James A. White Sr.: The little problem I had renting a house
James White Senior: Mały problem z wynajęciem domu
James A. White Sr. believes that every person and organization has incredible potential. He works to help them understand it — and communicate it to others. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
joined the United States Air Force
wstąpił do lotnictwa USA
Air Force Base
the first goal that I had
and my new baby, Melanie,
the personnel office,
an apartment in Mountain Home, Idaho.
w Mountain Home, Idaho.
because they know if they have an airman
one of their apartments,
of people that you can call,
do osób z tej listy" - powiedzieli.
to select the apartment that you want."
odpowiednie mieszkanie".
and I told her what I wanted.
powiedziałem jej, czego szukam.
available right now."
a one-bedroom or two-bedroom?"
select the apartment that you want.
i wybierze sobie mieszkanie.
to get your family out here right away."
wprowadzić się z rodziną".
and knocked on the door.
the woman came to the door,
"Can I help you?"
who called about the apartments.
to make my selection."
I'm really sorry,
"Wie pan, bardzo mi przykro.
and didn't tell me about them."
nie mówiąc mi nic o tym".
all five of them in one hour?"
and what she said was this:
leave your number,
I'll give you a call?"
I did not get a call from her.
że nigdy nie zadzwoniła.
from the other people
where I could get apartments.
którzy mieli mieszkania.
and feeling rejected,
to the squadron commander.
i porozmawiałem z dowódcą.
potrzebuję pomocy".
and here's what he said to me:
that they don't want to rent to.
with people in the community
świetne stosunki z miejscowymi
what you should do.
that you get a 30-day leave.
spend 30 days and then come on back."
resonate for me.
I went back to personnel,
solution for you.
and he has a trailer.
all over the place.
and you'd probably get a really good deal
as soon as possible.
the solution for you."
went downtown, saw the trailer --
best thing that I could do.
"Can I just leave the trailer here,
of all my problems,
another trailer park?"
I need to check with management."
to some other people."
other slots that were open,
had promised that slot to someone else.
because there are a lot of trailer parks."
Jest wiele kempingów".
of going to trailer parks.
innych pól kempingowych.
after another.
for the apartment.
that they made to me,
didn't have any slots open,
why we can't rent to you,
in the trailer park."
na polu kempingowym".
because I like you people."
I chuckled, too.
się wprowadzisz, to inni odejdą.
will move out
that kind of a hit."
it didn't stop me.
of the town in Mountain Home,
from other trailer slots.
at that moment
a lot of other options.
"We're going to make this one work."
Powiedziałem: "Damy radę".
in Mountain Home, Idaho.
things settled down.
to move from Mountain Home, Idaho
z Mountain Home w Idaho
It was another great location. (Laughter)
Kolejne świetne miejsce. (Śmiech)
from Mountain Home, Idaho
z Mountain Home w Idaho
had just purchased a brand-new automobile.
gdyż mieliśmy nowe auto.
and said she'll fly out.
she'll help us manage the children.
put a lot of food together for the trip.
dużo jedzenia na podróż.
good conversation.
miły czas, dobra rozmowa.
we got a little bit tired,
poczuliśmy zmęczenie.
a motel so that we can rest
in the morning?"
of the motels as we drove down the road,
big, bright flashing light that said,
I went inside.
one contract with some folks,
were coming in behind me.
for the evening for my family."
I just rented the last one.
until the morning."
about an hour, 45 minutes,
godziny, 45 minut stąd,
'Vacancies' light on, and it's flashing."
and turned the light off.
No one said anything.
nikt nic nie powiedział.
and went outside to the parking lot.
and also Melanie, and I said,
żonie i Melanie, dodając:
drive a little bit further down the road
and pulled out of the parking lot,
Vacancies, Vacancies."
but it was secure and it was clean.
ale było bezpieczne i czyste.
kinds of experiences
to Pennsylvania,
motels and restaurants.
motelach i restauracjach.
Everyone was glad to see the kids.
Wszyscy ucieszyli się na widok dzieci.
to Goose Bay, Labrador,
two great-grandchildren.
i dwóch prawnuków.
one in medical school.
inny jest w szkole medycznej.
(Laughter)
in college now for eight years.
but he wants to be a comedian.
ale chce zostać komikiem.
to stay in school.
does not make you a comedian, right?
nie znaczy, że jest komikiem.
they're all good kids --
in high school, no crime.
nastoletnich ciąży, przestępstw.
and all the hullabaloo that was going on.
i całym tym zamieszaniu.
commentators got on the air and she said,
white homeowners, or white citizens."
lub białych mieszkańców.
it just all hit me.
to do these kinds of things?"
żeby zrobić coś takiego?
what they said on TV?"
słyszałeś, co się stało?".
but it seems that driving while black,
jest dla czarnych niebezpieczne.
it's just dangerous.
that you told us to do.
Robimy wszystko, co nam kazałeś.
at the 12 o'clock position.
na godzinie dwunastej.
into the glove compartment to get my I.D.'
do schowka, żeby go wyciągnąć".
z samochodu na przeszukanie,
because we know, you've told us,
bo powiedziałeś nam:
be the ones to challenge."
a wtedy zakwestionujemy".
that really bugs me:
we kind of hang together.
of things happening to us, they say,
You need to challenge.
for their identification.'"
taught to tell them:
but please do not do that
ale nie rób tego,
are significantly different
będą zdecydowanie inne,
what do I tell my grandsons?
Jak utrzymać ich przy życiu?
How do I keep them alive?
come to me and said,
of being enraged."
energy and my ideas and my experiences
mojej energii, pomysłów i doświadczeń
at any point in time,
na ciągłym kwestionowaniu
like it might be racist.
to do is to educate,
is to unveil racism,
is do everything within my power
by any means necessary.
jeszcze za życia za wszelką cenę.
to their dignity,
człowieczeństwa i godności,
heinous crimes in an adverse manner.
zbrodnie w szkodliwy sposób.
of societal knowledge,
podnieśli poziom wiedzy społecznej,
and societal consciousness
all of us come together,
zaczęli działać razem,
and we challenge any kind of insanity,
i kwestionujemy każdy rodzaj szaleństwa,
okay to kill unarmed people,
które pozwala zabijać bezbronnych ludzi,
It doesn't make any sense.
is through a collective.
and Asian and Hispanic
czarni, Azjaci i Latynosi
that kind of behavior anymore."
akceptować takiego zachowania".
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James A. White Sr. - ConsultantJames A. White Sr. believes that every person and organization has incredible potential. He works to help them understand it — and communicate it to others.
Why you should listen
James A. White Sr. is an executive coach and management consultant. The owner and president of Performance Consulting Services in Columbus, Ohio, he helps individuals, groups and organizations recognize their potential, fine-tune their strategic messages and present them effectively.
James is dedicated to sharing his energy, passion and insight into how to overcome life’s obstacles with others. As a dyslexic student in the inner city, he dropped out of high school — and after getting his G.E.D. jumpstarted his career by joining the U.S. Air Force. He went on to positions at Xerox, Wang Laboratories and Digital Equipment Corporation and has spent the past 25 as a consultant and educator. He also aims to share his experiences of racism in order to stress the message that all races, genders and backgrounds must come together to challenge the status quo.
James A. White Sr. | Speaker | TED.com