Force yourself out of your comfort zone and challenge your perceptions were primary messages in presentations on Thursday, April 21, during Focus on Fair Housing program presented by the Real Estate for All Alliance.
Greater Tampa REALTORS® invited national speakers Marki Lemons-Ryhal and Merrick Damon to the 2nd annual Fair Housing day event.
Damon, author of the book “Removing the Redline,” linked living diversity with better business performance.
He told a story about being a young sales director from 2003-04 when making a living in real estate was a pretty easy gig under regulations that made obtaining loans much easier. His broker’s attitude was “hire a pretty blonde girl,” to work the front desk because people will respond positively to that.
His boss’s mistake, Damon said, was relying on a personal perception and not taking into account the demographics around him. It was a hard lesson in recognizing and accepting diversity.
“Buyers want to relate to you,” Damon said. He acknowledged that it’s not easy given the numerous ways people define themselves from race and gender to work backgrounds, communications styles, politics, parental status, religion and more.
But he said making an effort to build a diverse workforce is the first step toward opportunities that come with understanding, acceptance and respect.
“The first step is admitting you have a problem.”
Damon also challenged participants to get out of their comfort zones. He said when agents say they won’t go into a particular neighborhood where they think they won’t feel welcome, they are saying they “don’t want to make the money just because of their perception.”
Yet, the only way to know if your perception is real is to go.
“People are generally happy to talk to you. Go find out. Make connections and eliminate your negative perceptions.”
He ended with this thought: We need warriors to go out there and make society better. It takes a group of loving people to stop discrimination.”
Marki Lemons-Rhyal in her presentation “Bridge the Gap Now with Intentional Inclusion,” shared similar sentiments.
“It’s very easy to be comfortable with people who are like you,” she said. Growth comes from being uncomfortable.”
Lemons-Rhyal shared a story about growing up on the Southside of Chicago then abruptly moving to Peoria, Illinois, as a young girl. Suddenly she was the only Black girl in her class and one of only three Black students. She often felt unsure and unsafe.
A short time later her family moved back to Chicago, where she said she declared from her grandparents’ porch: “Marki is back.”
“I was back in the ghetto on the southside but I felt safe,” because she was surrounded by what was familiar.
Later as an exchange student in Reykjavik, Iceland, she found unconditional love from a family who sought only to understand.
“I experienced racism, segregation and being loved no matter what I looked like,” she said. She began to realize change happens only when you stepped away from your comfort zone.
You must “seek to be uncomfortable.”
Lemons-Rhyal also discussed the importance of recognizing their implicit biases, those positive or negative impressions that most people don’t realize they have. If you don’t reflect on your implicit biases, you will stumble, she said.
She discussed how easy it is to offend without meaning to, such as the time she proudly pointed out that a bonus storage room was a “Christmas storage room,” to a client who didn’t celebrate Christmas.
Equally important, she noted numerous examples of real estate agents who made social media posts demonstrating discriminatory attitudes or behavior that ultimately cost them their license.
Lemons-Rhyal acknowledged the real estate profession was still challenged by discrimination despite Fair Housing and other laws.
And sadly she noted a few occasions of blatantly racist behavior that not only caused agents’ their job but landed them in jail.
She left participants with this charge:
“The goal for you is to take action. Be a thought leader. Speak up when you see something wrong.”
Greater Tampa REALTORS® thanks the Real Estate for All Alliance, speakers Merrick Damon, Marki Lemons-Ryhal and Juana Watkins and everyone who participated.
