Long Island's history of housing discrimination may soon be tracked and preserved.

For Nassau Legislators Carrie Solages and Arnold Drucker, it's not a question of race, but understanding how race played a role in the formation of Long Island's neighborhoods.

"The history of this great county started with racial covenants. Legal documents that said, 'You shall not sell this property to anyone who is non-Caucasian,'" says Solages.

At a news conference in Mineola, Solages and Drucker showed a lease agreement from 1948 in Levittown. Item No. 25 says, "The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race..."

In order to preserve history, the legislators have introduced a bill that would form a team of volunteers who will create a countywide database of housing documents that once segregated.

"The purpose of this legislation is to further probe the genesis of this racial and religious divide right here in Nassau County," says Drucker.

Solages says after the data is collected, it will be uploaded and searchable in an electronic database accessible to the public. Molloy College will be part of the process.

"Molloy College is prepared to participate in this project, which intends to make clear to Long Islanders how inequity was brought by deliberate decisions and policies that cemented institutional racism and how we live, how we work and how we educate our families," says Dr. Lisa Newland.

Solages says ultimately, "We must educate ourselves and learn and unlearn what divides us and what unites us, because at the end of the day, we're all the same."