‘We Can Change the Story on Race,’ Speaker Tells RE/MAX Broker/Owners

Baratunde Thurston thinks a lot about headlines and how to change them. And, more importantly, how to change behaviors so there are far fewer tragic headlines and far more positive ones.

In his compelling closing keynote of the 2020 RE/MAX Broker Owner Conference, the writer and former White House advisor explored racial inequality themes that reinforced that RE/MAX isn’t prone to shy away from difficult conversations.

The presentation focused on the stories Americans tell themselves, the narratives shaped by systemic racism, and the hopeful new chapter being written.

“Humanity is what’s going to bring us back to ourselves,” Thurston said, asking the audience to see the humanity of those targeted by a structure of systemic abuses. “I’m a fortunate, successful person. I’ve gone to fancy schools, I survived situations that shouldn’t require survival. And I, as one of the lucky ones, am exhausted from having to bear the weight of other people’s expectations and fears – it’s enough. It’s too much. We’ve got to move past this.

“The good news is: We can. We can change this if we change the action, which changes the story, which changes the system.”

In one of the most powerful – and important – BOC sessions to date, Thurston asked the brokers to re-examine how they think about race. He also offered ways they can be agents of change.

Rethinking everyday interactions

That system he references results in the headlines that Thurston has spent a lot of time thinking about, including:

• “White Woman Calls Police on Eight-Year-Old Black Girl Selling Water” • “White Man Calls Police on a Black Woman Using Neighborhood Pool” • “California Safeway Calls Cops on Black Woman Donating Food to Homeless”

The common theme in each headline, he noted, was how these people were simply living, but their existence was interpreted as a crime.

Thurston asked the audience to reflect if the situation really required intervention, or if it could have been solved peacefully. He called upon viewers to examine how their own internal biases may unintentionally impact their daily interactions with others, and to be more thoughtful.

The critical role of real estate in creating opportunity

RE/MAX, LLC leadership made its position for affecting change clear in a statement released in June. CEO Adam Contos referenced that stance during Monday’s BOC opening general session.

“It wasn’t a reaction to what was happening, it was a restatement of our longtime message. As a brand, we stand against discrimination and racism. And we stand for inclusion,” Contos reminded the brokers. “Real estate professionals have a unique opportunity to be agents of change – that’s what fair housing is all about.” 

Racial biases won’t be eliminated overnight but can be lessened the more people educate themselves and change their actions, according to Thurston.  

“When we change the system, we can change the story,” Thurston said. “We write a better reality for all of us to live inside of. I am asking us to choose and level up.”

Real estate discrimination unfortunately played a role in that oppression in the past –  decades of redlining and unfair lending practices prevented Black Americans from building generational wealth and economic empowerment – but real estate agents are in an influential position to help things in the future.

“You help people get homes, which is such a part of our identity and such a major step in building wealth,” he said. “I’m looking for you to help undo some of that harm. It is not enough to simply do a good thing. Do a good thing to not discriminate.”

“We must exert conscious effort to undo the negative investment of decades of racial covenants and homeowners associations that prevented Black people from even owning houses, that ran us out violently from communities,” Thurston said, encouraging affiliates to not only fight for fair housing laws to be enforced but to also work to increase diversity in their own offices.

Thurston said watching the world come together in solidarity in recent protests gives him hope.

“We have to grab this moment and all this energy and catalyze it into something real,” Thurston said. “Do this for you, because you want to live in this world, because you want to co-sign your name on a story big enough to contain us all.”