Office of Equity and Civil Rights

About Us

The Office of Equity and Civil Rights is a city agency devoted to advancing equity and upholding the federal and local civil rights laws, the local living and prevailing wage laws ensuring access and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities and providing oversight of local law enforcement.  

Our Mission

The mission of the Office of Equity and Civil Rights is to carry out activities to eliminate inequity, inequality, and discrimination.

The Office of Equity and Civil Rights Includes:

• Community Relations Commission
• Equity Office
• Mayor's Commission on Disabilities
• Police Accountability Division
• The Veterans' Commission
• Wage Commission
• Women's Commission

Baltimore’s Housing Divide: Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

In Baltimore, the story of housing is not just about buildings, it is about power, policy, who lives where, and the long shadow of racism in America. Two landmark laws, the Civil Rights Bill of 1866 and the Fair Housing Act, passed in 1968, promised fairness in housing. Only one began to make that promise real. Even then, there is still two and a half centuries of intentional oppression and damage that is still to be undone.

The Civil Rights Bill of 1866 was truly visionary for its time. It was passed in the aftermath of the Civil War and declared that formerly enslaved Black Americans had the same rights as white citizens to own, buy, and sell property in the United States. On paper, it was revolutionary. In practice, it was almost meaningless. Without enforcement mechanisms, federal oversight, or local accountability, the same predatory and discriminatory landscape that existed before the passage of the bill continued to flourish. Banks denied loans; developers excluded Black families; cities, including Baltimore, adopted policies that enforced segregation and exclusion by design.

By the early 20th century, these practices had hardened into systems and been baked into the very institutions of governance. Racial covenants, restrictive zoning, and most notably, redlining plagued neighborhoods of color across the city. Government-backed maps labeled Black neighborhoods as “hazardous,” cutting them off from investment and opportunity. With the passage of the bill, known as “The 1968 Fair Housing Act”, the federal government did more than make a promise, it created tools. Housing discrimination became illegal. Victims could file complaints. The government could investigate and prosecute. Finally, the dream of civil rights and an equal slice of the American Dream moved from concept to reality. The most blatant forms of discrimination such as “whites only” listings and outright denial of sales began to decline. Black families gained greater, though still unequal, access to mortgages and neighborhoods previously denied to them. In cities like Baltimore, the law became a critical tool for challenging injustice.

And so did we.

Baltimore, as usual, was ahead of the game. The establishment of the Baltimore City Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1956 was our first effort at creating a city and systems that served everyone regardless of race. City Ordinance #103, which was signed into law in 1964 and provided protections for people who experience discrimination in employment, public accommodations, education, as well as health/welfare institutions along with the Fair Housing Act of 1968 expanded the powers of the city to protect its’ residents and uplift its’ communities. The culmination of these great efforts was the creation of the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcement, known today as the Baltimore City Office of Equity and Civil Rights (OECR). 

But laws, even strong ones, cannot instantly undo decades of harm and inequity.

By 1968, segregation in Baltimore was not just social, it was structural. Entire neighborhoods had been shaped by exclusion. Today, those lines are still visible. Neighborhoods that were redlined nearly a century ago are still under-resourced. Homeownership gaps persist and new layers of exclusion exist. The past is not past; it is present in every facet of our lives down to the one-way streets we are still using to this day.

Our history teaches us a hard truth: you cannot fix structural injustice with prohibition alone. Repair requires trust. Investment requires intention. True change requires meaningful policy, and a willingness to confront history directly. The 1866 law gave Black Americans the right to own property. The 1968 law gave them a way to fight for it. But neither, on its own, has delivered full equity.

That work remains unfinished. The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule gives us the tools to address the legacy of segregation, but tools without action cannot deliver justice. Fair housing is not just a legal obligation; it is a moral one. The time to implement that promise is now.

OECR is actively working year-round to make sure Baltimore residents know their rights and how to protect them. This month, that includes our annual Fair Housing Month Resource Fair, happening Saturday, April 25 at Beyond the Walls Christian Ministries. But the work doesn't stop there. From Know Your Rights workshops and public agency hearings to educational social media campaigns and trainings for landlords and property managers, OECR is closing the information gap. Too many residents don't know these protections exist or how to use them. We are committed to changing that.

If you or someone you know has experienced housing discrimination, or if you want to learn more about your rights, we want to hear from you. Visit baltimorecity.gov/civil-rights to get started. 

The promise of fair housing belongs to all of us, and together, we will make it real.

7 E. Redwood Street, 9th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-396-3141
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