period.