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As the lights went up inside The DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago, emotions were running high in the audience of nearly 300.
The Chicago Association of REALTORS® was hosting a screening of Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation—a fourpart series it helped sponsor—documenting the role of local real estate associations in promoting restrictive covenants that kept Black buyers out of predominately white neighborhoods. There was frustration, anger, shame—but also hope and positivity.
“At the core, it’s important to acknowledge the past and not act like it didn’t happen,” says Michelle Mills Clement, RCE, CAE, CAR’s CEO. “CAR members attending wanted to know what we can do, as REALTORS®, to counteract the last 100 years of our history.”
Panelists at the screening urged attendees to become educated on how the U.S. got to this point “so we all can educate others,” Clement says. The emotions also have a role: “They’re what evoke us to take action and be a part of future change.”
