Map and toolkit to expose and repeal racially restrictive covenants

October 31, 2025

Justin Schell, U-M Library's director of Digital Scholarship and Creative Spaces, is a member of the Justice InDeed, team, a collaborative project dedicated to exposing and responding to the fact that the deeds to thousands of homes in Washtenaw County contain “racially restrictive covenants” – provisions prohibiting Black people and other minorities from living there.

The group recently published both an interactive county map so residents can search for properties to see whether they have restrictive covenants, and a do-it-yourself toolkit to help homeowners and neighborhoods repeal racist restrictions from their properties.

Read the full story from the Ann Arbor News:

U-M affiliates (requires authentication): New map shows thousands of Washtenaw County properties with racist restrictions

Available to all (requires registration with MLive): New map shows thousands of Washtenaw County properties with racist restrictions