This story is part of (DIS)Invested, an ongoing series from The Reader and El Perico investigating the solutions and obstacles to solving system inequality in Omaha through housing, education, criminal justice and family issues.
“They’re pushing dirt out west, to build a greater Omaha.”
The canary yellow Ford sailed down Center Street in the twilight of a Midwest winter.
Louis Sanders leaned into the ‘64 Galaxie 500’s upholstery and watched the mother of his children handle the steering wheel.
The couple was driving home after visiting friends in the southwestern suburbs of Omaha. That’s when red and blue lights flashed behind them.
“What’s the matter, officer?” Sanders, now 80, remembers asking in the mid ‘60s as he rolled down the passenger-side window.
The officer looked inside the car and turned to yell at his partner.
“They’re Black!”
The officer jerked him from the car and Sanders punched him in the nose before eight more squad cars arrived. As Sanders sat handcuffed, the first officer smacked him in the face with his club.
Although Sanders said the charges against him for assaulting a police officer were dropped in the story he told The Reader, he knew his real offense. He was Black in a white neighborhood. Now, more than half a century later, Sanders can’t say the social…
