It happened again yesterday, and this time it involved a former President of the United States.
What is “it”? “It” is an unjustified, baseless and utterly foolish charge of racism. This time, it came from former President Jimmy Carter, who decided to attempt to use a charge of racism to impugn the reputation of a congressman (Joe Wilson) who criticized Barack Obama’s health care sales presentation. While the style of Wilson’s criticism was certainly tasteless, it remains true that tastelessness and racism aren’t the same thing. Yet it’s fashionable among our leadership and citizenry alike to level charges of racism when it’s entirely inappropriate and baseless.
Which leads me to the real estate business.
What I’m about to describe to you really happened. This is not a hypothetical story.
Recently, a wealthy home buyer contacted a real estate broker for assistance with finding a home to purchase. After a few weeks of exchanging telephone calls and emails, the broker and buyer met each other to view about 10 different properties in several neighborhoods.
At the end of the day, the broker and buyer had a quick meeting to discuss the events of the day. At this time, the buyer says to the broker: “Which of these houses are in a ___________ neighborhood?” (In the blank, the buyer inserted his racial preference.)
The broker refused to provide that information. The buyer accused the broker of racism and fired her on the spot.
In this case, the buyer was looking to purchase a property around $900,000, so the commission lost on this deal due to this charge of racism was probably around $54,000 (6%) – a significant amount of money, to be sure.
So here’s the question for today’s anonymous survey:
[poll id="11"]
What do you think? I’d really appreciate your feedback on this issue. Clearly, I’ve not specified the races or ethnicities of any of the people in this event, which reflects my belief that there must be a consistent standard of judgment when accusations of racism are in play. What do you think? Please leave your comments below, and thank you for reading http://realestate.BryanEllis.com!
It’s anybody s right to live with any group or culture or in neighborhood they choose. People often mistake racism with bigotry. Wouldn’t you want to know about the make up of the neighborhood if you were about to make a $900k investment? Big brother makes the rules in their Ivory tower and out of touch down here with the real world. Their idealistic dream of one culture, race and world is not the way it really is! Remember when the govt. tried their social engineering experiment to bus white and black school students all over the country to force them together. It was a miserable failure and caused more problems than it solved.
The buyer has a right to a prefer one neighborhood over another and may have several reasons for asking the question. The broker should have provided an answer. However, she did not discriminate against him by refusing to sell or even show him desired homes. She simply did not divulge what she may have considered sensitive info. She should have sought the advice of legal counsel.
I think it is still very common for realtors to guide or lead buyers to areas that they believe the buyers would racially approve. It may be unspoken, but it still exists. The above buyer was totally honest in expressing his beliefs and location needs, whereas most are subversive. I admire the realtor for maintaiing her moral and professional integrety.
Former Pres. Carter’s remarks were uncalled for.. the only way liberal media and the Dems can fight all that is happening with ACORN and the Czar’s and all that is being exposed is to cry racism..
The American people are FED UP with the corruption in Washington.. our Country is being stolen from us as we sit here and discuss race and the Media is totally ignoring it.. I don’t care that Van Jones was black.. I care that he is an admitted communist., and I don’t care that Cass Sunstein is white.. both are bad for this Country!!
Pres. Carter is 85 years old and owned a HUGE peanut farm in Georgia. Knowing he used african-american’s for his labor force and being from the deep south I wonder who is racist?????? I would suggest he is not innocent of prejudice and bias and should look in the mirror before he makes such ridiculous accusations. Good grief.. what is this country coming to that they have to drudge up the worst President in American history who is from Georgia to do an interview like that?? If it wasn’t so pathetic it would be laughable.
Gloria
So that means that people who live in the deep south and who have had African American employees are inherently racists? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard and you should be ashamed. — Bryan Ellis
This is a very curious question to ask. So-called racial considerations are always underlying considerations that get played out in categories by other names. There will always be racists and bigots. Most have gone “underground” but they just can’t help themselves sometimes – and they are exposed.
It is obvious that the buyer acted in retaliation by firing the broker when not been able to get away with his or her wishes. I don’t know if the broker explained to the buyer that by law, an agent is obligated to show properties in all neighborhoods and must refrain from steering any prospective buyer to any particular area.
The broker should have explained to the buyer, the existing federal laws against discrimination.
I think that the broker should have fired the buyer at the first insinuation of descrimination. There will be other opportunities to earn a commission when you do the right thing.
Sándor R. Ochoa, ABR,GRI,CIPS,TRC
Florida Licensed Real Estate Broker
1st of all, don’t act like racism does not exist, just because you have not experienced it. I KNOW it exists and have been the recipient of it plenty of times throughout my 44 years, but it has not stopped me. I confront it when necessary. I used to ignore it, but not anymore. Time to confront the ignorant.
Regarding the broker and buyer. The broker should explain to the buyer, as I do, when a buyer appears to want a _____only neighborhood, that, as a realtor, laws prevent me from “classifying” a certain neighborhood, but I can send them information on that particular neighborhood that might give them an idea, or even tell them that they can cruise the neighborhood to find out for themselves.
Apparently the broker or agent did not explain this fully, because I have never had a problem. Realtors and brokers are also tested on this by their department of real estate using “testers” .
Brian, you should be Verrry careful with this racism talk, as though people of color have not experienced and are not experiencing racism.
My white grandmother (rip) used to defend us (her grandchildren) against racism from her own people. So please, stop it.
My mother received a $63,000 settlement for being redlined (she found out she was part of a class action lawsuit started by the attorney general targeting a particular bank) her credit was perfect, but she was declined a loan from this particular bank because she is black (with a white mother I might add). She got another loan from another bank and was able to move.
I know limbaugh, hannity, and beck has got you fired up, I listen to their garbage and I see how they are stoking things.
And when white people hate, get scared, lied to, etc., etc., they kill, just look at your history.
People of color should be afraid, although we outnumber you 14 to 1. This includes black, brown, yellow, red.
I don’t think your angry, racist mobs want to unite us all against you.
The Black will not be enslaved, hung, tortured, killed again.
The Brown will not be maligned, mistreated, called “aliens” again
The Red will not (almost) be annihilated again.
The Yellow will not be bombed again.
BE VERRRY CAREFUL. THE ROAD YOU ARE GOING DOWN WITH YOUR TALK AND ACTIONS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ONE. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO START A RACE WAR?
I voted for that no one behaved in a racist manner. The buyer asked a simple question in which the broker was prevented from answering due to both federal and local laws.
While the broker may have been unfairly dismissed, to assume we know the underlying motive of either person involved or the nature of the existing relationship between them would also be unfair.
This could have been handled better by both the buyer and the broker. Starting with the buyer, could the buyer have asked for demographic information about the desirible houses? Or better yet, did the research themselves?
Could the broker have informed the buyer that just answering the question would have forced her to break a litiny of laws. She couldn’t even provide demographic information without the chance of having prision time.
any thoughts?
I agree with the previous comments that you have the right to live where you choose, I also agree that before an answer is given legal advice would have been the wise move, however it’s an easy choice to make now that the pressure is not on you to make at that moment in time.
Question to you Mr. Ellis since you have an issue with the first African American President Mr. Hussein Barack Obama, and Mr. Carter telling like it is, do you think if that was Mrs. Clinton as the president or Mr. McCane? And if that was a person of a darker complexion that was sitting on the right side have even suggested or hinted the word Liar he more than likely come the break of dawn would have been potically lynced by both parties or maybe he would have been escorted, or physically removed from the room, and would you believe, or think that he would have raised his voice with rage across the seats of his fellow republicans if he truly felt that he totally disagreed with the issues at present? If you conduct a survey on these questions it would be interesting to know if you would have gotten a hign honest reply like you received with the story of broker and borrower
From the story, it’s impossible to tell. Did the broker only show homes in areas that matched the ethnicity of the buyer? That could have triggered the question. Perhaps, the buyer wanted to make sure that they would not be the only people of their ethnicity in the neighborhood, or they wanted a diverse neighborhood. Although a real estate agent is not allowed to “steer” a person to specific ethnic neighborhoods, they should be able to disclose the census data for the areas that they showed the buyer. And the realtor should be able to guide the buyer towards neighborhoods that they have expressed a particular interest in.
Mark
I am a BLACK man and I believe that people should be allowed to choose the kinds of communities they want to live in without being called racists.
For my part, I would not want to live in an ALL-WHITE neighborhood even if I got a great deal on the house!
Why? not because I hate white people but because I PREFER to live in a culturally mixed or black community.
So back to Bryan’s question, I think the buyer’s request to the Realtor was motivated (Not by racism), but a legitimate need to know whether that’s the kind of community he wants to live-in.
I also think that the Realtor refused to provide the information (Not because he is a racist) but because of Fear of legal liability (and his/her ignorance of the law)
Therefore neither the buyer or the Realtor should necessarily be labeled as being racist as a result of their behavior in that story.
“Racism is still alive”! It shows everywhere, everyday. ON school buses to landlords.
The broker did the right thing by exercising Dept. of Real Estate rules and regulations.
The broker did the right thing but should have explained to the buyer why he could not do it. As far as Bryan being racist not the case he just put up a factual story and people are warning him to be carefull… Come one and just becaus our president is black and we don’t like him.. It doesn’t mean because he is black it is because of his socialistic policy what he is doing to this country can not be sustained and any one educated enough should realize this! Take the race out and look at the facts and use logic people! Bryan thanks for the articl and your thoughts
The buyer has a right to the demographics of a neighborhood or city they are moving too. The buyer could have been more respectful the way they asked the question. The broker would have been more than glad to give the demographics of any particular neighborhood the buyer was seeking.
When it comes to racism in the media I also think the media is over hyping those situations to take the view off of what is really going on in this country and that is the people of the U.S. are being bullied by the politicians that are running our government. For things to change we have to change and get those bullies out of office.
Hey kevo32, racism goes both ways; NOT just whites towards blacks, browns, reds or yellows. Until YOU understand that, there is no hope for a non-racist society because YOU are the racist 99% of the time!
First thing first, here, if anyone looking for a $900,000.00 house is worried about whom his/her neighbors are then he/she is an idiot and most likely cannot afford the house. The neighbors are going to be wealthy and while they may be snobs, they will be snobs to all races not just a certain segment. If the person was really curious about the neighborhood all he/she has to do is go to the census bureau and get it from the government.
Yes, the government is very good at racial profiling of neighborhoods. Think about that for a while!
Of course, the question was of a racial motivation because this is what we are told everyday by the media and the current administration. If anyone asks then they are a racist. What a bunch of crap! Do I hear “Animal Farm” anyone? Do most of you even really know what the book talks about, have you read it?
If the realtor was too stupid to not answer the question without breaking the law by referring the client to the government then the broker is too stupid to deserve a fee of any kind. Both the broker and the client are acting like boobs and they deserve each other.
Most of the comments I have read so far are from people that cannot read, there is no reference to gender in the question yet some put the people as a she or a he. Include both or you are showing your own prejudices of gender. Right?
As for the worst president of American history saying that Wilson is a racist for calling Obama a liar, that old stupid peanut farmer needs to keep his bigoted mouth shut. He nearly destroyed the country when he was in power and I think is mad he could not get it done. All he is any good at is growing peanuts and kind of building houses. Even his own party did not want anything to do with him after 4 years.
As for Joe Wilson calling him a liar, well where was the Congress when those assholes were saying all the nasty crap about Bush? You want to talk about bigotry and putting lipstick on a pig, this Congress is the place to start.
The outrage about Wilson is in itself a lie and a damn big one at that. Pelosi could give a damn what is said about anyone as long as she thinks she is going to get her way. Read about her some and how nasty she is and has been for years to other people. She is a great example of do as I say and not as I do mentality. I think she is an old bitty fool but I have not called her a Nazi just because people do not want to have their health care screwed into the ground and be taxed to death until they die. She sure has called plenty of good people who disagree with her Nazis.
Moreover, what is the not so veiled threat by you Kevo32? It is obvious you like to make people tow your line. “Brian, you should be Verrry careful with this racism talk, as though people of color have not experienced and are not experiencing racism.”
What kind of racial threat is that? How much do you like to threaten people not the same ethnic background as you are? It would appear quite a bit!
No one should be afraid and idiots like you should not be making threats keeping things all worked up by saying something bad is going to happen to groups of people you do not like.
Here is a big fact: the African-Americans were captured in Africa by other Africans paid by Arabs who controlled the slave trade during the time of slavery in this country. So where is all the outrage towards the tribes selling other tribes in Africa or the Arabs handling the lion’s share of the trade?
Finally, Myreiwebtools, get it right if you do not know your hero’s name then Google it so you do look like you have no idea what you are talking about.
It is Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. just a little help for you next time you drop his full name in conversation.
Look up Clarence Thomas, see what was done to him by the liberal side of Congress, and look at who posted him for Supreme Court.
This has been one of the stupidest bunches of comments I have ever read on Bryan’s site and I am sure most of what I have written will inflame the liberal posers posting these comments but first know this. I am part American Indian, German and French in background. I am American all the way and if all a person can do, is whine about how badly they have been treated because of the color of their skin then maybe they should have been in some of the tough civil rights marches I attended with Martin Luther King and others. Obama would not have even gone to a rally from what I can see of the man.
How many of you have the guts to post your heritage?
How many of you have really gotten into the trenches to do something about liberty in this country?
I believe that the question posed by the buyer was racist neutral, if that is proper terminology.
Racism is something that is expressed in attitude and manifested by actions. Just because one has preferences does not make one racist.With all things being equal the question becomes legitimate.
The question itself is racist because the race of the buyer was never specified. How many of you automatically assumed the buyer is caucasian? Why? Because he is wealthy?
The buyer has a right to choose the ethnicity and culture (s)he wishes to live with. The Broker was acting according to the rules of membership of the Realtors Assoc. Neither demonstrated any racism. To fulfill their right to happiness the buyer was merely trying to live among those who likely share common culture and interests. Unfortunately the Realtors Assoc. have bowed to the pressure of “political correctness” and forbids its members from providing direct ethnicity information. The buyer should have requested the Realtor to provide demographic information about each neighborhood which should include ethnicity.
It is a federal law against a realtor selling property on a race base means. That broker could had fell into a trap and found herself in court if she had gave the buyer the information the buyer requested.
People are program everyday. By family, friends, schools, TV , Radio and Books without knowing it to be bias about race, and they do not even know they are being programmed.
Once programmed you can not tell anyone they are wrong!
People smoke, they have been told they will die. Why do they do it? They have been programmed by seeing family , friends , school, tv, and books of people smoking. They try it and get hooked. Once hooked they will fight you rather than quit even if they are dieing of cancer.
I’m white, and I don’t want to live in an all-white community. I know people of other races who also prefer to live in a racially diverse neighborhood, and I also know people, including non-whites, who prefer to live in an area where their group is dominant. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. What is wrong is when people, whether residents, realtors, or others, attempt to exclude others from moving into a community because of race or cultural backround. I also wouldn’t make the assumption that the buyer of the $900K house was white. In my city there are high-end neighborhoods where most of the residents are black, Persian, Asian, Armenian, etc.
As for Jimmy Carter, his comments regarding Joe Wilson and racism are based not only on the inappropriate comments, but on other actions and comments that Joe Wilson has made in the past. Consider Carter and his reputation–he is not a name caller, and he has always lead by a personal moral example (even if he was not so effective as a President). If Joe Wilson is not racist, then why has he not condemned the racist placards being displayed by those who support him?
I think the agent did not handle the question well. A better response could be to have said “this neighborhood is mixed and predominately black, white, Asian, ect.”
As for Jo Wilson, his racism has a long historic record. Having said that however, his actions during the Presidents speech was a first. Its one of those things that just is not done. It is just another example of the endless and baseless attacks that always go on during any Dem. administration. They keep yelling “liberal press” but you will not find any news agency that does an almost constant attack of every thing any GOP President says or does. Just look at this whole Czar story. The same GOP Bozos that are having a fit about Presidential advisers today were calling for more Czars a few years ago.
As for Joe’s “you lie” outburst, well Joe was and is wrong on the facts, but I am sure the $450,000 he received from the medical and insurance industry had a lot to do with his “racism”.
It is amazing how many of you are lying to yourself about racism in the public you are so prim and proper but get you with your buddies well then you know the truth. I love Jimmy Carter. PS who cares if that clown who made the remark is a racist or not , I find him so ordinary.
In the last several years Carter has been a name caller, a medler and an increasing bigger Jerk.
Just because he claimed to have a higher moral calling does not mean he has it and like I said earlier, most of these comments are just plain stupid on this post.
When a person calls someone a racist they are not trying to get a dialogue going they are only working at stopping the dialogue. Wilson did nothing racist in calling Obama a liar, he only expressed his opinion.
Obama is a liar and the CBO has infomation to prove it. It has published information several times calling into question his statements. Why do you think Obama called the head of the CBO into his office?
Tell me how can someone go to a church for about 20 years, have a very racist pastor screaming week after week and then tell us he had no idea what the pastor was talking about. Give me a break either he is deaf and dumb or he is a liar. Want me to start a list of all the other things he has lied about? I can give you a big one!
The only reason any of this thread is about possible racism is because we have a bunch of white and black guys telling us every time anyone disagrees with Lord Obama it is because the person is a racist. Where are the yellow skinned ones or the Indians like myself?
More like no one in power right now wants any of their criminal activities questioned and if they start crying racism maybe they will get those that want to practice free speech to shut up.
Joe the Plumber did nothing racist, Wilson did nothing racist and neither did the buyer or broker do anything racist. It is all to make the progressives look better and hide the ball from most of the people in this country.
The ones that do not give one tinker’s damn what happens to any of us as long as they get theirs and they have power, because be very clear this is a struggle for power, not wealth or anything else just power.
Poor people are the easiest to control, that is what taxes and wealth redistribution is all about. It always has been through history, it is right now with the progressives in power.
Look up the progressive movement if you have a question about it. There is nothing about freedom in the progressive movement, it is all about someone telling you what is good for you and what you should do.
If you notice Obama has been calling himself a progressive lately, not a democrat, not a liberal but a progressive. You should ask yourself why before it is too late!!
1. For the record, there is a gender reference in the story. Those that missed it should re-read it.
2. The only question poised to the readership was about the buyer and the broker. Why are there so many off-plumb rants?
3. If the racial/ethnic make-up of the neighborhoods were so important then why didn’t the buyer tell the broker that before they wasted time with the house hunt? It would have given the broker a chance to tell the buyer that she couldn’t show houses based on race/ethnic reasons. If the buyer accepted that, fine. If the buyer had a problem with that, fine, he would be fired on the spot. No wasted time. This whole incident was the buyer’s fault.
Note to Bryan-enjoyed meeting you on my last trip to Vegas.
Hey Cecil – it was great to meet you too! I’ll be back out in Vegas at the end of October – I’ll send you a free ticket to the event where I’ll be… hopefully we can meet for a drink or something. — Bryan Ellis
The buyer asked a question, he didn’t say why he was asking that particular question therefore I choose none. Everyone in America has to realize it is not a race issue with Obama, it is the fact that some Americans think that Obama is pushing the U.S.A towards socialism or better known as communism. That is what the real argument is about.
I read this page largely because I am an african american female under thirty. I am interested in real estate investing and Brian, I originally subscribed to your site because I thought it had an interesting spin on a topic I was interested in learning more about.
At this point, I find it (almost) irrelevant to comment on the original question but I will say this. I think the word racism can often be substituted for ignorance on all sides (i.e. white or black, purple, green, whatever)……The really sad part is that while the “educated” middle aged folk in this country are busy beginning a war of cultures….The younger generation is going to wake up and the opportunity for betterment through investing in anything tied to America (land, houses, you name it) will be over.
I would say spend this time talking about something else. (Oh and for the record, neither party in the story was being racist — just overreacting *as usual*) ……Wake up people.
I did not bother getting too involved in all of the comments on this thread, its one step away from religion and what color Jesus was.
I did however use my usual formula of sitting in both seats to mold my conclusion…
1st…
It’s a white buyer asking for white neighborhoods, to a black broker that refused to provide racial profiles of neighborhoods to the client in a manner that would not incriminate his or herself…
OR
2nd…
It’s a Black buyer asking for black neighborhoods, to a white broker that refused to provide racial profiles of neighborhoods to the client in a manner that would not incriminate his or herself.
It would be pretty rare for a white broker to NOT want to make 54K under these circumstances ……( I refuse to tell you the latin neighborhoods to move into Maria)..NOT VERY LIKELY !!!
A black( or other minority) broker might put pride from misplaced anger issues they might have from negative racial experiences throughout their life. Pride is one of the only things someone would use to kill a deal so swiftly.
I’m not politically correct nor do I seek to be,I’m a straight shooter.
Nobody was racist , the broker in my eyes handled it incorrectly and if one of my associates would have killed this deal by not finding some sort of common ground …I would be slightly irate .
As you can see I found it more intriguing to figure out ” Who is the minority ” in this little experiment.
Good Luck All !!!
You might find this interesting: Nobody in this story is black. — Bryan Ellis
WOW, JUST WOW, I’ve read the whole post. (first time completely, no offense) I am a first generation European American male over 40 and I agree with the African-American girl under 30 in saying “just overreacting *as Usual*” . It amazing how people, all people, get all charged up just by the mention of the word “racist”. I hope that we don’t lose the younger generation by our insecurities. God help us.
Yes, I agree with somebody out there who said the realtor laws were not explained well and the buyer got mad when not given the information they requested. I also explain that I can’t steer them to a neighborhood, provide comments of the type of neighborhood without the possibility of Fair Housing Coming down on me. When I explain they can drive the neighborhoods all they want, do their own research and come to their own conclusions then tell me what neighborhood they want to see they are OK. I do admire the broker for not giving in when the buyer fired him/her.
Deb McMillan The Short Sale Queen
Re: You might find this interesting: Nobody in this story is black. — Bryan Ellis
I had a sense that it may not have been just a black and white thing. Which is when I tried my best to be somewhat politically correct and I stated..”Minority” a couple times HAZAA !!
Brian let me add, I enjoyed the topic and your ability to stir things up from time to time without rocking the boat.
Keep up the good work. !
It’s unfortunate that you only post the raving loonies and uneducated. That demonstrates the exact problem in this country. People who shoot off their mouths but are too lazy or perhaps just ignorant to make an attempt to actually know the facts about any situation.
Since the truth is that the Republican Haters have attacked with one nonsense item after another, one has to look a bit deeper to discover why otherwise semi-intelligent people would dare act this way. We all respond better to our own races, beliefs, localities, and other similarities that we do to any differences. That’s all ignorant Haters need to start spitting out vile.
President Carter’s words deserve rational consideration. After all he has already done many more important things with his life than any of us have come close to. He wouldn’t ever say it, but he is obviously much smarter than any of us. I doubt there are any other Nuclear Engineers on this blog. And if there are, they will agree with his observations. He has demonstrated more compassion for his fellow citizens than any of us has ever come close to. He has done many patriotic and statesman like activities since leaving office that have been of great value to this country and all of us in it. He has saved many American lives.
And there is much more. So before anyone dare bad mouth his observations you should at the very least be honest enough to shut your mouths and truly examine the situation. There will be no more negative discourse from honorable people who actually do this.
There are consequences in life: as Bush once said but never lived up to. One cannot conduct oneself in an improper manner and truly be a good person. Sure, you can go to a church and ask for forgiveness, but that means nothing and does nothing. You could take drugs too, but that would merely delude your reality, it would not change reality. Far better to take the responsibility to say and do the right thing. Being a closet racist, a racist apologist, or a racist propogandist enabler is NOT what a decent person does. So the only question is, are you man enough to strive to be a decent person? Or would you rather continue speaking and living a lie?
Notebanker, it is so very good to see you are so damn smart, I guess those with a chemical engineering degree are not as smart.
Carter is an old fool and he was the worst president we have ever had with the possible exception of Woodrow Wilson.
So by your arguement when all the nasty things were said about Secretary Rice, it was only the rascist from the left speaking? Pelosi must be a rascist telling all the people whom demonstrate against her policies Nazis. Because some of them are black, brown and yellow, don’t forget the other ethinic group, your able to figure it out. So if some one has a different skin and some has been tells all the rest of us it is racist that makes it so.
Your agruement makes as much sense as your being smarter than the rest on here because you are an engineer, give it a break.
Chris after reading your comment I am rolling all over my floor in lafter imaging you are calling President Cater a fool I see you have no respect for what an induvial has to go through to become the President of these here U.S of A. OH and Notebanker reading your comment is quite refreshing. P.S. Ellis. Now you have me looking foward to reading your Real Estate Letter, this is good.
The buyer seemed to display racist traits. Here’s why: the broker was acting in a legal and ethical manner to refuse, since doing so could have allowed a charge of steering, which is behavior intended to keep a neighborhood’s ethnic composition homogenous. The buyer could have used their own eyes to determine the ethnic balance of the neighborhood, to demand this information from the broker was extremely inappropriate. Had the buyer not fired the broker, the broker’s response probably would have been something like, ” We’ll go to a variety of neighborhoods, and then you will make the final choice.”
Unfortunately, the buyer’s race is necessary to vote as to who was racist, because their point of reference is relevant. Take Mr. Carter, for example. This southern, white gentleman’s assertion of racism is much more significant than a black gentleman’s of any region. Why? First, because Mr. Carter would know racism when he sees it. He has had the privilege of imposing power based on his racial majority all his life. Second, because it is difficult if not impossible to attribute his statement to a personal bias; here is a white man calling white people racists. Now, such an assertion coming from a black person would certainly be dismissed, en masse, as one being over-sensitive to an issue that no longer exists. This being said, the broker is forbidden from passing such an opinion, as it would be in violation of federal laws and the Realtor code of ethics. This leaves the buyer to be considered a racist. But what if he were asking that because he seeks integration with other cultures? Or his own? Too much was left unsaid.
It’s simply foolish to suggest that one can’t determine racial discrimination without knowing the race of the people involved. To make this idiotic assertion is to suggest that discriminatory behavior for one group is not equally discriminatory when performed by another group. Such beliefs are the domain of a small mind. — Bryan Ellis
Firstly, as a real estate profession goes, there are rules in place that must be followed if you plan on staying in buisness. Steering, whether to, or away from a nieghborhood is illegal. If you don’t want to follow the rules of a profession, pick another profession. Also, you never know who’s who, until the lawsuit hits. There are agency’s who’s soul purpose is to catch people who are breaking the law, and subsequently penalizing them very harshly even to the point of putting them out of business. Also keep this in mind, unless you go around and knock on every door, you don’t know who’s living where. There is LWAYS some degree of diversity in ANY nieghborhood. In the quest to find the perfect ethnic nieghborhood, you may very well find that the one, two, or three families of a different race your’e trying to avoid, may live very close to your dream home. Mabe even next door!
I do not see the claim for racism here on either side. I mean we take every stupid thing we do and wrap it in under Racism. We all have rights to live where we want. the days where this black vrs white thing is past. Really, in the world today, do we not have other, more important issues to deal with?
I think that the Broker “jumped the gun” by getting all “bent out of shape” and not simply answering the Buyer’s direct DEMOGRAPHIC question about the neighborhoods where the houses were located. The Buyer was very clear about who he wanted his neighbors to be, which, (may I add) is her/his personal preference. If the Broker was a TRUE “professional” s/he could have simply said something like, “Let me pull up that information on the computer and print it out for you to take with you and review at your convenience”. If there’s some “taboo” in the world of ‘licensed real estate professionals” on simply indicating the ethnicity of people who live in any particular neighborhood for fear of legal ramifications, then I’m very BLESSED to be an UNLICENSED Real Estate Professional…namely an Investor! We don’t have nonsensical guidelines like this governing our creative interaction with our clients.
It is a proven fact in our state that as minorities move into and populate a section of a city or town, there is a negative impact on property values. This is typically in the midrange priced homes. A $900,000 home would typically not be in an area such as described here.
The thing that nobody seemed to mention (maybe it was, I didn’t read every post) was the the broker/agent cannot answer that question without losing their license. For all she knew the “buyer” was an investigator with her state real estate commission. Answering that question would have been a classic case of steering no matter which race was inquiring or being inquired about.
If everything went down exactly the way you outline it the buyer did nothing wrong. As a buyer I am allowed to purchase any piece of property in any part of this country that I can afford. Period. A buyer asking the question that you state is just like asking the question of “how many schools are in this area.”
For me personally, my children are grown and on their own, therefore I don’t need to live near a school and don’t want the extra traffic that this brings. Am I discriminating becasue I only want to live in an area that isn’t full of school age children? An area that doesn’t possibly have teen age kids racing up and down my street to go to and from school?
My example is age, your example is race, it is the same thing. For $900k I am going to buy where I want and will ask all of the questions I want before I purchase. If my agent won’t answer my questions I would fire the agent also.
I don’t think either one of them are racist or made foolish or baseless statements. Both decisions were business decisions. The broker withheld the infomation about race for fear of loosing a sales commission and the buyer fired the broker to go get someone who would be completely honest with him. It was purely a business disagreement and had nothing to do with racisim, it had to do with honesty and trust in a business transaction. It also had to do with excessive politcal correctness and the fear of being called a racist. They were not racist they were both just plain stupid. i figure this is a clear example of misdemeanor stupidity, both were wrong and both took the resulting losses. Maybe they both have still got some growing up to do.
The broker is legally bound by the lfederal law on redlining, steering customers to neighborhoods by race
and disclosing to buyers what race lives in the neighborhood. On the other hand one buys property with the future benefits of resale in mind. Therefore race is a by product of decision making on the value of property worth, I am African American and also a investor of property and I take in consideration the following factors of location, schools, crime, Job base,retail sector , Education level, each one ties into race of the area on how well my investment will do and how much I should pay for it, simple business investing.
I voted neither did anything wrong. It is a sad state of mind that one can not do anything without being labeled a racist, Sadly the government is is an incubator for racism, cause it keeps the waters muddied. Recently in PA (I think it was) a black man was selling or giving away anti Obama materials and was knocked down, beaten, kicked and stomped AND called the N word. Because they were some Obama thugs (from the SEIU) it was being ignored. Finally enough pressure was put on the authorities they took some action almost as severe as slapping their hand. Much more pressure was applied from the video and audio on the tape, I am not sdure what if anything else will happen from it. That is racism and hate at the same time. And rememeber Obamas reaction with his professor freind and the cop, Also with the Muslim shooter at Ft. Hood.. I do NOT care about Obamas color, he IS a racist through and through,
The definition of racism is “the predjudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races”. I really don’t see where racism enters into the picture concerning the question asked by the potential buyer, this being the case. The sad thing is that we are so overly concerned with being politically correct as a society, that the realtor is afraid to say shit even when she has a mouth full . Does Freedom of Speech still exist.We have a President who embodies multiple ethnicities, a female Secretary of State, a White Vice President , a foreign born actor running California, and a whole lot of people with nothing better to do than waste thier lives analyzing a comment made by an 85 year old man. How about coming up with a question that hasn’t already been beaten to death? Maybe you should give up real estate and become a shock jock.
With out analyzing every thought by our own experience let’s keep in mind the facts. The buyer hired the broker and the broker FAILED to fulfill the obligation by which the service was sold. SO it wasn’t the buyer who had a problem but it was the broker !!
If the buyer wanted to know he neighborhood all they had to do was look while driving through the neighborhood on the way to look at the property.
This story and event is yet another that was blown out of proportion. The broker had the right to respond to the question in that manner, but should have been more detailed as to why she/he wasn’t going to answer the question. The buyer was not racist for wanting to know. He/she has that right. I’m not going to spend my money and have a hard time living some where i’m not wanted or welcomed. Not all neighborhoods are mixed raced friendly. I recently lived in one in NJ and you could feel that we were not fully welcomed by all, but we lived there for over ten years and it worked out. Hopefully by the end of time we will get it right. We breath the same air, to my knowledge all of us have red blood flowing through our veins. Why not get along? if someone out there has blue blood or green or pink let me know! We all related anyway! Check the history. Instead of entertaining things like this, we should all be having safe sex and working together to have a better day tomorrow. To hell with racism and lets pass a good blunt around. We been on this earth too long to continue to be separated by skin color. We have to get of the crab barrel people and then we can get some where.
Several comments here are articulate according to my point of view(s).
The question could have been answered by by a simple phone call to the school district in question, by the buyer. Instead of putting the agent/broker on the spot, and a nice $54,000 plus, spot.
Two sides;
a. The agent didn’t earn the $ if he or she could not perform (ie direct buyer to polled or census or etc. info) in this situation
b. Information is available and the buyer should be responsible for finding the info w/out putting a (whiner) agent/broker in this sticky situation. Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing… it’s scriptural.
Also, Bryan, what if the person is trying to buy into an ethnography? You did not address this fully. And some ethnicities do think they define the cut above all others… in fact many.
by the by Chris, loved the info about ( 13-14th) century to be exact, african princes selling their brothers and sisters into slavery but to the arabs… that really is something. That piece of info not in the free pile from the library book I checked out several years ago.
If the buyer had asked about crime statistics, schools, medical care, neighborhood demographics and organizations, and police/law enforcement response times the information could have been provided without racial inference. Asking pointedly about race in a buying decision like this would only be done when one is a racist.
The buyer was out of line for asking the broker such info. When I was a black young woman and a new Yalie (who got in w/o affirmative action btw)– there were neighborhoods I and my parents were steered away from renting in– nothing fancy, just vanilla. This was the 70s. I’ve been a mtge broker– there is still alot of redlining out there.
and I live in New England. cheers
Personally– I like to see a neighborhood with plenty of Asian professionals in it. That means there will be a group of serious teenagers around. And some lack of tribalism.
The laws are there for a reason.
If someone wants to know the composition of a neighborhood, you talk to the mailman and drive around at night. Personally– I don’t trust certain neighborhoods in the South past 9 pm, no matter how high the income– the paler ones,, sometimes the black and white ones. Not prejudice– I would in France, and not in Nigeria.– but the us of a is the most violent populace on the planet. Not telling when the subconscious will flip.