Mission

It is the mission of Justice InDeed to:

1. Expose the truth that the thousands of homes in Ann Arbor, in Washtenaw County, and all over Michigan have deeds prohibiting Black people and other people of color from living there;

2. Educate the public and policymakers about how racially restrictive covenants and other racist housing practices are responsible for housing segregation today, and how these practices have stolen wealth and opportunity from people of color;

3. Eliminate or reform racially restrictive covenants; and

4. Encourage the adoption of housing policies to repair the damage done by racially restrictive covenants and other racist housing practices.

Project Team

• Michael Steinberg, Professor from Practice and Director of the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative, University of Michigan Law School

• Yodit Mesfin-Johnson, FutureRoot

• Robert Goodspeed, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan

• Jessica A.S. Letaw, FutureRoot

• Justin Schell, Director, Digital Scholarship and Creative Spaces, University of Michigan Library

• Hillary Poudeu Tchokothe, Undergraduate, University of Michigan

• Sarah Portwood, U-M Law Student

• Charles Clark, U-M Law Student

Former contributors:

• U-M Law Students: Susan Fleurant, Alex Nichols, Liza Davis, Laura Durand, Camelia Metwally, Dianne Kee, Hannah Greenhouse, David Fegley, Will Brodt, Nina Gerdes, Jonathan Barnett, Mickey Terlep, Collin Christner, Anna Silk, Ewurama Appiagyei-Dankah, Carol Guarnieri, and Brendan Flynn

• Research Assistants: Miguel Ceballo-Countryman, Grace Stephan, Bailey Sullivan, Soyoon Ryu, AiLi Pigott, Cydney Heed, and Isabelle Zeaske

A very special thanks to John G. Cameron Jr. for advising the Justice InDeed team on Michigan property law.

Advisory Board

• Rev. Mashod Evans, Bethel AME Church

• Rev. Rodney Green, New Hope Baptist Church

• William Hampton, President of the Ann Arbor Branch of the NAACP

• Joyce Hunter, President of the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County

• Arianne Slay, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge

• Delphia Simpson, Washtenaw County Public Defender

• Dwight Wilson, Educator, Author, and Religious and Human Rights Leader

• Matthew Countryman, Chair of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan

• Cynthia Harrison, Ann Arbor City Council

• JoAnn McCollum, President of West Willow Neighborhood Association

• Sarah Tear, Habitat for Humanity

• Michael Appel, Avalon Housing

• Pastor David Crout, New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church

Advisory Board Committees

Policy Committee: Chaired by Delphia Simpson and Jessica A. S. Letaw, the Policy Committee seeks to ensure that elected officials consider the legacy of racially restrictive covenants and other racist housing policies when adopting housing policies. The committee also explores possible ways to repeal racially restrictive covenants through community organizing, legislation, and litigation.

Education Committee: Chaired by Joyce Hunter, the Education Committee creates and shares content on racially restrictive covenants and the history of segregated housing in Washtenaw County through curriculum, museum exhibits, and online presentations.

History Committee: Chaired by Matthew Countryman, the History Committee documents the use of racially restrictive covenants, other racist housing policies in Washtenaw County, and the causes of residential segregation in the county. The work of the history committee has largely been subsumed by a project funding by the U-M Humanities Collaboratory called “Black Washtenaw County.” (See below.)

Black Washtenaw Collaboratory

Justice InDeed works very closely with the Black Washtenaw County Collaboratory, an interdisciplinary project sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Humanities Collaboratory. It is a community-engaged collaborative research project documenting the history of racial segregation and African American community building in Washtenaw County during the 20th century.

The U-M Humanities Collaboratory awarded a development grant this summer to develop a proposal for a two-year grant, which was submitted in July. Team members include: Matthew Countryman (Chair, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies) Jennifer Jones (Assistant Professor, History and Women’s and Gender Studies); Claire Zimmerman (Associate Professor, History of Art/Architecture Program); Stephen Ward (Associate Professor, Afroamerican and African Studies and Residential College); Michael Steinberg (Professor from Practice, Law School); Robert Goodspeed (Associate Professor, Urban and Regional Planning).

In the News

MLive.com, Nathan Clark, 22 January 2021, “Mapping history of housing discrimination”

MLive.com, Ryan Stanton, 23 March 2021, “Researchers map Ann Arbor’s racist history of housing discrimination”

The Michigan Daily, Shannon Shocking, 26 January 2021, “U-M research raises awareness of racially restrictive covenants in Ann Arbor housing”

The Michigan Daily, Riley Hodder, 7 February 2022, “Programs work to address racially restrictive covenants in Ann Arbor”

MLive/Ann Arbor News, Ryan Stanton, February 28, 2022, Washtenaw clerk says he’s found records of racist property restrictions ‘all over the county’

Michigan Daily, Irena Li, February 24, 2022, Ford discusses first repeal of racially restrictive housing deed in Ann Arbor neighborhood

MLive/Ann Arbor News, Ryan Stanton, February 24, 2022, Ann Arbor neighborhood officially repeals 1947 whites-only policy

Metro Times, Steve Neavling, February 24, 2022, 121 neighborhoods in Washtenaw County still have racially restrictive covenants. This one did something about it.

Fox2 TV News Detroit, Brandon Hudson, February 24, 2022, 'Whites-only' policy repealed in Ann Arbor neighborhood after 75 years

Click on Detroit - Local TV News 4, Megan Woods, February 24, 2022, Ann Arbor subdivision repeals racist whites-only policy from 1947

Michigan Advance, Laina G. Stebbins, February 25, 2022, Ann Arbor subdivision becomes 1st in Michigan to repeal racist property covenant

Michigan Radio, Tracy Samilton, February 25, 2022, Residents of Ann Arbor subdivision repeal race-restrictive covenant on their deeds

MLive/Ann Arbor News, Ryan Stanton, February 24, 2022, Ann Arbor neighborhood officially repeals 1947 whites-only policy

Michigan Advance, Laina G. Stebbins, February 25, 2022, Ann Arbor subdivision becomes 1st in Michigan to repeal racist property covenant

Michigan Radio, Tracy Samilton, February 25, 2022, Residents of Ann Arbor subdivision repeal race-restrictive covenant on their deeds

WKAR Public Media, Sarah Lehr, June 16th, 2022, Racist language persists in housing deeds, but Michigan bill advances making it easier to strike

Concentrate, Jaishree Drepaul, August 31, 2022, Justice InDed aims to raise awareness about racist history- and present- of Ann Arbor housing

Law Quadrangle Magazine, Sharon Morioka, A Legacy of Bad Deeds

APPS District News, Jo Mathis, November 28, 2022, AAPS high school students learn about a topic close to home in a visit from U-M's Justice InDeed researchers

The Washington Post, Katherine Shaver, December 19, 2022, Was your home once off-limits to non-Whites? These maps can tell you. PDF version

The Michigan Daily, Chen Lyu, February 16, 2023, Ann Arbor community members expand efforts to remove racially restrictive covenants 

Concentrate, Sarah Rigg, February 7th ,2024, Campaign seeks to amend antiquated, racially restrictive deeds in Ypsi Township neighborhood

MLive/Ann Arbor News, Ryan Stanton, February 7th, 2024, 10,000 homes in Washtenaw County may have race restrictions in property records 

WXYZ Detroit, Tiarra Braddock, February 20th, 2024, Community, students fight to repeal racially restrictive covenants in Washtenaw County