James A. White Sr.: The little problem I had renting a house
James White, Sr.: 我一個租房嘅小難題
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
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joined the United States Air Force
加入咗美國空軍
Air Force Base
加入空軍警衛中隊
the first goal that I had
and my new baby, Melanie,
接嚟愛達荷州度住
the personnel office,
an apartment in Mountain Home, Idaho.
because they know if they have an airman
one of their apartments,
of people that you can call,
to select the apartment that you want."
and I told her what I wanted.
available right now."
a one-bedroom or two-bedroom?"
select the apartment that you want.
to get your family out here right away."
and knocked on the door.
the woman came to the door,
"Can I help you?"
「有乜可以幫到你嗎?」
who called about the apartments.
想睇下邊間合適。」
to make my selection."
I'm really sorry,
and didn't tell me about them."
但係冇同我講佢租曬出去。」
all five of them in one hour?"
佢將五間屋都租出去?」
and what she said was this:
leave your number,
I'll give you a call?"
I did not get a call from her.
from the other people
where I could get apartments.
and feeling rejected,
to the squadron commander.
我需要你嘅幫忙。」
and here's what he said to me:
that they don't want to rent to.
將屋租俾佢哋唔鍾意嘅人。
with people in the community
你叫屋企人留返喺屋企。
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.
都有露營車嘅公園。
and you'd probably get a really good deal
仲可以買得平啲添。
as soon as possible.
the solution for you."
went downtown, saw the trailer --
去睇嗰架露營車
呢個係最好嘅辦法
best thing that I could do.
「我可唔可以將架露營車擺喺度?
"Can I just leave the trailer here,
of all my problems,
another trailer park?"
「我要問管理部門,再答你。」
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."
仲有好多地方可以泊露營車。」
of going to trailer parks.
after another.
for the apartment.
that they made to me,
didn't have any slots open,
「 Jim,我哋唔租俾你,
why we can't rent to you,
in the trailer park."
住喺呢個露營車停車場。」
because I like you people."
因為我都鍾意你哋架。」
I chuckled, too.
其他租客會搬走。
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."
話:「我哋就噉樣樣啦。」
in Mountain Home, Idaho.
我哋終於有咗自己嘅家
things settled down.
to move from Mountain Home, Idaho
搬到 Labrador 嘅 Goose Bay
It was another great location. (Laughter)
from Mountain Home, Idaho
搬到賓夕法尼亞州嘅 Sharon
因為我哋啱啱買咗一架車
had just purchased a brand-new automobile.
and said she'll fly out.
she'll help us manage the children.
put a lot of food together for the trip.
good conversation.
we got a little bit tired,
我哋開始有啲攰
a motel so that we can rest
先住宿一晚,聽日一早再上路?」
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,
啱啱辦埋完幾個人嘅入住手續
were coming in behind me.
for the evening for my family."
I just rented the last one.
最後一間啱啱租咗。
until the morning."
about an hour, 45 minutes,
大概 45 到 60 分鐘,
'Vacancies' light on, and it's flashing."
and turned the light off.
No one said anything.
and went outside to the parking lot.
and also Melanie, and I said,
drive a little bit further down the road
and pulled out of the parking lot,
估下發生乜嘢?
Vacancies, Vacancies."
but it was secure and it was clean.
但總算安全乾淨
kinds of experiences
to Pennsylvania,
motels and restaurants.
Everyone was glad to see the kids.
to Goose Bay, Labrador,
Labrador Goose Bay 嘅時候
two great-grandchildren.
one in medical school.
(Laughter)
in college now for eight years.
but he wants to be a comedian.
to stay in school.
唔代表出面可以做到一個喜劇演員
does not make you a comedian, right?
they're all good kids --
in high school, no crime.
and all the hullabaloo that was going on.
commentators got on the air and she said,
white homeowners, or white citizens."
it just all hit me.
to do these kinds of things?"
what they said on TV?"
but it seems that driving while black,
it's just dangerous.
that you told us to do.
at the 12 o'clock position.
into the glove compartment to get my I.D.'
攞我嘅身份證出嚟。
because we know, you've told us,
因為我哋記得你講過
be the ones to challenge."
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
are significantly different
what do I tell my grandsons?
我應該點同啲孫講呢?
How do I keep them alive?
俾佢哋繼續好好咁活著呢?
come to me and said,
of being enraged."
energy and my ideas and my experiences
at any point in time,
like it might be racist.
to do is to educate,
is to unveil racism,
is do everything within my power
by any means necessary.
to their dignity,
為到市民嘅身份而自豪時
heinous crimes in an adverse manner.
of societal knowledge,
and societal consciousness
all of us come together,
and we challenge any kind of insanity,
包括殺手無寸鐵嘅人
okay to kill unarmed people,
It doesn't make any sense.
至能夠達成呢一個目標
is through a collective.
and Asian and Hispanic
that kind of behavior anymore."
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