As the voice for real estate in the Greater St. Louis region and because of our history, St. Louis REALTORS® must have an active role in conversations surrounding the genuine issues regarding race and our industry. To this point, I stand in unanimous support with our Board of Directors and staff to acknowledge the systemic racism our organization bolstered. Our Association held an event on Monday, September 19th, 2022 at Harris Stowe State University to commemorate the Fair Housing Act, apologize for the Association’s past history involved in discrimination, and discuss our progress forward.
St. Louis REALTORS® Apology
The leadership at St. Louis REALTORS® offers an apology to our Association members and the communities we serve.
St. Louis REALTORS® is painfully aware of the historical discriminatory laws of the local, state, and federal governments, as well as the documented policies and practices of our national, state, and local REALTOR® organizations that perpetuated discrimination against the Black community and created barriers for the pursuit of property ownership. Numerous historical events, laws, decisions, and initiatives reflect a history of explicit racial segregation and discrimination. We apologize for all of these actions.
The discrimination to which the Black community was subjected to was part of a system designed to cause residential racial segregation, led by the federal government, supported by the banking system and the real estate industry, and driven by practices like redlining and the use of restrictive covenants. These policies resulted in dual housing markets for White and Black families in the Metropolitan St. Louis area.
Our apology is not based on new revelations. It is based on the realization that we cannot move forward together as a community until there is an acknowledgment of our regrettable past. Our hope is that this acknowledgment will start the healing process, enabling us to emerge stronger and united in our journey to lay a new, inclusive foundation for growth and prosperity.
We recognize that words are not enough to undo decades of harm our community suffered under the weight of financial oppression and inequality. Changed behavior is the only way to demonstrate our commitment to fighting for fair housing and building trust with the Black community.
St. Louis REALTORS® are community leaders, advocates for home ownership, and protectors of property rights who are determined to reckon with our past and build a more equitable future by choosing to welcome and value the diversity of our members and those in our community.
To demonstrate our commitment, we created a three-year plan to benefit the communities that we harmed. In furtherance of our goals, we have hired a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Director to implement our plan.
We are committed to being a part of the solution by taking actions to promote fairness, equity, and homeownership to improve the lives of Black and Brown communities, as well as the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized communities.
Progress Toward DEI-Related Objectives
Due to our legacy of harm, we know an apology is not enough, but an ongoing commitment to redress is required. To that end, St. Louis REALTORS® has adopted multiple Diversity, Equity & Inclusion related objectives as part of our “Reimagining St. Louis Plan.”
While this public apology was a vital initiative, it is one of many related objectives we have accomplished or are working toward.
In April 2022, St. Louis REALTORS® hired Felicia Crawford-Randle as our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director; she will manage many of the ongoing diversity initiatives of St. Louis REALTORS®. Felicia is doing a stellar job for us and was instrumental in coordinating the apology and Commemorating the Fair Housing Act event on September 19, 2022.
Additionally, Felicia has immersed herself in the community by participating in community events with Beyond Housing and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. She has been engaged with organizations working to create thriving communities. Such organizations include Community Builders Network, Housing and Urban Development and Financial Literacy Education Commission, St. Louis Black Homeownership Initiative, which is comprised of a group of organizations that include Justine Petersen, Beyond Housing, The Housing Partnership, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Gateway Neighborhood Fund.
Felicia has also worked with STL Roundtable, a grassroots organization whose primary goal is to decrease the racial wealth gap through homeownership.
On the legislative front, St. Louis REALTORS® and Missouri REALTORS® worked tirelessly in the Missouri legislature to advocate for the passage of the Clear Title Legislation for the City of St. Louis this past session. This legislation which recently went into effect should help to reduce the number of vacant properties in the city.
St. Louis REALTORS® has worked diligently with the Land Bank Coalition to draft statewide and county legislation that would allow for the creation of a Land Bank in St. Louis County, making it easier to sell and transfer problem properties. Additionally, St. Louis REALTORS®, in partnership with: the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), MR, Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS®, and Greater Springfield Board of REALTORS® will be funding a consumer outreach campaign in support of the legislation.
As you all know and as has been discussed, historically, REALTOR® organizations supported and encouraged the adoption of Restrictive Covenants throughout St. Louis City and County. With that understanding, St. Louis REALTORS® and Missouri REALTORS® worked diligently in the Missouri State Legislature this past session to undo part of that wrong and advocate for the passage of Restrictive Covenant legislation. Effective August 28, 2022, this legislation prohibits recording any deed that references a restrictive covenant that restricts the ownership or use of real property based upon race, color, religion, or national origin. Further, a Recorder of Deeds may refuse to accept any such deed submitted for recording. This legislation also provides a voluntary procedure by which any illegal restrictive covenant of the kind described, found to be contained in a deed of record, may be affirmatively removed.
On October 26, 2022, St. Louis REALTORS® will host a Reimaging St. Louis Expo at Forest Park Community College. This will be an opportunity for us to partner with and showcase many of the diverse resources in the community and to offer information regarding both homeownership and financial literacy.
To complement our Community Engagement Committee, we are building a separate network of members who are not engaged in an Association committee but wish to volunteer in the community. The intent is to connect these volunteers with opportunities to serve in systematically under-resourced communities.
For many years, membership within St. Louis REALTORS® was denied to Black real estate agents, and today, we know the homeownership gap is not the only gap we need to close. We need our profession and Association to look more like the communities we serve. That is why this summer, St. Louis REALTORS® partnered with NAR to offer a mentorship program to the youth in our community. The point of this program is to introduce individuals to the wealth-building and career opportunities presented by real estate. I am thrilled to share with you that we had over 20 mentors and 20 mentees sign up for this four-month program, which runs through October 2022.
In collaboration with the REALTOR® Housing Assistance Fund, we have begun holding quarterly “REALTOR® Give Days,” enabling members to donate and leverage their contributions with matching contributions from the REALTOR® Housing Assistance Fund. Our Give Day recipient organizations, thus far, have included:
- Rebuilding Together
- St. Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO)
- Beyond Housing
We have added a reaffirmation to our “Agreement to Serve” that all volunteer leaders complete and sign, reiterating their obligations under the Fair Housing Act.
We know that we must continue to educate our members about the historical impact, importance, and intricacies of Fair Housing. For the past two years, we have offered the NAR “At Home With Diversity” designation program at no charge to all volunteer leaders and committee members. One hundred thirty-four volunteers and countless other members have attended this full-day course which teaches REALTORS®® how to:
- Assess and understand attributes of diversity in local markets and their impact on the real estate industry;
- Understand essential competencies to earn the confidence of potential buyers and sellers, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, handicaps, familial status, or national origin; and,
- Build a business plan that minimizes risk and successfully services all types of clients.
In March of this year, we began requiring all new members to complete the Fairhaven course. Fairhaven is an online implicit bias training program developed by NAR. We have urged Missouri REALTORS® and NAR to implement similar requirements to raise awareness for all REALTORS® in Missouri and across the nation.
Additionally, St. Louis REALTORS® has twice offered the new Bias Override class developed by NAR. We were the first Association in Missouri to have this class approved for continuing education credit, thus creating an additional incentive for even more REALTORS® to take this critical class.
St. Louis REALTORS® is in the process of creating a new continuing education course to be offered in 2023 that helps to develop an understanding of pertinent title issues, restrictive covenants, beneficiary searches, heirs’ property, and financial literacy.
St. Louis REALTORS® led the charge to advocate adding a Fair Housing component to the continuing education requirements for all real estate licensees in Missouri. This new requirement was added by the Missouri Real Estate Commission (MREC) earlier this year and will take effect for the next renewal cycle.
While we have accomplished much, we have so much more to do. Today, the Black homeownership rate remains essentially the same as in 1968, when the Fair Housing Act was signed into law. We understand the work we are committing to in this moment is not enough but constitutes our first steps in helping to build a more equitable St. Louis.
How can we work to ensure that homeownership is not only available but attainable? There are solutions: greater access to capital, education on fair housing and reporting violations, and access to alternative lines of credit, but these solutions require us all to work together.
Every REALTOR® and every St. Louisan is obligated to address this — in our industry, individual business practices, and daily lives. We invite you to join us as we work to be part of the solution.