Racism in Real Estate – with Emily Chenevert & Kenya Burrell-VanWormer
**** NOTICE: We recorded this pod using Zoom audio but had a few technical issues. The audio quality wasn’t great and at some point, Zoom stopped recording all together. We were able to piece together a good episode but not the whole conversation. I’m super bummed, but we all agreed, even if its not the full conversation, it’s still something we wanted to put out there. ****
Systemic racism has its roots in housing. Government policies deliberately disadvantaged Black and Brown people, and that’s led to segregated communities, educational inequalities and a substantial wealth gap. So, what can we do as an industry to address these disparities and better serve ALL of our clients?
On this episode of Industry Relations, Emily Chenevert, CEO of the Austin Board of Realtors, and Kenya Burrell-VanWormer, SVP of Diversity Solutions at T3 Sixty, join Rob and Greg to discuss the history of race discrimination in real estate, explaining how practices like redlining have stunted the Black community’s capacity to build generational wealth and why industry organizations need to recognize and publicly denounce the racism of the past.
Emily and Kenya share how the industry has improved, describing NAR’s shift to prioritize diversity and inclusion and exploring what organized real estate might do to further educate association members around equity moving forward. Listen in for insight on tackling home ownership disparities and learn what is (and what isn’t) our responsibility to do as an industry to address racial inequality in America.
What’s Discussed:
The history of race discrimination in real estate (i.e.: redlining, racist land use patterns)
How racism around housing has stunted the Black community’s ability to build generational wealth
The government’s role in creating a wealth gap in the US
Why organizations like NAREB exist independently from NAR
Greg’s call for industry organizations to recognize and denounce the racism of the past (and what that might look like)
The shift from diversity and inclusion as an afterthought to a need within NAR
How we might educate association members around issues of equity
The lack of diversity among the leadership in real estate associations and MLSs
Why 25 of the 26 agents caught steering on Long Island are still working
Kenya’s insight on tackling home ownership disparity by way of education, opportunity and resources
Emily’s experience with difficult conversations on race as Austin overhauls its land development code
What it’s our responsibility to do as an industry to address racial inequality (and what’s not in our lane)
Connect with Emily:
Connect with Kenya:
Connect with Rob and Greg:
Resources:
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
How the GI Bill’s Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans’ in History