[Music] so the declaration of independence claims that all men are created equal but history proves different tonight at 6 pm we begin a series of reports to provide context and hope that america can aspire to a more perfect union home ownership as a lot of people know is a big step towards fulfilling that american dream and redlining wasn't the only way that african americans were strategically kept out of certain communities levittown long island is considered one of the first mass-produced suburbs in the country it was established back in 1947 by william levitt however the deeds for the initial 17 thousand homes in this development came with a clause that excluded african americans the builder levitt had in his deeds something that said you could this property can only be sold to caucasian people now we have to remember those deeds were approved by the federal government the federal government even required levitt to place a clause in the deed of every home in levitt town prohibiting resale to african americans or rental to african americans those deeds are still in the homes today they can't be removed levittown which remains predominantly white set the standard for similar suburbs nationwide pix 11's james ford who is kicking off our series with his report on levittown joins us this morning with a preview of what we can expect this is really eye-opening james yes and thank you very much for having me yes ian wilder a housing advocate is one person that you saw there and look this whole series underscores one major thing which is that a big root of much of the unrest that we're seeing right now is based on the fact that whites and blacks have been kept apart for generations and all of this was done intentionally by the federal government the effects of the racist deeds that you saw just minutes ago or they're still being felt today we were able to track down a family who tried to buy a home in levittown in the early 1960s delores quintine and her daughter madeleine join me this morning via skype good morning to both of you ladies it's great to see you again good morning we first saw you in the story that will air tonight at six o'clock but let's have a conversation if we may about some of what we discussed and its effect now now in the story you talk about how you were treated when you went to look for a home in levittown which has in its deeds that phrase that it's only open to quote members of the caucasian race what's your reaction to the fact that that segregation was promoted by the federal government your thoughts well at the time that we went to apply for the home i had no idea that the federal government was in the middle of it we just wanted a home for the children and you know a better school system and that's why we went to apply for a house in that town my husband was very excited about it because he had read about it so he said let's try levittown we had no idea that the federal government was involved and we talked about this and when you all went to look um the person that met you there the salesperson used some really saucy language against you some of which we can't even repeat on the show talk about that interaction this was 1961 as i recall yeah i believe that's right we had gone there that day and to look around and the um we drove up they let us drive up and my husband said he wanted to look inside and see a home so they said to um he looked at my husband and he looked at me and he said um wait a minute you have to get out of here we don't sell to the n-word and my husband was absolute he was he was really taken back because he couldn't believe that this was happening to him in new york if we were in the south we could understand it but being in new york he did not he just didn't hit him being a veteran um he thought that they you know would be open to veterans but they were not they told us to get out of here and just leave so we had to leave and the story shows that communities like levittown and then after it was established many many others like it barring blacks from living there kept the races apart for generations and that is still the case what effect madeleine what effect do you think this has on the country overall and what effect do you think it's had on the economic health of black families well i think it had an enormous effect um you know you try so hard to to to do better and to be better and um and it was just a horrific thing that my parents had to go through and you know being young at the time um i didn't understand it until now years later um as i got older and now being a part of the advocacy and activism and which i gently receive from my parents um it really hurts it hurts to the core because at this day and time in 2020 and what we're going through now it should not be we should be together we should be as one we should learn how to move effectively um now through the years through the generations and our children my children should not have to be bothered with this nonsense and it has to stop and for it to come back from 61 and now we're still feeling the effects of it now here in 2020 is just it's just appalling but it has to stop at some point so it really hurts in my core that we're still dealing and struggling with this kind of you know racism in in you know in 2020 so yeah it it hurts it really hurts well ladies we can't thank you enough uh you've been very very informative and uh there'll be much more with you both in our piece uh tonight at six o'clock thank you very much for joining us thank you for having us and thank you for having the guts to come and bring the story we appreciate it uh we appreciate you uh dan and vanessa in tonight's piece you'll get to hear more from them uh as well as others regarding this whole situation james this is absolutely incredible but i i'm looking forward to seeing the full series but i have a question for you about the actual deed because i know you saw it which actually says that african-americans are not allowed to own homes in lebanton is there any way to change it no no a deed is like the foundation of your house right you can't change the foundation once i want a deed is written on a home it stays there now look the the uh in 1968 the housing rights act rendered those deeds moot i mean they they're still not enforceable but it's still there you can go to the deed now for any of the 17 000 homes in levittown and by the way the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of homes across the country many of which have these deeds i will say this nassau county making an effort right now two legislators there to open a database that will be accessible to everyone to see their deeds because some people just it's not on their radar screen they'll be able to see if their deeds have these racist covenants in