June is a month rich with diversity awareness, featuring Pride Month and Juneteenth. Local realtor Nicole White, with the Inspired Living Group by eXp Realty LLC, has a passion for the importance of diversity awareness in the real estate profession because property ownership is one way that people can build wealth and independence, and historically, people of color and minorities have struggled to break through red lines of exclusion.
White was inspired to create a rainbow-colored sticker proclaiming, “Life Isn’t Fair But Housing Should Be,” which she shares with fellow realtors.
In 2022 and 2024, White was the chair of the Colorado Association of Realtors ‘ diversity and inclusion committee. She continues to sit on the committee that conducts in-service training for realtors about the history of fair housing and fair housing laws.
White says realtors have an essential role to play in correcting the errors of the past. “For me, it’s a hard pill to swallow. We have been part of the problem, so we have to be part of the solution, right?”
While no longer legal, White says the legacy of racial and minority redlining continues to impact minorities and marginalized communities, contributing to wealth disparities and limited access to resources.
The practice of explicit and implicit redlining made it difficult, if not impossible, for many people to acquire loans to buy or improve property in certain neighborhoods based on their race, ethnicity, and religion.
Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed these practices, the result denied many families the ability to build home equity wealth and pass it along to their children. The practices have continued to have a residual effect on present-day patterns of segregation and inequality.
White wants to continue to break down the barriers and help people get a foothold in the housing market, but with housing prices skyrocketing, that is proving to be difficult for many people who do not have access to down payment money or a salary high enough to qualify for a mortgage.
As housing prices increase, so can the cost of rental properties, creating housing instability for many people.
White recommends three books to help realtors, lenders, and community members concerned about housing equity understand the complexity of the problem.
“The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein is a primer on the history of racial segregation policies that can be traced to the 1930s. Since its publication in 2017, the book has been recognized by academics and policymakers as a critical analysis of how banking and government actions led to and maintained racial segregation in the United States.
Building on “The Color of Law,” Rothstein and his daughter Leah Rothstein published “Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law ” in 2023. The book provides a template with strategies for communities to address the legacy of segregation, which continues to affect individuals today.
White also recommends “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap,” which takes a deep dive into the Black-white wealth gap stemming from America’s history of slavery, redlining, and banking discrimination, and why little progress has been made in correcting the economic discrimination embedded in America’s financial system.
White’s “Life Isn’t Fair But Housing Should Be” stickers are available for $1 each, plus postage. To get one, click here to email her.