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