Washington Highlands was one of the first areas of the District of Columbia where housing was desegregated. Until the 1950s, law as well as housing covenants created by developers excluded African Americans from many neighborhoods in the city. But in 1951, the NCHA announced it would not longer segregate its housing complexes in Washington Highlands, and opened them to black residents. It began implementing its policy in 1953. This sparked a strong backlash from whites in Washington Highlands, which at that time had almost no African American residents.