WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MAY 19: Dr. Raven Baxter, seen here at a Hollywood, California event in 2022, shared her story of being blocked from buying a Virginia Beach condo because she is Black in a May 31 New York Times article. (Rich Polk/Getty Images for STARZ)
I had hoped Raven Baxter – the Black woman who was rebuffed by an elderly white home-seller from buying a Virginia Beach condo because of her race – would keep fighting until she got the keys to her castle. In this day and age, there should never be obstacles to buying a home based on race, religion, disability or national origin.
Baxter eventually decided to pass on the $749,000 property near the Atlantic Ocean last year and instead purchased a different home, The New York Times reported recently. That’s too bad.
However, the molecular biologist and social media guru has embarked on a new campaign with the National Fair Housing Alliance, a nonprofit organization based in Washington. It could have a big impact at reducing illegal housing practices across the country.
The initiative will alert consumers of their rights under federal law and what to do if they are victims of suspected housing discrimination.
Baxter, who goes by the moniker “Dr. Raven the Science Maven” online, had taken to social media to relay details of the case. She was unsure how to proceed. Comments from her followers – she has more than a quarter million – led her to file a discrimination claim with the Virginia Fair Housing Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the new campaign, “Baxter shares her story and talks about the importance for everyone to use their voice to stand up for what’s right,” a spokesperson for NFHA told me by email. “The campaign is designed to educate people about their fair housing rights and encourage them to take action if they feel they have experienced discrimination.”
It’s badly needed, for buyers and sellers alike.
Discrimination in housing has been illegal for decades for home sellers and their real estate agents under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Initiatives like the alliance campaign are indicators of the prejudice and contempt that haven’t been eradicated in the housing market.
HUD bolstered the burgeoning campaign with a $1.3 million grant, a spokesperson for the federal agency confirmed to me by email. The money is part of a larger pool of funds to fight housing bias that HUD awarded in 2023.
Baxter did connect with a civil rights lawyer, The Times reported, and eventually settled with Jane Walker, 84, the seller, and others connected with the case. Details of the settlement are confidential. Walker had earlier told her agent she didn’t want to sell the condo to a Black person.
Baxter told me in June, when I interviewed her after the saga first became public, that the incident was “kind of like an onion,” with many layers. “Every time you think you’ve heard it all, there’s more.”
“Everyone deserves the right to own property,” she continued. “It’s an American freedom.”
I even journeyed to the pricey neighborhood where the condo sits. Nearby amenities include a country club golf course and the sands of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. It’s a desirable community.
After the latest news article, Baxter did not return my phone calls or Facebook and Instagram requests for an interview. When I interviewed her last year, she was working remotely for a New York City hospital and living in Northern Virginia with her partner, a theoretical astrophysicist.
Last week, Baxter posted on X, formerly Twitter: “There is still so much going on currently with my case that I’m not able to share. But we’re already seeing the shockwaves of positive impact through our country.”
NFHA told me 34,150 fair housing complaints were received by private, nonprofit fair housing organizations, HUD, the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies in 2023, compared to 33,007 in 2022. Discrimination based on disability accounted for a majority of the complaints.
HUD said it received nearly 2,500 complaints based on race or color in its latest Fair Housing annual report, which was issued in 2022.
The HUD spokesperson said individuals can file complaints at hud.gov/fairhousing/fileacomplaint.
The NFHA, its spokesperson said, reached out to Baxter about the campaign after learning of the Virginia Beach incident. She agreed to participate. Beginning the middle of this year, TV and radio stations will receive English and Spanish language public service announcements about fair housing rights. Baxter will share her story.
The campaign will also include podcast episodes and PSAs in online and print publications.
News of the housing alliance initiative coincided with the sentencing of a Hampton landlord who harassed and evicted tenants based on race, federal authorities said.
David L. Merryman, 59, was sentenced recently to 17 years in prison for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and race-based interference with housing and employment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a news release.
“David Merryman deliberately targeted families of color with limited means and housing options,” said Jessica D. Aber, a federal prosecutor.
The release said Merryman harassed his minority tenants with “slurs, comments about slavery, mocking comments, death threats, and assaultive conduct related to their race, all in violation of their right to occupy and lease a dwelling free from racially motivated harassment, threats, and force.”
Cases like Merryman’s may be among the worst that exist. Yet we know questionable rejections of rental applications and disparate appraisals based on race continue to occur.
Baxter’s participation in the new campaign, then, is a positive outcome after a sordid incident. It will inform people of their rights and help reduce housing bias that continues to persist.
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