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project now has permission to search another county’s property records for racist housing deeds.

Stearns County commissioners voted earlier this week to approve a memorandum of understanding with the University of Minnesota Libraries so they could comb for racial covenants — clauses in property deeds that barred specific ethnic groups from owning homes or land.

Those covenants supported racist housing policies for decades.

Brittany Merritt Nash, an assistant history professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, has been 

working with her students to uncover dozens of deed restrictions in Stearns County

. She said most people who look for racial covenants in their community find them, and she’s glad for the increased access to property records.

Related reporting

College students uncover history of racist housing deeds in Stearns County

Stearns County board rejects proposal to help property owners get rid of racial covenants

2024 report highlights racial gaps in homeownership and housing across the state

“The research about racial covenants more commonly occurs in large urban areas, and Stearns County, of course, has a small city — St. Cloud — and is also largely rural, so it is a little unique to find racial covenants in these areas further away from urban cores,” Merritt Nash told Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer on Thursday.

Statewide, 77 percent of white Minnesotans are homeowners while just 32 percent of Black residents own homes, according to research from the 

. Merritt Nash said the homeownership rate for Black Minnesotans in Stearns County is just 8 percent.

“So we’re hoping to use this research to shed light on historic inequalities that continue to linger into the present, that can be used to create initiatives in this effort towards housing equity in the future,” Merritt Nash said. 

Merritt Nash said community donors offered to cover the filing fee for Stearns County homeowners who want to 

 racist language on their deeds. While it doesn’t remove the covenant, discharging adds language saying the owner disavows the language.

MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn contributed to this story.

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Stearns County commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the University of Minnesota Libraries so they could comb for racial covenants — clauses in property deeds that barred specific ethnic groups from owning homes or land.

Mapping Prejudice Project granted access to Stearns County property records

Paper photocopies are spread out on a table

Mapping Prejudice Project granted access to Stearns County property records

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