Our January offering will go to Mapping Prejudice, a research project based at the University of Minnesota dedicated to exposing the structural barriers in the Twin Cities that have stopped people of color from buying property in white communities, limiting access to community resources like parks and schools. They have uncovered thousands of properties in Hennepin County that have racially restrictive covenants in their deeds, including our own UUCM church property.

The project is also demonstrating the long-term effects of segregated housing that result in present day disparities in other metrics of well-being. Their efforts in Minneapolis are made especially urgent by the city’s contemporary racial disparities, which are some of the largest in the nation. Continue reading below for more details. Thank you for your generosity!

Also check out these upcoming Mapping Prejudice online events:
Deed Review Session on Tuesday, January 5 at 7 PM
Mapping Prejudice Presentation + Q&A on Sunday, January 10 at 11:15 AM

How to Donate: You can donate online using a credit card at bit.ly/giveuucm. You may also mail a contribution to UUCM at 2030 Wayzata Blvd E, Wayzata MN 55391. Simply make your check out to “UUCM” with “Social Generosity” in the memo line.

More information: Initial Mapping Prejudice project research shows that covenants created demographic patterns that remain in place in Minneapolis today. Residential segregation reinforces other disparities in employment, education and health care. Most notable is the gap in homeownership rates. While 78 percent of white families own homes in the Twin Cities, only 25 percent of African-American families have title to their dwelling.

George Floyd’s death awakened many to the very real disparities in policing experienced by people of color. The work of Mapping Prejudice exposes the roots and history of this disparate treatment in other areas of life in our community. Mapping Prejudice has uncovered thousands of properties in Hennepin County that have racially restrictive covenants in their deeds, including our own UUCM church property and the properties of the homes in the Holdridge neighborhood, of which we are a part. Their work can form the basis of further work toward equity in housing and access to services white communities take for granted. Mapping Prejudice is supported by donations and by the work of volunteers, including members of our church, who review deeds for restrictive covenants to help build the map of segregated housing  in our community.