However, Black real estate agents contended that other factors outside of their background and clientele contribute to the fact that they often make less money than their white counterparts.

About 6 percent of real estate agents and brokers in the United States are Black. Their white peers make almost three times as much, according to data and surveys.

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers says discrimination is holding Black buyers back in all steps of the home buying process, starting with the rejection of a mortgage application.

Gayle Fleming worked for 30 years as a realtor in the Washington, DC area, where most of the buyers and sellers of single family homes have been upper-income White families. But when the sellers ...