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Whites Only: Racist Home Ownership Rules Still On The Books In El Dorado Hills Community

EL DORADO HILLS (CBS13) — Racist rules from more than half a century ago banning non-whites from owning homes in an El Dorado Hills community is drawing new concerns among residents.

The illegal language banning minorities in Lakeside Estates' CC&Rs is still included in the homeowners' agreements distributed today, including to some minorities who actually live there.

The so-called "racial occupancy" clause, written in 1959 reads:

"No person except those of the white Caucasian race shall use, occupy or reside upon any residential lot or plot, in this subdivision, except when employed as a servant or domestic in the household of a White Caucasian tenant or owner."

Cameron Foster and his family just moved into the Lakeside Estates and discovered the old racist wording. They want to change it.

"We had just moved in and our realtor told us that the CC&R had a racial clause that said you couldn't live here unless you were Caucasian," he said.

The racist rules were equally surprising to the Gonzalez family, who moved in two years ago. They told CBS13 the clause was "mind-boggling."

The Lakeside subdivision is ethnically diverse now, although not all residents are passionate about taking time to remove the racism rooted in their community's past.

"I never disputed it because I just figured that people are above that now," said Judy Barnes, a resident told CBS13.

"It's not gonna make or break my world," another resident said.

The Foster family says they are planning a signature drive of the 300-plus homeowners who live in the community.

"I just don't think in this day and age that's how things should be, and I just want to set that stage for the world that my kids are gonna grow up in," said Foster.

There was a brief effort two decades ago to remove the language but no action was taken.

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