The WRA is dedicated to improving the diversity, equity and inclusion within our communities and industry. One specific component of this endeavor is to help educate our members and the public about implicit bias. 

Bias, a preference for or an aversion against someone or against a specific thing, is often discussed. However, in the context of fair housing, implicit bias — the automatic association that emerges instantly in our unconscious brains regarding groups and identities like race, sex, age or religion — is less frequently discussed. Most people struggle with the fact that the associations in the unconscious brain may be inconsistent with the values we have in our conscious brain.

Therefore, we are launching a campaign and webpage devoted to educating the REALTOR^® community about implicit bias.

This campaign highlights a simple image of one individual with three arbitrary nouns as descriptions of the individual. However, the last noun for the entire campaign is always “homeowner.” The campaign images may be the faces of your prospective clients, customers, buyers, sellers, renters, landlords, investors, lenders, title agents, attorneys, members of your community or your fellow REALTORS^®.  

The new implicit bias webpage includes a series of resources as well as the initial launch of the implicit bias campaign.

The goal of the campaign is to encourage you to ask yourself, “Did I just unconsciously make an assumption or perpetuate a stereotype based on someone’s appearance?” Be honest. 

If we are not honest with ourselves first, we will never be able to address the broader societal issues associated with discrimination. With honesty and self-reflection, we can learn to combat implicit bias in real estate and beyond. 

Visit the new webpage at wra.org/ImplicitBias to learn more about implicit bias.