The national reckoning on the topic of racial injustice is prompting more REALTOR® offices and associations to have tough conversations about the implicit biases people have and the need for greater diversity and inclusion in the industry.

But if any real, long-term change is to occur, conversations must evolve from just talk to concrete and lasting actions and policies, said national industry panelists during Tuesday’s Business Issues Forum of Illinois REALTORS® Online Fall Business Meetings.

Now is not the time to do nothing, they said.

“If you are not intentionally inclusive, then you are unintentionally exclusive,” said panelist Nate K. Johnson, president of Real Estate Solutions Redkey Realty Leaders in St. Louis.

Other panelists included: Jasmyn Jefferson, branch manager of REALTOR® Windermere Real Estate in Tacoma, Washington; and Michelle Walker, broker-owner of STL Buy & Sell, REALTORS® in the St. Louis area. Illinois REALTORS® 2020 Business Issues Forum Chair Jeff Gregory and Vice Chair Sarah Ware moderated the discussion.

The forum covered a variety of topics, from the need to improve African American homeownership rates to making diversity training mandatory and the steps brokerages and associations can take to create more open and inclusive environments.

A first step is recognizing the implicit, and often unconscious, biases you have and how it shapes your perceptions of people, the panelists said.

People often internalize those biases, but it is important to give every single client the same opportunities, Walker said.

The National Association of REALTORS® offers a training video, “Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing,” that can help you recognize and overcome unconscious prejudices.

As these conversations about diversity continue and more REALTORS® become more aware of implicit biases, Jefferson said it is also important to keep striving beyond that when it comes to inclusivity.