Join us for a neighborhood meeting on racial covenants in Waite Park

The Waite Park Community Council will host a special neighborhood meeting on Thursday, June 30, to address a shameful chapter in the city and neighborhood's history in which Black residents were prohibited from buying or renting homes in the community.

Racial covenants were documents recorded against a home's legal title which banned property owners from selling, renting, or allowing their home to be used by people of certain races. The discriminatory language was not always the same, but most covenants targeted Black people.

Racial covenants were recorded on homes in Minneapolis by developers and homeowners starting in the 1910s. The use of racial covenants forced Black community members to live in racially segregated areas where they could not get mortgages, buy property, or build wealth.

Racial covenants were outlawed by 1968 and are no longer enforceable. Yet, Black people and other people of color in Minneapolis still experience the harm caused by these covenants. In 2010, Minneapolis’ population included 69% white residents and 19% Black residents. However, in the neighborhoods where racial covenants had been common, the population was still 73-90% white.

From 2016 to 2020, the Mapping Prejudice team at the University of Minnesota used technology and volunteers to review thousands of documents looking for racial covenants. They found over 8,000 racial covenants recorded against properties in the City of Minneapolis alone, including more than 200 in the Waite Park neighborhood.

The City of Minneapolis is offering Minneapolis homeowners the chance to learn about and discharge the racial covenants recorded on their properties. It also allows homeowners to reclaim their homes as equitable spaces.

Join us for an informational meeting on the city's Just Deeds project to learn how homeowners can eliminate this hurtful language and reclaim their homes as equitable spaces. Assistant City Attorney Amy Schutt will give a presentation on history of racial covenants and other discriminatory housing practices in Minneapolis, and also take questions from residents.

The meeting will take place at 7pm on Thursday, June 30, on Zoom. Register or sign-in to the meeting at https://tinyurl.com/WPCCjustdeeds

Watch: The TPT documentary ‘Jim Crow of the North’ tells the story of racist, restrictive real estate covenants in the Twin Cities.

WPCC to discuss state of neighborhood home improvement loan programs

The Waite Park Community Council is scheduled to discuss the state of its home improvement and emergency home repair loan programs at its regular monthly board meeting this week.

The community council partners with the Center for Energy and Environment to offer two home loan programs for neighborhood residents. The zero-interest Waite Park Home Improvement Loan program offers up to $15,000 to borrowers earning no more than 80% of Area Median Income. The Waite Park Emergency Deferred Loan, which also has a 0% APR, offers up to $5,000 and has no income limits for borrowers.

Jim Hasnik, director of lending services with the Center for Energy and Environment, is scheduled to give an overview of the program and answer questions for WPCC board members and neighborhood residents. The board may then consider changes to the programs, though none have been proposed in advance.

Participation in the programs has recently fallen off, with several months passing since the last loan was issued. In addition to possible modifications, the board may also discuss ways to raise awareness and better promote the programs so more residents can take advantage of them.

Other items on the agenda include the community council’s upcoming campaign with the city’s Just Deeds program, an updated request for proposals for the council’s Equitable Engagement Plan outreach, and logistics for an upcoming diversity, equity and inclusion retreat for board members.

The meeting is open to the public and will take place at 7pm, Thursday, May 26, via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84266074428). If you are a Waite Park community member and you have an update or announcement you would like to share at the meeting, email agenda@waiteparkcc.org. Full agenda is posted below.

WAITE PARK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
REGULAR BOARD MEETING AGENDA
MAY 26, 2022 via Zoom

7:00: Call to order and land acknowledgement

7:05: Welcome, approval of agenda and April minutes

7:10:  COMMUNITY REPORTS/UPDATES
Parks update, Brian Hall
Community Ed update, Sandi McDonald
Rain Garden update, Kate

7:20. Discussion of home loan programs, Dan
Guest: Jim Hasnik, Center for Energy and Environment

8:00. Racial covenants campaign, Lucas/Dan

8:10. RFP for Equitable Engagement Plan, Leah

8:20 Designation of whistleblower and EEO contact, Dan

8:30. Board retreat, Lucas

8:40: BOARD REPORTS/UPDATES
Treasurer’s Report, Megan
Communications, Gary/Dan
Community Connections, Dan/Gary/Ali
Fall Festival, Scott

9:00: Adjourn

Just Deeds Project helps homeowners remove racial covenants

The City of Minneapolis has launched a new initiative providing Minneapolis homeowners with the opportunity to learn about, acknowledge and discharge racial covenants recorded against their properties. The City’s Just Deeds Project, led by the City Attorney’s Office, will allow people to reclaim their homes as equitable spaces.

Racial covenants were binding documents recorded against a property’s title, which prohibited all future owners of the property from selling it, renting it, or allowing it to be used by people of certain races or ethnicities. Racial covenants were recorded on residential properties in Minneapolis by developers and homeowners beginning in the 1910s to prevent the sale and use of these properties to non-white Minneapolitans. 

Mapping Prejudice, a research project based in the Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota, has compiled a map of over 8,000 properties in Minneapolis with racial covenants, including more than 200 homes in the Waite Park neighborhood.

Through the City’s Just Deeds Project, Minneapolis homeowners can acknowledge and disclaim the racial covenants recorded against their properties by recording a discharge form against their property title. The City Attorney’s Office staff will assist homeowners in completing this process free of charge. Hennepin County has also waived its typical fees associated with this process. Participation in the City’s program will be first-come, first-serve, subject to staffing availability. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Learn more about the Just Deeds Project by visiting the City’s website or by emailing JustDeedsProject@minneapolismn.gov. —via the City of Minneapolis