Source: Yahoo! —
The National Association of Realtors stopped barring Black agents in 1961 but continued to oppose the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which outlawed housing discrimination.
The National Association of Realtors reports that white real estate brokers make roughly three times as much as their Black counterparts, a discrepancy attributed mainly to discrimination in the market.
Although 14 percent of America’s population is Black, only 6 percent of real estate agents and brokers in the United States are, The New York Times reported.
Racism in the real estate market has kept Black people out and discouraged them from becoming agents. Even after NAR formally stopped barring Black agents from membership and access to its perks in 1961, the organization continued to oppose — and lobby against — the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which outlawed housing discrimination.
Since residences owned by Black people are undervalued and priced 23 percent lower than homes owned by whites, discrimination results in a smaller pool of possible clients and fewer commissions on properties at lower price points.
The discrimination Black real estate agents experience may even endanger their lives. For example, when Eric Brown showed his Black male client and his teenage son a home in August 2021 in Wyoming, Michigan, police officers brandished firearms and handcuffed the trio.
