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In partnership with Ramsey County Historical Society & Roseville Library

Minnesota is a paradox. Widely seen as a progressive stronghold of the Midwest, the state also has some of the greatest racial disparities in the nation. Those disparities have their roots in Minnesota’s earliest days as a territory and in the decades that followed. From enslaved people brought to the territory by military officers to migrants traveling to the North Star State after the Civil War, African Americans have long been present in Minnesota’s history. Yet while many came here looking to establish new lives, they were often met with White resistance and attempts to exclude them.

Whiteness in Plain View examines the ways White residents across Minnesota acted to intimidate, control, remove, and keep out African Americans over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their methods ranged from anonymous threats, vandalism, and mob violence to restrictive housing covenants, realtor deceit, and mortgage discrimination, and they were aided by local, state, and federal government agencies as well as openly complicit public officials. What they did was not an anomaly or aberration, in some particular place or passing moment, but rather common and continuous. Chapter by chapter, the book shows that Minnesota’s overwhelming Whiteness is neither accidental nor incidental, and that racial exclusion’s legacy is very much woven into the state’s contemporary politics, economy, and culture.

This event will feature two presentations, one by James Curry and the other by Chad Montrie, drawing on their respective interests and projects to address the construction and circulation of white supremacy narratives that poison historical memory and perpetuate racism in Minnesota.  Following the presentations, James and Chad will have a brief conversation with one another, and then open that up to questions and comments from the audience.

James Curry is a producer, director, writer, editor, educator and author who has been active in film making for over 30 years. His short film westbound and documentary masterjam have won dozens of awards internationally in multiple categories. In 2021 he was awarded the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship for Film and in 2022 the Arthur C McWatt Fellowship where he was able to pursue social justice through the creation of an historical exhibit on Black Pioneers and the June release of a graphic novel based on his ancestor’s narrative called “Hate Stings. He is a descendant of the Curry family of Southside Minneapolis and the Chairperson of BR4R.org He teaches film and production at Augsburg University and continues to build community through partnerships with historical societies, individuals and faith-based organizations. He’s presently involved in the development of a Black Heritage Trail in Hastings, a People Power exhibit at the MN African American Heritage Museum and Gallery in September and a volume series on sung and unsung Black Minnesotan luminaries with MNHS slated for a 2026 semiquincentennial release.

Please check out our partner Subtext Books, located in downtown St. Paul and online at: https://subtextbooks.com/ for this and other History Revealed titles.

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