Project mapping past racial covenants in Forsyth County gets the community involved
Community events in Winston-Salem will allow residents to participate in a project that aims to map racial covenants and their impacts throughout Forsyth County. Adobe Stock Photo
The Mapping Prejudice in Forsyth County Project documents racial covenants that prevented minorities from buying homes in white neighborhoods. The effort involves looking at deeds to see how this now illegal practice shaped the area.
The Spatial Justice Studio is spearheading the project that kicked off last year. Now, people can sign up for and attend local events to take part in the research.
WFDD's DJ Simmons recently spoke with Winston-Salem State University professor and Spatial Justice Studio founder Russell Smith.
Interview highlights
On what's next for the project:
"We're trying to develop an affordable housing trust fund. Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, is one of the larger communities in our state that does not have one yet. ... We know that through this particular form of residential segregation that private individuals put on properties, that limited opportunities of where people could live. It limited opportunities for minorities to generate generational wealth."
On how this initiative is unique:
"This isn't academics sitting in our ivory tower, conducting research and then telling people 'Oh, look what we did.' This work needs to and has to be done by the community itself."
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