I love technology and lately have been reading my email in bed in the wee hours of the morning when I can't sleep. Being an Inman subscriber thanks to my local real estate board an article by Teresa Boardman, Broker/Owner of Boardman Realty titled, "How white privlege makes my life easier" caught my eye. As a both a woman and minority I wanted to read it and wondered how it ended up on Inman.
If you have not read it just click on the link and take some time to read it. Although I found the "opinion" piece well written, heartfelt and an interesting perspective, it was the comments that really caught my eye for a variety of reasons.
As someone who was raised, went to school and worked in a mostly "White", "WASP", "mainstream" environment for all my life I knew that this article would elicit some interesting comments. Nothing that I have not been exposed to in the various phases of my life.
A quick example - I worked in one of the top telecom companies in the nation in a market/sales group that dealt with the technical side of the product line in the mid to late 80's. I was an adminstrative employee and one of three or 4 minorities. The company had just started Diversity training and one of my technical managers made a comment about "Filing a reverse discrimination suit" because he felt discriminated against because he had to go to the training. This said by a "WASP" in all seriousness to one of the few minorities in a group of 60 to 70 people. We had two women technical managers, one Black manager, and the rest were White. That was typical in the late 70's until the mid to late 90's when more diversity candidates were hired due to a variety of class action lawsuits by EEOC and other groups.
I even decided to comment on the Inman article, although without my first cup of coffee, I was perhaps not as articulate as I could have been. For those that were up in arms because Inman had the audacity to publish this article...please get over yourselves. If you don't think that this has nothing to do with real estate than you are probably gullible enough to believe that America is color blind.
As a woman of color with an obviously Hispanic name, I am still surprised when people assume that my clients are also Hispanic. The vast majority are not, they run the gambit of nationalities, since I don't target any specific demographic group. Discrimination is more overt in this century, it has taken different shades and not as obvious, but its there. Denying it won't make it go away nor turning a blind eye to it.
Neither does saying "it does not belong in a Real Estate centric" publication and showing your true colors to future buyers and sellers by the way you comment. It's so easy to deny that "White Privilege" does not exist when your White but...it gives me the same feeling when I hear a drop dead gorgeous, wealthy woman or man says "You don't know how difficult my life is..." You don't say....let me walk in those Manolos just for a few days and I will let you know "how bad you have it".
I've learned to live with it and roll with the punches. I don't feel I need to make an issue of it unless it gets in the way of not being able to show a buyer a house or if I need to educate the seller that it does not matter who buys their home as long as they are pre-approved and are able to close. If their "neighbors" don't like the new "homeowners", its the neighbors issue not the home sellers.
I can't tell you about the "neighbors" because I don't live in the neighborhood. If you have a preference than do your own due diligence - walk the neighborhood - check out the amenities - do whatever you need to do to make yourself comfortable because I am selling a "house". Yes, I have to explain to clients and educate them why I can't tell them which "groups" live where - Fair Housing is a major issue that I spend educating clients on during my real estate career.
From comments on personal pictures, art and decor to "certain kitchen" scents to a vast array of "tiny" signs that are brought to my attention - race/discrimination/bias exists in real estate.
So a big thank you to Teresa Boardman for writing on this issue, at this time, and opening up the conversation to a difficult subject. Perhaps corporate style "Diversity Training" needs to be addressed by local boards, franchises, with the assistance of our fellow professionals from NAREB, NAHREP or AREAA.
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