Dr. Raven Baxter, who was astonished earlier this year when a white homeowner tried to deny her the right to buy a condo, will be the face of a new national campaign aimed at combating housing discrimination.
In May, Dr. Baxter, who is Black and is a molecular biologist and science communicator, shared her experience on social media where she already had hundreds of thousands of followers of her science content. Many followers urged her to file a claim of discrimination with the Virginia Fair Housing Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The National Fair Housing Alliance, a Washington-based nonprofit coalition of housing organizations, will sponsor the educational blitz that will include television and radio ads in both English and Spanish, four podcasts, and a targeted social media campaign in eight languages reaching YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and streaming audio platforms. HUD is providing a $1.3 million grant for the campaign, which will hit airwaves in summer 2025.
“Good things can happen when people stick up for themselves,” Dr. Baxter, 31, said in a recent interview. “Everyone deserves to be part of the American dream.”
Dr. Baxter was in escrow on a $749,000 ocean-view condo in Virginia Beach, when the seller learned she was Black and tried to cancel the sale. She said her shock was compounded by her uncertainty on how to defend herself, leading her to social media.
“I was so overwhelmed with what was happening to me. I couldn’t digest or interpret any of it. Even with a Ph.D., it was beyond me,” she said.
Following the publication of her story in The New York Times, Dr. Baxter also connected with a civil rights lawyer. She eventually settled out of court with the seller, Jane Walker, 84; Susan Pender, a real estate agent who represented Ms. Walker in the canceled sale; and Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty, Ms. Pender’s brokerage. The details of the settlement are confidential, but Ms. Pender and the brokerage issued a public apology.
On its website, RW Towne Realty wrote that the brokerage and Susan Pender “recognize and regret the harm that Jane Walker’s actions caused to Dr. Raven Baxter,” and they made a pledge to “respect and dignity throughout the home-buying process.”
In an emailed statement, Joel Rubin, a spokesman for RW Towne Realty, told The Times that Ms. Pender had informed Ms. Walker that her desire to cancel the sale because of race was illegal, and then worked with Ms. Walker’s adult children to convince her to allow the sale to proceed.
Dr. Baxter, he said, had acknowledged that the brokerage was not “involved in any fair housing or civil rights violations or otherwise took any action that impeded or discouraged her efforts to purchase the property.” The brokerage, he added, will now provide additional training on the Fair Housing Act to all its employees and agents.
According to interviews with Dr. Baxter and her partner, Dr. Ronald Gamble, Ms. Pender called Dr. Baxter’s agent, shared that Ms. Walker wanted to pull out of the purchase because of Dr. Baxter’s race, and expressed concern that her client would try to scuttle the sale by denying repairs. A written timeline compiled by Dr. Baxter’s agent and shared with The Times by Dr. Baxter supports this recollection of events.
Dr. Baxter ultimately decided against buying the condo, and has purchased a different home.
Ms. Walker also issued Dr. Baxter an apology, writing, “I deeply regret saying anything that hurt you,” and “hope that you keep educating all of our young people about science.”
Ms. Walker and her attorney did not respond to a request for further comment.
Dr. Baxter is now turning her attention to the campaign, which she hopes will help other people who find themselves in situations similar to what she experienced. “We are teaching people a way to figure out what to do,” she said.
Two federal laws — the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the much older Civil Rights Act of 1866 — make it illegal for both home sellers and their real estate agents to discriminate during a home sale. But more than 50 years after redlining was outlawed, racial discrimination remains an issue, housing advocates say. The National Fair Housing Alliance reports that more than 34,000 fair housing complaints were made in 2023, but the organization estimates the number of unreported violations is close to four million.
“Housing discrimination is unfortunately alive and well in this country,” said John Relman, Dr. Baxter’s attorney.
Dr. Baxter’s experience as a science educator, and her wide platform of followers, made her an obvious choice to lead the campaign, said Nikitra Bailey, the executive vice president of the National Fair Housing Alliance.
“Dr. Baxter’s story shows the importance of using one’s voice. When she aired her experience online, the community rallied to inform her of the legal resources that could be available to her. This campaign seeks to replicate that awareness on a national scale,” Ms. Bailey said. “Our goal is to reach millions of people.”
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