May 17, 2023

‘Not in My Neighborhood: Legal Housing Discrimination in Montgomery County’ Will Be Online Presentation of Montgomery History on Tuesday, May 23

In recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month, Montgomery History is teaming up with the American Jewish Committee to host a Zoom conversation at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, to examine legal housing discrimination—known as racial restrictive covenants—that prohibited Jews, Blacks, Asians and others to own or rent homes in some Montgomery County neighborhoods in the first three quarters of the 20th Century.

Not in My Neighborhood: Legal Housing Discrimination against the Jewish Community in Montgomery County will be hosted by Montgomery County Historian Rebeccah Ballo in collaboration with the American Jewish Committee The discussion will particularly focus on the discrimination directed toward the Jewish community.

Montgomery Planning’s Segregation Mapping Project has researched how the private and public sectors channeled racial population growth. While Montgomery County’s new suburbs were booming and the real estate industry was busy building new subdivisions, Jewish homeowners were often purposefully excluded from the new developments by design.

In the Downcounty region (inside the Beltway), nearly a quarter of the racially restrictive covenants specifically targeted the Jewish community, barring them from purchasing real estate. The lecture will explore how antisemitism was enshrined in Montgomery County and will highlight the work of the advocates who fought for change.

To access the presentation, go to » WATCH (montgomeryhistory.org).