While out walking I met a woman of color in my neighborhood, in front of a house newly sold. I introduced myself and said I live in a house about a block away. She smiled and introduced herself and her friend who is visiting her from another city. We chatted a minute or so; I welcomed her to our community. Then I walked on.

In a few minutes I stopped by them again on my way back. In the course of conversation I asked if she had always lived in Fort Wayne. She said she was born and raised near here. She left as a young adult and was in a large metropolis for 40 years. Now she’s retired and living in Fort Wayne because her costs are so much lower here than there. And her friend can visit her here. It’s good, a blessing.

As I walked home I realized, she’s living here in Indian Village; she owns a home in a neighborhood that, when established in the late 1920s, didn’t allow people of color, nor any “Mongoloids”. When my husband and I bought our home in 2011, I read through all the paperwork, every line. It mildly annoyed the lawyer, but my husband just said, “It’ll be a few minutes. She’ll read everything before she signs anything.” The original homeowner’s association covenants were there, along with lot size and location, home size limitations, and setback from the street. They were very specific that no black people could buy a home in this neighborhood. They did carve out space for live-in servants to be black…

We rented for most of our adult lives; this was the first time I remember reading all the way through all the paperwork to own a home. I don’t remember if East Liverpool, Ohio, or Akron, Ohio, had any such documentation in their home buying paperwork. There were no homeowner’s associations in those neighborhoods, so probably not… We had black neighbors, a lot of black neighbors, in both those places. We made friends. Our children made friends. I only remember a couple incidents where skin color made any obvious difference.

Our society has changed for the better in a lot of ways. This is one of them. Still, I wonder if she had to read through those restrictive, now-illegal, original homeowner’s association covenants when she bought her house. I hope not. I want our neighborhood to welcome everyone who obeys good laws and watches out for each other.