History Revealed: Exploring the Historical Roots of Racism in Minnesota

A conversation with Bill Green, Christopher Lehman, and Marty Case
Moderated by Peter Rachleff

Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7:00 pm
Facebook Event

Premiere on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EastSideFreedomLibrary/videos/904936243330741/), YouTube (https://youtu.be/OK64iOMWcQg).

In the past year, local historians have published three eye-opening books, each of which, grounded in careful research, explore the roles played by racism in the development of Minnesota. Marty Case’s The Relentless Business of Treaties explores how the U.S., territorial, and state governments, and their leaders, stole land from the indigenous people who had lived here for centuries. Chris Lehman’s Slavery’s Reach reveals the power and influence exerted by wealthy southern slaveholders in the early years of the “North Star State,” and the cooperation extended to them by the state’s founders. Bill Green’s Children of Lincoln tracks the journeys away from abolition and racial equality trod by the new state’s leaders in the immediate post-Civil War years.

These three historians undertook their research and wrote their books independently of each other. Each of them has spoken about his book at ESFL. Now, we are able to bring them together for a conversation about the connections and implications of their conclusions. Given the heightened concern over racism being expressed in our communities, this is a timely conversation for them—and for us—to have. Please join us.

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