Black History Month

Each February, Black History Month serves as both a celebration of Black culture in America and an opportunity to recognize and honor the rich and diverse history as well as the significant contributions and achievements of Black Americans.

This year marks 100 years since the origins of Black history celebrations in the United States. The 2026 Black History Month theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” reflects this historic milestone. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH®) states, “For our 100th theme, the founders of Black History Month urge us to explore the impact and meaning of Black history and life commemorations in transforming the status of Black peoples in the modern world.” One of the many issues impacting the American Dream and equitable access to it is housing.

For much of U.S. history, and until the Homestead Act of 1862, African Americans were systematically excluded from property ownership. Even after legal barriers were removed, Black Americans have continued to face significant obstacles in the pursuit of homeownership. Today, the African American community still experiences disparities related to financial assistance, gentrification, and housing appraisal bias—issues that require collective awareness and action to address.

Orange County REALTORS® is dedicated to honoring the diversity of our association membership and recognizing the rich heritage and leaders who have advanced Fair Housing and expanded access to homeownership.

At Home With Diversity (AHWD)

The coursework for the At Home with Diversity® certification is designed to enable you to work successfully with and within a rapidly changing multicultural market. It will help you to learn diversity sensitivity, how it applies to U.S. fair housing laws in your business, and ways to develop professional guidelines for working with people in the increasingly multicultural real estate market.

What You Gain

Knowledge of the subtleties of U.S. fair housing laws
Business etiquette for specific cultures
An edge in expanding your business to include international clientele
Credit towards the ABRÂ®, CIPS, and PMN designations

Completion of this course satisfies NAR's Fair Housing training requirement. All REALTORS® are required to complete Fair Housing training every 3 years along with Code of Ethics training. You must attend the course in its entirety to receive credit for completion. No CE credit is provided.

Upcoming Sessions:

February 13, Online Webinar: 9:00AM - 4:00PM

Diversity and Inclusion Training:

Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing

The program helps real estate professionals learn tactics to interrupt stereotypical thinking so they can provide equal professional service to every prospect or client.

Participants will examine their ideas about people from various identity groups, explore the assumptions they may not know they’re making, and learn how to be more comfortable working across lines of difference. By engaging participants in exercises to build new habits of equitable behavior, “Bias Override” helps REALTORS® overcome barriers to working with clients of diverse backgrounds and avoid fair housing pitfalls.

Completion of this course satisfies NAR's Fair Housing training requirement. All REALTORS® are required to complete Fair Housing training every 3 years along with Code of Ethics training. You must attend the course in its entirety to receive credit for completion. No CE credit is provided.

Upcoming Sessions:

April 13, Online Webinar: 9:00AM - 12:00PM

Fairhaven 2.0: Essential Fair Housing Education

Fairhaven - NAR’s dynamic online simulation where real estate professionals tackle fair housing challenges head-on. Through realistic scenarios, practical insights, and historical context, you’ll explore key topics like steering, bias, disability accommodations, and standing up for clients facing discrimination.

This course is your gateway to creating more inclusive and equitable communities while meeting the new NAR fair housing training requirement that takes effect January 1, 2025. Best of all, it’s free for NAR members.

Get started exploring a new era in NAR’s fictional online town - Fairhaven!

OCR's Member Inclusion and Fair Housing Committee

The purpose of the Member Inclusion and Fair Housing Committee, as outlined in the Strategic Plan, is to educate, engage, and empower the OCR community by cultivating resources and communication to create and sustain an environment that is inclusive, equitable and diverse and promotes fair housing for all.

Learn more about the Member Inclusion and Fair Housing Committee