St. Louis: Real Estate Board Makes Selling to Black Buyers an Ethical Violation

The St. Louis Real Estate Exchange adopted formal policies in the early 1920s declaring it unethical for member agents to sell homes in white neighborhoods to Black buyers. This policy was formalized in the National Association of Real Estate Boards' Code of Ethics, which until 1950 listed selling to 'undesirable' (meaning Black) buyers as a violation of professional ethics. This private industry self-regulation enforced segregation independent of law, creating professional consequences for any agent who served Black buyers. The combination of private covenant enforcement and professional ethics codes made residential segregation a total system with multiple redundant mechanisms.