As the Great Northward Migration worked through the first half of the 20^th century, localities started to implement restrictive covenants and redlining, which created segregated neighborhoods and served as a foundation for the existing racial disparities in wealth in the United States. These covenants were in place throughout most of the neighborhoods in Clayton, including the Moorlands Addition.

While the 1968 Fair Housing Act finally made such covenants illegal, the restrictive language remained, passed down largely unnoticed in the deed documents from one generation to another -- a vestige of a shameful part of our history.

Ben Uchitelle was determined to change that. Words matter, and these words were especially painful and at odds with the welcoming community we aspire to be.  A lawyer, former Clayton mayor and current member of the Community Equity Commission (CEC), Ben was insistent that racially restrictive language should be rooted out of our city.  Thus began a collaborative effort between the CEC, Clayton City Manager David Gipson, Clayton City Attorney Kevin O’Keefe, and the residents from the various neighborhood associations.

The first step was to locate the actual indentures. Ben found an ally in his search in Charles Krull, President of Title Plant Operations at Metropolitan Title Data, Inc. Charles knew exactly how to navigate the labyrinth of county records to find the original neighborhood indentures, some of which dated back so far, they were handwritten.

There are 39 neighborhoods in Clayton, nearly all included racial restrictions in their indentures. As of November 8, 2022, the hateful language has either been purged or disavowed by the City of Clayton in all of them. A lot of people came together to make this happen. The Community Equity Commission, chaired by Ben Uchitelle, would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to ensure that we are living up to our mission of being a diverse, equitable, accessible and inclusive community.