Chris is Founder and Chief Executive at Radius Realty, a top 10 real estate company with a technology-first approach.
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The United States celebrates Independence Day on July 4. But in 1776, true independence was only for white males. For 89 years, Independence Day was a promise unfulfilled until an announcement by Major General Gordon Granger in Texas on June 19, 1865 that all enslaved people were emancipated. Juneteenth (a portmanteau of June and nineteenth), also known as America’s second Independence Day, has been recognized and celebrated in many communities ever since, and as of 2020, adopted as a state holiday by 47 U.S. states.
However, despite the promise and hope inherent in Juneteenth, since the end of the Civil War, Black Americans have still largely been denied basic human rights and relegated to second-class citizen status. The real estate industry, unfortunately, has seen its share of racially motivated discriminatory policies and practices:
• Redlining: Historically, lenders would outline with red ink neighborhoods — usually predominantly Black and Latino — that were considered at high risk for mortgage defaults. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would not insure mortgages in these neighborhoods, and in fact, the FHA’s underwriting manual stated that “incompatible racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities.” The FHA also reportedly subsidized producers of subdivisions where homes would exclusively be sold to white buyers.
• Racial and exclusionary zoning: Zoning ordinances requiring that middle-class neighborhoods consist entirely of single-family homes, which people of color were historically less likely to be able to afford, has been a less overt way of excluding Black people from homeownership. Racial steering is another tactic in which real estate agents only show clients certain neighborhoods based on their demographics.
• Blockbusting: This refers to “the practice of introducing African American homeowners into previously all white neighborhoods in order to spark rapid white flight and housing price decline.”
Each of these tactics is illegal, due to either the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (part of the landmark Civil Rights Act) or other laws such as the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, but these practices still persist. Investigations have shown widespread discrimination by brokers and agents toward people of color, such as a 2012 study by the Department of Housing that found that “minority homeseekers are told about and shown fewer homes and apartments” than white home shoppers.
Discriminatory housing policies and practices persist in other ways as well. For one, real estate investors may have difficulty receiving funding to improve poorer and predominantly Black neighborhoods. I have personally seen this in action in my work to provide better housing stock in these neighborhoods. As an example, I began discussions with a bank that I have worked with for over 15 years to redevelop three lots in a predominantly Black neighborhood in northern St. Louis. After initially being very enthusiastic about it, citing a need in their bank to do more of these projects due to government regulation, the lender pulled out at the very last minute and insinuated that I should self-finance the investment. I called out this bad behavior and found another bank that did not have the same issue; however, if I am receiving this type of response, I can only imagine the responses others receive to their attempts to build quality homes in these neighborhoods.
This sort of residential segregation helps perpetuate the wealth and opportunity gaps between people of color and white people in America — and it has to stop. There are several ways I believe real estate businesses and professionals can stand against racist policies and actions.
Real estate agencies must hire and promote Black employees and agents and implement or amend diversity and anti-racism policies. This should include policies explicitly against racial steering and surrounding inappropriate language and social media posts. Agencies can also develop partnerships with local or national organizations and relevant, community-focused Black-owned businesses to help mobilize change and support removing economic disparity. Quite frankly, the list goes on. Due to the systemic and systematic nature of this issue, it will take changes in how we think, act and interact to create real change.
Until discriminatory housing and lending practices are completely eradicated, the real estate industry must stand with the Black community to continue the long march toward justice. As Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
While we understand that there are greater societal forces at play, we can take a small step in the right direction by officially recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday. It is one that is born out of one of this country’s darkest hours, acknowledging the trauma of those held as slaves and their descendants and the impact the institution of slavery has had and continues to have. It is this very history that makes it so important to celebrate Juneteenth today.
In addition to offering employees this paid holiday, we can bring in guest speakers and create opportunities to discuss company diversity initiatives with employees. We at Radius Realty support the effort to end systemic racism and finally ensure justice for all, which is why we celebrated Juneteenth as a company holiday this year and will every year going forward, and we challenge other real estate businesses, industry professionals and all 50 states to make Juneteenth an official holiday.
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