Raven Baxter Found Her Virginia Beach Dream Home. The Owner Didn’t Want To Sell To A Black Woman.
I’m just going to say this: 84 is not THAT old.
Being born in 1940 is no excuse for behaving like a modern-day segregationist.
Guess who was born that year?
Al Pacino, Ringo Starr, Dionne Warwick, Chuck Norris, Cliff Richard, Mario Andretti, Nancy Pelosi and the late John Lennon and Bruce Lee.
Not exactly relics. (Except the dead guys, I guess.)
Virginians born 84 years ago are not products of the Antebellum South. They may remember the bad old days of segregation, but they certainly should have outgrown Jim Crow.
Not all have, apparently.
The New York Times recently published a story about an 84-year-old resident of Virginia Beach whom they say had agreed to sell her condo at the oceanfront to Raven Baxter, a 30-year-old molecular biologist from Northern Virginia. They agreed on a sales price long distance, contracts were signed, an inspection was underway and the real estate deal seemed to be sailing smoothly toward closing, according to The Times.
But The Times reports that when the seller discovered her buyer was African American, she wanted to kill the deal.
In May of 2024. Unbelievable.
Dr. Baxter has a popular website, “Dr. Raven The Science Maven,” an X account and podcast. Check them out. She’s smart, vivacious and kids will love her experiments. Baxter went public with her story and let it be known she was not giving up the house of her dreams because a suddenly recalcitrant seller with an appalling reason wanted to abort the deal.
“I’m either buying your house or buying the block! Choose one!”
Love it.
Details about what happened after that are vague. The sale is reportedly back on track, though.
One thing’s clear: at least two federal laws protect buyers like Baxter from racial discrimination: the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Forget the laws, though. Common decency should protect people from being treated this way because of the color of their skin. This is shocking and ugly. Frankly, it’s embarrassing for those of us who call Virginia Beach home.
Originally, Baxter was looking at a closing later this summer. Once that happens, the neighborhood casserole ladies should bury her under a tsunami of housewarming cakes, cookies and cornbread.
Dr. Baxter needs to see some Southern hospitality - Virginia Beach-style - to counteract that bitter taste of bigotry.
