Detroit Black Neighborhoods Confined by Covenants; Violence Enforces Boundaries

Detroit's Black population grew from 5,700 in 1910 to 120,000 by 1930, hemmed into a narrow corridor of non-covenanted housing on the near east side. The Detroit Real Estate Board maintained a policy that selling or renting to Black buyers in white neighborhoods was 'unethical.' When Black families attempted to move outside approved areas, they faced bombings (at least 25 between 1925 and 1930), mob attacks, and police harassment. The Ossian Sweet case (1925) was one of hundreds of such confrontations, though most ended without legal defense. Racial covenants covered virtually all new suburban development.