The University of Minnesota's Mapping Prejudice Project says its research uncovered hundreds of racist property deeds in Sherburne County, northwest of the Twin Cities.

Racial covenants barred people from certain racial or ethnic groups from owning homes or land. They were commonly used in Minnesota from about 1910 through the early 1960s, although they became illegal in 1953.

The Mapping Prejudice Project has been accessing property records in counties across the state to search for racial covenants. Sherburne County is its latest effort.

Much research of racial covenants nationwide has focused on urban areas, said the project’s associate director Michael Corey while presenting its findings to the Sherburne County board on Tuesday.

“I think there's been a misconception that racial cov

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