An Elevated Talk On Race
how many elevator rides
do you recall
maybe because the small town of idabel
oklahoma
where i grew up only had one elevator
that i knew of
i can still recall my first
elevator ride but for the most part
elevator rides are uneventful
and not newsworthy there may be
music that plays in the background a
polite
obligatory hello if someone joins you
we’ve all had the experience of being in
an awkward position when the stranger
it’s on the elevator and wants to have a
full-blown conversation
that feels weird because there is a code
to
ride in an elevator you get on
get quiet and get off
and because most people abide by that
code most
elevator rides aren’t newsworthy
but i would like to share with you a
story of an elevator ride
so significant that the impact of it is
still being felt
100 years later and upon closer
examination there are some
lessons around emotional intelligence
that have been missed and that
is a problem so allow me to be
your elevator operator of sorts
and together we’ll make some new
discoveries and perhaps
change some perspective
to begin we’re going to go underground
we’re headed into the basement now it
gets a little
darker here and for that reason not a
lot of people
like to go but the truth is
you wouldn’t appreciate the light
if it were not for the darkness
so watch your step as you get off
the smoke makes it difficult to see
and the embers can still cause
degrees of burn you find yourself
in the middle of 34 blocks
of destruction ruined
burned to the ground churches
schools businesses
homes and even people
set aflame
now sadness would be a
fitting emotion if mother nature
was the culprit but this was done
this destruction was at the hands of men
who were emotionally unintelligent
who suffered from perception bias
who were fearful and
they lacked some facts
today it’s known as simply tulsa
but where you’re standing was once known
as the greenwood district
black wall street an area thriving
an area in such abundance and affluence
that it was called
the black wall street the years 1921
and you have men and women who are one
generation removed from slavery
who through collaboration resilience
and effort decided
to be personally responsible for the
lives that they wanted to live
and through those pioneers
greatness was the experience
study the pioneers of the greenwood
district
and it is a master class in emotional
intelligence
self-reliance responsibility
awareness motivation
social skill and empathy
so what happened why are we standing
here
in the ruins instead of experiencing
more of this area’s innovation
what if i told you that it started with
an elevator ride that on this
elevator ride a button was pushed
that was not on the elevator itself
but a button a trigger was pushed in the
psyche
of human beings
remember this name dick rowland
dick rowland was an orphaned teenager
who had become an entrepreneur
and he saw a need and decided to feel
the need
as a shoeshine boy
and he was so good at it
it is reported that he could shine a
shoe so well
that you might be able to see your
reflection
and the wingtips or the oxfords that you
were wearing
dick roland’s complexion was a lot like
mine
and he went to work daily shining the
shoes of men
in business in downtown tulsa and on a
particular day
he needed a break from being crouched
over and shining shoes
now remember the year is 1921
and so dick roland could not use the
same restroom
of the people whose shoes he shined
and so he had to go across the street
to the drexel building and at the top
floor of the drexel building
there was the restroom where his
skin color could use the restroom
now i found it interesting that you
would send the disenfranchised those who
were considered fractionally human
to the top floor in my experience the
top floor was where everyone was trying
to get to
but here in 1921 the top floor was the
place where
colored people could use the restroom
how come well
elijah otis had only recently
introduced a breaking system for
elevators
and so it was actually more dangerous
but on that day dick rolling goes on the
elevator
he goes up and on his way back down
he’s getting off of the elevator and as
he’s getting off
he trips you know he slips
he missteps and when he did
he bumped into that day’s elevator
operator
sarah page
have you ever been bumped
has anyone ever accidentally
kind of knocked you off balance
what’d you do maybe you dropped the
things that you were holding
or you you gasp because it caught you
off guard
well sarah sarah screamed
and when she screamed it got the
attention of an observer
the observer turned to where the noise
had come from
he sees sarah who happens to be white
he makes eye contact with dick rowland
dick runs now for those who would
suggest that well
if dick had did nothing wrong then why
did he run
and i would say well take your chances
as a black orphan teenager
in 1921 your word
against the word of this white observer
so dick runs he runs back to greenwood
but later that night he’s arrested
for sexual assault and he’s at the tulsa
city jail and there’s a mob that has
gathered outside
they want dick rowland released to them
the vigilantes
because they have a way of taking care
of this type of business
and the community of greenwood knows
that dick
is incarcerated and they go to the
courthouse to make sure
that he doesn’t get released to these
vigilantes
and when they arrive they see the mob
and so seeing that they are outnumbered
they retreat back to greenwood
and they returned and when they return
the number has grown to over 1500
violence ensues and so they retreat
again
back to greenwood but now the mob
is under the impression that well wait a
second they’re going to go get
more reinforcements not just from
greenwood but from surrounding areas
surrounding towns
we’re in trouble and so
destruction begins to take place
where literally airplanes are rented out
and bombs are dropped on
this 34 block area set
a fire blazing high
women children it did not matter
complete destruction of this area
how come
fear perception bias
and an absence of the facts
we stand here not because
mother nature willed it
but because it’s what happens when fear
overrides but what is also the case
is that those perpetrators were
guilty of being tricked
have you ever been tricked
have you ever been misled
or here is the greatest trick that has
ever been played
on mankind and it continues today
and the trick is convincing people
that a disadvantage to one
is not a disadvantage to another
what those in south tulsa did not
understand
is that destruction in north tulsa
represents also destruction
in south tulsa we cannot get around it
i cannot do harm to you without it also
being harmful to me and so
they had been tricked misled
and because of it destruction
ensued
let’s get back on the elevator now we’ve
spent enough time underground
we’re going to go to a higher level
let’s go take in the view from
the top floor i want you to see and
notice a world of
possibilities a community where people
are seen and because they are seen they
are
inspired because ultimately it’s what we
all want
is to be seen and to be known
you look out and you see a world where
there is absolute responsibility
absolute responsibility says that no
matter where we’ve been
and no matter what we’ve been through
what comes next
is up to us to take responsibility does
not suggest that i have to take blame
for what happened
it is not to say that i must own it as
my fault
but it does suggest that i am willing to
own
that what comes next is up to me why
because you will never
change what you are unwilling to own
as you look out and you see or imagine a
world where people are seen
for who they are and they recognize that
in and of itself
that is enough i recall a recent
incident
where a friend of mine rex he says to me
cortland i just don’t see you
as a black person
i thought well rex that’s odd
i obviously am and you’re not blind
i said to him please
take it from me that is not a sign of
enlightenment
it’s not received as a compliment but
i’m curious what do you mean by that
and in this eagerness to explain it he
said well well you know it’s
it’s the way you talk and how you dress
i just i’m sorry i just don’t see you as
a black person
and i said so essentially what you’re
saying
is that because of how i speak
and because of how i dress i don’t fit
your paradigm
of an african-american man
i don’t fit your paradigm of what it is
to be black
and rather than shift or change your
perception
rather than shift your paradigm you make
me
the outlier because rex was a friend
i shared that with him and today he’s
grateful
because he began to explore what does
inform
our viewpoints and our opinions what
informs
our biases every human being
wants to be seen and perhaps the
greatest gift that you could give them
is to recognize or have them know that
you see them
and that who they are in and of
themselves is enough
so much of what we have occurring in the
world are men and women believing
that they are deserving and worthy of
love only if they perform
or only buy what they possess or what
they own
but i declare that you are worthy of
love and acceptance
intrinsically you are worthy of love and
acceptance
by your birthright imagine a world
that understands that
let’s get back on the elevator it’s
about time to go
and on our way back down we’re at the
ground floor now
but before you leave
consider what you’ve seen not only in
the basement
and what happens when a community lies
but also what you saw as possible
when you’re willing to operate from
responsibility
and before you exit as you go out
i want to encourage you with some
specific things that you can do
to impact and influence
not only race relations but the idea
of people being seen and being known
and we can in fact use the elevator
as a metaphorical reference
have you ever had that experience of
you’re running towards the elevator
and just as you get there you see that
the elevator doors are closing
and just as you’re about to like ah
there’s a hand that
interrupts the sensor or maybe they just
push the button to open the door again
and you are gladly stepping on like oh
thank you so much
remember that feeling that’s the feeling
of being seen
one thing that you can do is be the
person
who holds the door for someone else
i want to encourage you to visit some
different floors
see what’s happening in places that are
not your own
that might look like you go to an area
of town
where you don’t live either eat at a
restaurant
where the cuisine that is being served
is not what you grew up on
and before leaving go say thank you to
the chef
who is passionately living his or her
dream
visit some other floors expand your
perspective
because the truth is choice is a
function of awareness
i can only gauge or judge why you made
that choice
if i know what you are aware of
so again hold the door open
visit some other floors and number three
here’s what i want you to do think about
that feeling
when someone is willing to assist you in
getting
where you desire to go and know that you
can provide that
for someone else be a person
who’s willing to ask where are you
headed
and then do what you can to assist them
in getting there hold the door open
visit some different floors
and also be one who’s willing to ask
where are you headed and then be willing
to assist
in getting them there thank you