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Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Maryland Commission on Civil Rights' Celebration of the Civil Rights Act will be on October 22nd
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Town of New Windsor's 2024 18th Annual National Night Out will be on August 6th
The 18th Annual National Night Out New Windsor will be held at the New Windsor Carnival Grounds -located at 101 High Street, New Windsor, Maryland - on Tuesday, August 6th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Last year this was titled National Night Out. There will be food, games, and so much more, so please respond today to join in on the fun. Included are bounce houses, K-9 demonstrations, fire trucks, BBQ, ice cream, etc. The New Windsor Police Department will host and be joined by their partners: @vailsgatefiredept, @newwindsorfd, @new_windsor_ems, @newwindsorrecreationdept as well as the @nyspolice, @ocso_ny, and others. New Windsor is 6 miles west of Westminster along MD Route 31.
If you are unable to participate, we are accepting donations to make this event the best yet! You can mail donations directly to Master Deputy McGinnis or Town of New Windsor or stop by Town Hall, New Windsor and see me! All donations, no matter the size, are helpful and appreciated!
The event continues to grow more popular each year. At the last live event, approximately 300 attendees from the community came out to support it.
If you are interested in attending, please fill out the below registration form and send it back to either Master Deputy Kevin McGinnis at kmcginnis@carrollcountymd.gov or the Town of New Windsor at info@newwindsormd.org by July 23, 2024. Please note that there are no vendor fees associated with being a part of the event. However, we do ask that all vendors are set up by 5:30 p.m. and remain set up until the conclusion of the event at 8:30 p.m.
Together, we are making communities safer, more caring place to live and work.
Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Announces Its Support of Gov. Moore's Cannabis Pardons
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Friday, June 14, 2024
New Study Finds Redlining Continues in 2024
A new study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), entitled Decades of Disinvestment: Historic Redlining and Mortgage Lending Since 1981 (May 2024), has found that lenders "continue to reinforce patterns of structural racism in formerly redlined neighborhoods, regardless of local market dynamics. Fifty-five years after Congress outlawed using discriminatory maps to guide mortgage lending, race-based exclusion from homeownership is still a de facto reality."
To enable policymakers and analysts to definitively and precisely connect present-day conditions to past structural discrimination, the NCRC developed a new HMDA Longitudinal Dataset (HLD). It was created to utilize in this report and correct data deficiencies that have blocked our complete understanding of redlining for decades.
The NCRC urges because of these findings the need to implement and firmly enforce better-designed policy measures aimed at mitigating the impact of redlining and addressing residential segregation. Recent improvements to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), and the long-awaited Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rules - yet to be finalized by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - are important steps to combat the impact of redlining and lessen residential segregation in communities. However, they may not be sufficient, given the stickiness of redlining’s legacy over the half century since the Fair Housing Act (FHA) became law.
Maryland Cannabis Symposium is on July 25th
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Saturday, June 8, 2024
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson to Speak at MCCR's August 24th Fair Housing Gala
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Friday, May 24, 2024
Zillow’s New Free AI tool aims to Promote Equality in Housing
The open-source tool, which is available for free, addresses bias in large language models. Zillow's open-source tool, the Fair Housing Classifier, is part of the company’s efforts to “promote responsible and unbiased behavior in real estate conversations powered by large language model (LLM) technology.“ Zillow explained that artificial intelligence (AI) tools often fail to account for the myriad requirements of fair housing laws. These tools, when deployed, “can perpetuate bias and undermine the progress achieved in advocating for fair housing.“
The Fair Housing Classifier (FHC) is designed to act as a protective measure against steering, or the act of influencing a person’s choice of home based upon protected characteristics. The Fair Housing Act of 1968, as amended, prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, gender, disability, familial status or national origin. The FHC is equipped to detect questions “that could lead to discriminatory responses about legally protected groups in real estate experiences, such as search or chatbots.“ The AI technology can identify cases of noncompliance with equal housing laws when it is given a question or answer. System developers have the ability to intervene in these cases.
In a recent survey of over 12,000 Americans, Zillow found that 57% reported some type of housing discrimination during their life. This was 79% for LGBTQ+ respondents, 69% for Blacks, and 64% for Hispanics and Latinos.
“In today’s rapidly evolving AI landscape, promoting safe, secure and trustworthy AI practices in housing and lending is becoming increasingly important to protect consumers against algorithmic harms,“ Michael Akinwumi, chief responsible AI officer for the National Fair Housing Alliance, said in a statement. “Zillow’s open-source approach sets an admirable precedent for responsible innovation. We encourage other organizations and coalition groups to actively participate, test, and enhance the model and share their findings with the public.”
Companies and individuals that want to use the Fair Housing Classifier can access its code and comprehensive framework on its page on GitHub. Anyone wanting to provide feedback and/or improve the tool can connect with the email alias on the GitHub page.
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