Diversity and Inclusion 

The FAAR Diversity Committee has assembled these tools and resources for you! Looking for something else? Let us know at webmaster@faarmembers.com

State and National Resources

National Association of Realtors®

Check out NAR’s Fair Housing page complete with information on the Fair Housing Action Plan.  ACT emphasizes Accountability, Culture Change, and Training in order to ensure that American’s 1.4 million Realtors® are doing everything possible to protect housing rights in America.
 

 

Perception Institute

NAR has also partnered with the Perception Institute to offer implicit bias testing to help members identify where their unconscious biases might lie.  The term “implicit bias” describes when individuals have attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without conscious knowledge.  Being aware of any implicit bias can help people avoid acting according to biases that are contrary to their conscious values and beliefs.
 

 

Korn Ferry: Race Matters Series

The Virginia Realtors® shared this powerful video series with all Associations to showcase how race and other differences still impact the lives of people in 2020.  Their website states that “while diversity and inclusion in the workplace have been championed in businesses across the globe, the reality is many people still are not treated equally and feel like they don’t have a voice. They earn less, are woefully underrepresented in top jobs, and struggle to get equal recognition and opportunity.”

A Brighter Future

bright mls logo

The leadership and staff at Bright MLS are committed to providing our subscribers and their clients with the tools needed for an open market that provides equal opportunity regardless of race, color, or national origin. As part of our ongoing work to elevate the importance of Fair Housing and equality in real estate, Bright has launched a webinar series for employees and subscribers. Hear from Bright Senior Leadership and watch the latest panel discussions now.

Visit Now

Shoring up our House: Addressing Historical and Current Issues of Racism, Bias, and Intolerance

More than 50 years after the Fair Housing Act was enacted, work is still underway to realize its full potential. Through the lens of NAR’s ACT! Initiative, this panel delves into both historical issues and current day crises.

 

SPEAKERS:
Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute and Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Carrie Chang, Minneapolis Area REALTORS®
Kevin Brown, 2021 REALTOR® Party Director
Bryan Green, National Association of REALTORS®
Watch Now

Commercial Redevelopment: Building a Bridge to Fair Housing & Thriving Communities

The Fair Housing Act may apply to residences only, but commercial redevelopment plays a huge role in building a bridge to thriving communities. REALTORS® who practice commercial real estate are modern-day community architects, helping to revitalize communities by facilitating investments and promoting the sale and lease of commercial properties that enhance neighborhoods and create millions of jobs across the country. In this panel, participants explore commercial real estate’s role in building inclusive and thriving communities and share best practices for REALTORS®.
 
SPEAKERS
Bo Menkiti, The Menkiti Group and Keller Williams Capital Properties
James Huang, Asian Real Estate Association of America
Charlie Dawson, National Association of REALTORS®
Nancy Lane, 2021 NAR Treasurer
Watch Now

One Together; Building Strong Inclusive Communities

What’s it going to take?
 
Last year, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® launched a diversity committee, “the 77”, named after and representing Chicago’s 77 unique neighborhoods, while at the same time tasked with tackling topics like fair housing and economic development. As state and local associations look for ways to tackle these topics, join CAR CEO Michelle Mills Clement and one of the nation’s most preeminent scholars, Dr. Eddie Glaude of Princeton University, as they discuss challenges facing Chicago and cities across the country, and what everyone in the REALTOR® Family can do now.

SPEAKERS:
Eddie S. Glaude Jr., PhD, Princeton University
Michelle Mills Clement, Chicago Association of REALTORS®
Watch Now

Additional Resources

Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of REALTORS®

About the Fair Housing Act

NAR and Perception Institute’s training video Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing

NAR’s Fair Housing Posters and Ads

Fair Housing Book, Film, Podcast, and Journalism Recommendations from NAR

HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Online Complaint Form

Fair Housing chapter from NAR’s Real Estate Brokerage Essentials

National Fair Housing Alliance

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

 
 
 

by Sha Williams-Hinnant, 2022 FAAR Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Committee Chair, 2023 Virginia REALTORS® DEI Committee Chair

“Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.” The old saying gets thrown around a lot and was intended to compel people to practice empathy. You never really know what someone else is experiencing and living unless you’ve had the chance to live a day in their reality.

 

It’s easy to think that in this year racism, discrimination, and intimidation around race, gender identity, and sexuality are a thing of the past. In reality, it is not; and, we have a LONG way to go.  I encourage every FAAR member to read that first sentence again and try to put themselves in the shoes of a Black person or a transgendered person or a gay person. It’s hard to do because you can’t really imagine any other reality than your own unless you hear directly from someone with a different experience. So let me take a moment to help you walk in MY shoes.
 
 
I have been a REALTOR® for over 20 years. This industry has helped me put food on our table and a roof over my family’s head while also giving me an extended family of colleagues whom I love dearly. BUT it hasn’t always come easy. For example, I have two different business cards. One card has my picture on it and the other does not. If I send out listings anyone has requested by phone or email, I use the card without my picture.  I do this because I know that some potential clients right from the start would walk away and not even give me a chance if they knew that I was a Black woman. I also have had some people meet me in my office after having talked to them for weeks on the phone.  Once they meet me, they apologize to me because they just found out they have a REALTOR® in the family who wants to help them find a home.
 
 
On a personal level, I have had the conversations with my Black son and others that I guarantee many of you have never had with yours. Explaining what to do if you are ever stopped, to make sure your license and registration are already in an easy to get to place, to keep your hands on the steering wheel, to be respectful (and the biggest is “call ME as soon as you see any police or sheriff lights trying to stop you so I can hear the entire conversation).
 
 
I hope that “walking” with me for a bit has opened your eyes to just one of the many realities out here for people of color. If you’re curious to learn more and see how you can use this kind of information to connect even more with your clients, then join me at the next Diversity Committee event. I promise you will walk out of that session with a better understanding of the people you are working for and a set of tools to be an even better agent to everyone.

Recommended Reading

 
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

Rothstein details how federal housing policies in the 1940s and ’50s mandated segregation and undermined the ability of black families to own homes and build wealth.

 

The Color of Money by Mehrsa Baradan

Baradan shares the history of black banking from emancipation to the present as a vehicle for exploring the origins and persistence of the racial wealth gap in America.

 

Evicted by Matthew Desmond

In Evicted, Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their heads.

 

Begin Again by Eddie Glaude, Jr.

 Glaude covers the life and works of American writer and activist James Baldwin, and the theme of racial inequality in the United States.

 
Levittown by David Kushner

Read the true story of the first African-American family to move into the iconic suburb, Levittown, PA.

 

 The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone—not just for people of color.

 
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Wilkerson dives into the unspoken caste system that has shaped America.

 

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Wilkerson focuses on three unique individuals during the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

 

Latinas in Real Estate by Maggie Antillon-Mathews

First and second-generation Latinas share their stories of how they built the American Dream in real estate despite the personal obstacles in their way.


Family Properties by Beryl Satter

Part family story and part urban history, a landmark investigation of segregation and urban decay in Chicago — and cities across the nation.


Sundown Towns by James W. Loewen

Learn about the thousands of “sundown towns”—almost exclusively white towns where it was an unspoken rule that blacks weren’t welcome—that cropped up throughout the twentieth century, most of them located outside of the South.

 

 

Recommended Watching

The Faces of FAAR Video Series

 

Watch the series at bit.ly/FacesFAARplaylist
 Newsday’s Long Island Divided
 
Watch the 40-minute documentary at www.newsday.com/divided
 
 
 
 

 

 

What’s in a name?

Love Letters

Discussing Disabilities: What REALTORS® Need to Know

A Conversation on Race, Ethnicity, and Skin Tone

Training

Confront Discrimination in NAR’s New Simulation Training at Fairhaven.realtor | Earn 1 hour CE by taking the course at learn.virginiarealtors.org

Welcome to Fairhaven, a fictional town where REALTORS® work against the clock to sell homes while confronting discrimination in the homebuying process.

This new, immersive online simulation training will also put members of the National Association of REALTORS® in the shoes of a client experiencing discrimination as they try to buy a home. It’s set to launch at fairhaven.realtor on Nov. 18.

Sandra Butler, AHWD, chair of NAR’s Fair Housing Policy Committee, discussed the goals of the program during the NAR 360 virtual presentation that kicked off the 2020 REALTORS® Conference & Expo on Oct. 28.

“I’m hopeful that the simulation training will go a long way toward overcoming biases and building consistency toward a fair and just real estate transaction for all buyers,” Butler said. “Discrimination of any kind within our industry not only violates the law but is bad for our businesses and bad for the communities we all love.”

The new training program will present real estate pros with various scenarios as they work to close transactions, Butler said. When discrimination gets in the way of closing the deal, agents must choose how to handle each scenario. They receive feedback based on their answers as they advance through the simulation. The platform also includes powerful testimonials from buyers and discrimination testers, illustrating the effect of housing discrimination on people’s lives.

“It deals with uncomfortable subjects,” said Marc Gould, NAR’s senior vice president of member professional development, during the Broker Engagement Council meeting Nov. 3.

Participants who begin the simulation will be able to save their work and come back to complete it later. The training can take up to two hours but can go more quickly based on the user’s fair housing knowledge. Members can go through the simulations as many times as they want. A certificate of completion can be shared with an agent’s broker.

“I’m sure this will be something that will make a big impact on REALTORS® and their level of professionalism,” said Kim Dawson, chair of NAR’s Broker Engagement Council.

Ernst & Young Learning Labs, which developed NAR’s Commitment to Excellence (C2EX) training platform, created the Fairhaven program for NAR and its members. The website is part of NAR’s ACT! Initiative, a fair housing action plan that emphasizes accountability, culture change, and training to promote equal housing opportunity within the industry.

Visit Fairhaven.realtor
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