Only Caucasians: More reports of those nefarious “Caucasians-only” restrictions included in older Santa Barbara County subdivision maps.

A former neighbor in the Cedar Lane area of the Riviera found one in her title documents, going back decades. These “covenants,” of course, are invalid due to latter-day laws and were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948, but apparently lived on in some places.

Longtime resident and history buff Judy Pearce adds this:

“Our house, built just after World War II, has the same ‘Caucasian’ nonsense in the CC&R's as yours. We're in the Concha Loma tract in Carpinteria. Domestic help was an exception.

“I'm sure the Caucasian-only restriction was invoked in your tract if any people of color had the nerve to test it. Realtors would refuse to consider showing homes in certain areas. Racism was definitely not excluded in our community. The KKK had a chapter here. During the first Fiesta a cross was burned on Barker Hill and could be seen downtown; I have no idea how long they were active.

“Nat King Cole was denied entrance to the old Harbor Restaurant; that's a fact, I know, because I had a friend whose father was a bartender there. In the 1950s I remember hearing Dr. (Horace) McMillan, an African American (physician), had so much trouble buying a home in an area he wanted that he had to have someone else (white) buy it for him. He bought in Mission Canyon; up past the Mission.

“I grew up next to the Miramar and the only black person I ever knew as a kid was Grover Barnes, the hotel bell captain for 40-some years. He is one of the dearest people I know. Grover recently said the help all ate together at the hotel; when a few told (Miramar owner Paul) Gawzner they didn't want to eat with Grover, the reply was, ‘Then eat somewhere else.’ It drives me crazy that the Miramar development is being dragged out because Grover was told he can cut the ribbon when it opens. He'll be 102 this month. Everyone loved him, the guests and neighbors alike. To all us kids growing up nearby, Grover was a wonderful friend.”

McCaw (Craig) Wins Suit: Craig McCaw, part-time Montecitan and ex-husband of you know who, has just won a suit against Boeing that could put nearly $700 million in his pocket. An L.A. jury awarded him damages after he sued Boeing for breaching a contract to build and launch satellites for a company Craig heads. He’s already a billionaire, so I wonder if he’d consider using the extra cash to buy a newspaper?

Bad Porn: You’re disgusted with the level of presidential-vice presidential campaigning? Well. Newsweek correspondent Michael Hastings compares covering the races to “watching bad hotel porn.”

Let’s Study Porn: Reports the Daily Nexus, UCSB’s student newspaper: “Several prominent UCSB scholars gathered yesterday to discuss one of America’s favorite pastimes — watching movies of complete strangers f-----g.” (Nexus spelled the whole word out, but I’m not sure The Independent would like for me to do it. You know what I’m talking about, anyway.) The lecture, led by Constance Penley, professor of Film & Media Studies, argued that pornography is “vastly under-researched,” she told me. Not that it’s being ignored, certainly: As a film genre, Penley said, it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. “Event organizer Celine Shimizu said it was important for society to study pornography despite social reservations,” Nexus said. And it’s not just guys doing their best to carefully study porn by the hour and hour. According to Nexus, “Penley said she first became interested in pornography as a subject of intellectual study during her exposure to ‘slash fiction’ — a large Internet subculture of women writing explicit homoerotic fiction featuring characters from Star Trek, such as Spock and Kirk.”

Date Movie Porn: Meanwhile, the L.A. Times devoted a full-page color ad for what the filmmakers call “The funniest Movie of 2008” — Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” Roommates and lifelong friends Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), facing hard times and a mountain of debt, seize upon the idea of making a porn movie for some quick cash, enlisting the help of their friends. While it may be too raunchy to take your grandmother to, it apparently is not a real skin flick but rather a love story, or so they say. “Best date movie of the season,” studio hucksters claim. (First date?)

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