I've heard of this one before, note a key point: "To get that one, Duffy, who is African American, communicated with the appraiser strictly via email, stripped

I've heard of this one before, note a key point: "To get that one, Duffy, who is African American, communicated with the appraiser strictly via email, stripped her home of all signs of her racial and cultural identity and had the white husband of a friend stand in for her during the appraiser's visit." She's saying she stripped it of all signs of her racial and cultural identity--but note that this means she stripped it of all signs of her identity, period. It's known in real estate that one should strip signs of one's identity when selling a house as this makes it easier for a prospective buyer to picture themselves in the house. Lacking a control renders this completely useless information. (And it's also possible that something she stripped out was making the home seem unattractive.)