James A. White Sr.: The little problem I had renting a house

Translator: Ayudia Triwardhani Reviewer: Rizaldi Iswandrata

An 18-year-old, African-American male joined the United States Air Force

Seorang pria Afrika-Amerika usia 18 tahun bergabung dengan Angkatan Udara AS

and was assigned to Mountain Home Air Force Base

dan ditugaskan di Pangkalan AU Mountain Home

and was a part of the air police squadron.

dan bagian dari kepolisian udara.

Upon first arriving there, the first goal that I had

Saat tiba di sana, tujuan pertama saya

was for me to identify an apartment,

adalah untuk mendapatkan apartemen,

so I could bring my wife and my new baby, Melanie,

agar saya bisa membawa istri dan bayi saya, Melanie,

out to join me in Idaho.

ikut ke Idaho.

I immediately went to the personnel office,

Saya segera datang ke kantor personalia,

and talking with the guys in personnel,

dan berbicara dengan orang personalia,

they said, "Hey, no problem finding an apartment in Mountain Home, Idaho.

mereka bilang, "Hei, gampang mendapatkan apartemen di Mountain Home, Idaho.

The people down there love us because they know if they have an airman

Orang-orang di sana menyukai kita karena mereka tahu jika ada seorang pilot

who is coming in to rent one of their apartments,

yang datang untuk menyewa satu apartemen mereka,

they'll always get their money."

mereka selalu dapat uang. "

And that was a really important thing.

Dan itu penting.

He said, "So here is a list of people that you can call,

Dia bilang, "Ini daftar orang yang bisa kau hubungi,

and then they will then allow you to select the apartment that you want."

dan mereka akan mengizinkanmu untuk memilih apartemen yang kau inginkan."

So I got the list; I made the call.

Saya punya daftarnya, saya telepon mereka.

The lady answered on the other end and I told her what I wanted.

Seorang wanita menjawab, dan saya sebutkan keinginan saya.

She said, "Oh, great you called.

Dia bilang, "Oh, untung kau telepon.

We have four or five apartments available right now."

Kami memiliki 4-5 apartemen yang tersedia saat ini."

She said, "Do you want a one-bedroom or two-bedroom?"

Dia bilang, "Kau ingin satu kamar atau dua kamar tidur?"

Then she said, "Let's not talk about that.

Lalu dia bilang, "Tidak perlu kita bahas.

Just come on down, select the apartment that you want.

Datang saja, pilih sendiri apartemen yang kau inginkan.

We'll sign the contract

Kita tanda tangan kontrak

and you'll have keys in your hand to get your family out here right away."

dan kau akan memiliki kunci untuk membawa keluargamu kemari secepatnya."

So I was excited.

Jadi saya bersemangat.

I jumped in my car. I went downtown and knocked on the door.

Saya segera nyalakan mobil. Pergi ke pusat kota dan mengetuk pintu.

When I knocked on the door, the woman came to the door,

Saat mengetuk pintu, seorang wanita mendatangi saya,

and she looked at me, and she said, "Can I help you?"

dan melihat saya, dan bilang, "Ada yang bisa saya bantu?"

I said, "Yes, I'm the person who called about the apartments.

Saya bilang, "Ya, saya adalah orang yang menelepon soal apartemen.

I was just coming down to make my selection."

Saya datang untuk membuat pilihan."

She said, "You know what? I'm really sorry,

Dia bilang, "Kau tahu? Maaf sekali,

but my husband rented those apartments and didn't tell me about them."

tapi suamiku sudah menyewakan apartemen itu dan tidak memberitahuku."

I said, "You mean he rented all five of them in one hour?"

Aku bilang, "Maksudmu menyewakan kelima apartemen itu dalam waktu 1 jam?"

She didn't give me a response, and what she said was this:

Dia tidak memberi respons, dan dia justru berkata seperti ini.

She said, "Why don't you leave your number,

Dia bilang, "Coba kau tinggalkan kontakmu,

and if we have some openings, I'll give you a call?"

jika ada yang kosong, aku akan hubungi?"

Needless to say, I did not get a call from her.

Singkat cerita, saya tidak dihubungi olehnya.

Nor did I get any responses from the other people

Dan juga tidak ada respons dari orang lain

that they gave me on the list where I could get apartments.

yang ada di daftar di mana saya bisa mendapatkan apartemen.

So as a result of that, and feeling rejected,

Jadi sebagai hasilnya, dan merasa ditolak,

I went back to the base, and I talked to the squadron commander.

saya kembali ke markas, dan bicara dengan komandan pasukan.

His name was McDow, Major McDow.

Namanya adalah McDow, Mayor McDow.

I said, "Major McDow, I need your help."

Saya bilang, "Mayor McDow, saya butuh bantuan."

I told him what happened, and here's what he said to me:

Aku jelaskan apa yang terjadi, dan inilah yang ia katakan

He said, "James, I would love to help you.

Dia bilang, "James, aku mau saja membantu.

But you know the problem:

Tapi masalahnya:

We can't make people rent to folks that they don't want to rent to.

Kami tidak bisa memaksa jika orang itu tidak mau menyewakan kepada orang tertentu

And besides, we have a great relationship with people in the community

Selain itu, kami punya hubungan baik dengan masyarakat setempat

and we really don't want to damage that."

dan kami tidak ingin merusak itu."

He said, "So maybe this is what you should do.

Dia bilang, "Mungkin ini yang harus kau lakukan.

Why don't you let your family stay home,

Bagaimana jika keluargamu tetap di rumah,

because you do know that you get a 30-day leave.

karena kau tahu bahwa kau memiliki cuti 30 hari.

So once a year,

Jadi setahun sekali,

you can go home to your family, spend 30 days and then come on back."

kau bisa pulang, dan menghabiskan waktu 30 hari dengan keluargamu, dan kembali."

Needless to say, that didn't resonate for me.

Tentu saja itu saya tidak setuju itu.

So after leaving him, I went back to personnel,

Jadi setelah meninggalkan dia, saya kembali ke personalia,

and talking to the clerk,

dan berbicara dengan petugas,

he said, "Jim, I think I have a solution for you.

dia bilang, "Jim, saya rasa saya punya solusi untukmu.

There's an airman who is leaving and he has a trailer.

Ada seorang pilot yang akan pergi dan dia punya trailer.

If you noticed, in Mountain Home,

Kau lihat, di Mountain Home,

there are trailer parks and trailers all over the place.

banyak lapangan trailer, dan trailer ada di mana-mana.

You can buy his trailer, and you'd probably get a really good deal

Kau bisa beli trailernya, dan mungkin kau bisa beli dengan harga bagus

because he wants to get out of town as soon as possible.

karena dia ingin keluar dari kota ini secepatnya.

And that would take care of your problem,

Dan itu bisa menangani masalahmu,

and that would provide the solution for you."

dan menjadi solusi untukmu."

So I immediately jumped in my car, went downtown, saw the trailer --

Saya bergegas ke mobil, pergi ke pusat kota, melihat trailernya --

it was a small trailer,

trailernya kecil,

but under the circumstances,

tapi dalam keadaan seperti ini,

I figured that was the best thing that I could do.

saya rasa itu yang terbaik yang bisa saya lakukan.

So I bought the trailer.

Jadi saya beli trailer itu.

And then I asked him, "Can I just leave the trailer here,

Saya tanya dia, "Apakah trailernya bisa disimpan di sini saja,

and that would take care of all my problems,

dan tentu menjawab semua masalah saya,

I wouldn't have to find another trailer park?"

saya tidak usah cari lapangan trailer lain?"

He said, "Before I say yes to that, I need to check with management."

Dia bilang, "Sebelum saya bilang iya, saya perlu memastikan dengan manajemen."

So I get back to the base,

Jadi saya kembali ke markas,

he called me back and management said,

dia telepon saya lagi dan manajemen bilang,

"No, you can't leave the trailer here

"Tidak, kau tidak bisa meninggalkan trailer di sini

because we had promised that slot to some other people."

karena slot itu sudah dijanjikan untuk orang lain."

And that was strange to me

Dan menurut saya itu aneh

because there were several other slots that were open,

karena masih banyak slot kosong tersedia,

but it just so happened that he had promised that slot to someone else.

tapi kebetulan dia sudah menjanjikan slot tersebut kepada orang lain.

So, what I did --

Jadi, yang saya lakukan --

and he said, "You shouldn't worry, Jim, because there are a lot of trailer parks."

dan dia berkata, "Jangan khawatir, Jim, karena masih ada lapangan trailer lain."

So I put out another exhaustive list of going to trailer parks.

Jadi saya keluarkan daftar panjang lapangan trailer lainnya.

I went to one after another, after another.

Saya kunjungi satu per satu.

And I got the same kind of rejection there

Dan mendapatkan penolakan yang sama

that I received when I was looking for the apartment.

seperti yang saya dapatkan saat mencari apartemen.

And as a result, the kind of comments that they made to me,

Dan hasilnya, komentar yang mereka berikan,

in addition to saying that they didn't have any slots open,

selain mengatakan tidak ada slot tersedia,

one person said, "Jim, the reason why we can't rent to you,

seseorang bilang, "Jim, alasan kenapa kami tidak bisa menyewakan padamu,

we already have a Negro family in the trailer park."

karena sudah ada satu keluarga Negro di lapangan trailer ini."

He said, "And it's not me, because I like you people."

Dia bilang, "Dan ini bukan dari saya, karena saya suka kalian."

(Laughs)

(tertawa)

And that's what I did, too. I chuckled, too.

Dan itulah yang saya lakukan. Tertawa.

He said, "But here's the problem:

Dia bilang, "Tapi masalahnya

If I let you in, the other tenants will move out

Jika saya izinkan kau, penghuni lain akan pindah

and I can't afford to take that kind of a hit."

dan saya tidak sanggup mengambil risiko itu."

He said, "I just can't rent to you."

Dia bilang, "Saya tak bisa menyewakan kepadamu."

Even though that was discouraging, it didn't stop me.

Walau itu mematahkan semangat, saya tidak berhenti.

I kept looking,

Saya terus mencari,

and I looked at the far end of the town in Mountain Home,

dan mencari hingga pinggir kota di Mountain Home,

and there was a small trailer park.

dan di sana ada lapangan trailer kecil.

I mean, a really small trailer park.

Sangat kecil.

It didn't have any paved roads in it,

Tidak ada jalan aspal,

it didn't have the concrete slabs,

tidak ada slab beton,

it didn't have fencing

tidak ada pagar,

to portion off your trailer slot from other trailer slots.

untuk memisahkan slot trailermu dengan yang lainnya.

It didn't have a laundry facility.

Tidak ada fasilitas penatu.

But the conclusion I reached at that moment

Tapi saat itu saya berkesimpulan

was that I didn't have a lot of other options.

bahwa saya tidak punya banyak pilihan.

So I called my wife, and I said, "We're going to make this one work."

Lalu saya hubungi istri saya, dan berkata, "Kita akan bisa menjalaninya."

And we moved into it

Dan kami pindah ke sana

and we became homeowners in Mountain Home, Idaho.

dan menjadi pemilik rumah di Mountain Home, Idaho.

And of course, eventually things settled down.

Dan tentu saja, pada akhirnya semua berjalan lancar.

Four years after that, I received papers to move from Mountain Home, Idaho

4 tahun setelahnya, saya dapat dokumen untuk pindah dari Mountain Home, Idaho

to a place called Goose Bay, Labrador.

ke sebuah tempat bernama Goose Bay, Labrador.

We won't even talk about that. It was another great location. (Laughter)

Kita tidak akan membahasnya. Tempat itu juga sangat bagus. (tertawa)

So my challenge then was to get my family from Mountain Home, Idaho

Jadi tantangannya adalah memindahkan keluarga saya dari Mountain Home, Idaho

to Sharon, Pennsylvania.

ke Sharon, Pennyslavania.

That wasn't a problem because we had just purchased a brand-new automobile.

Hal itu bukan masalah karena kami baru saja membeli mobil baru.

My mother called and said she'll fly out.

Ibu saya menghubungi saya dan bilang akan datang.

She'll be with us as we drive, she'll help us manage the children.

Beliau ada saat kami menyetir, dan membantu mengurus anak-anak.

So she came out, her and Alice put a lot of food together for the trip.

Jadi dia datang, dan bersama Alice menyiapkan makanan untuk perjalanan.

That morning, we left at about 5 a.m.

Pagi itu, kami berangkat pukul 5 pagi.

Great trip, having a great time, good conversation.

Perjalanan menyenangkan, kami bersenang- senang, percakapan seru.

Somewhere around 6:30, 7 o'clock, we got a little bit tired,

Sekitar pukul 6.30, pukul 7, kami mulai lelah,

and we said, "Why don't we get a motel so that we can rest

dan kami bilang, "Bagaimana jika istirahat dulu di motel

and then have an early start in the morning?"

dan berangkat lagi besok pagi?"

So we were looking at a number of the motels as we drove down the road,

Jadi kami mencari kontak motel sambil menyusuri jalan,

and we saw one, it was a great big, bright flashing light that said,

dan kami melihat, sebuah cahaya terang yang mengatakan,

"Vacancies, Vacancies, Vacanies."

"Kosong, Kosong, Kosong."

So we stopped in.

Jadi kami berhenti.

They were in the parking lot, I went inside.

Mereka di parkiran, dan saya masuk.

When I walked inside,

Saat saya masuk,

the lady was just finishing up one contract with some folks,

seorang wanita baru selesai bertransaksi dengan sekelompok orang,

some other people were coming in behind me.

dan di belakang saya ada orang lain datang.

And so I walked to the counter,

Jadi saya ke meja resepsionis,

and she said, "How can I help you?"

dan dia berkata, "Bisa saya bantu?"

I said, "I would like to get a motel for the evening for my family."

Saya bilang, "Saya mau pesan kamar malam ini untuk keluarga saya."

She said, "You know, I'm really sorry, I just rented the last one.

Dia bilang, "Oh maaf sekali, baru saja kamar terakhir disewakan.

We will not have any more until the morning."

Tidak ada lagi sampai pagi."

She said, "But if you go down the road about an hour, 45 minutes,

Dia bilang, "Tapi jika kau jalan lagi sekitar sejam, 45 menit,

there's another trailer park down there."

akan ada lapangan trailer di sana."

I said, "Yeah, but you still have the 'Vacancies' light on, and it's flashing."

Saya bilang, "Iya, tapi lampu "Kosong"-mu masih menyala, dan terang sekali."

She said, "Oh, I forgot."

Dia bilang, "Oh, saya lupa."

And she reached over and turned the light off.

Dan dia mematikan lampu tersebut.

She looked at me and I looked at her.

Dia menatap saya, dan saya menatap dia.

There were other people in the room.

Ada orang lain di ruang ini.

She kind of looked at them. No one said anything.

Dia seperti melihat mereka. Semuanya terdiam.

So I just got the hint and I left, and went outside to the parking lot.

Jadi saya paham dan pergi, dan keluar menuju parkiran.

And I told my mother and I told my wife and also Melanie, and I said,

Dan saya bercerita kepada ibu dan istri, dan Melanie, dan saya bilang

"It looks like we're going to have to drive a little bit further down the road

"Sepertinya kita harus pergi sedikit lebih jauh lagi

to be able to sleep tonight."

untuk bisa tidur."

And we did drive down the road,

Dan kami menyetir lagi,

but just before we took off and pulled out of the parking lot,

dan baru saja kami berangkat dan keluar dari parkiran,

guess what happened?

tebak apa yang terjadi?

The light came back on.

Tiba-tiba cahaya lampu kembali nyala.

And it said, "Vacancies, Vacancies, Vacancies."

Dan tertulis "Kosong, Kosong, Kosong."

We were able to find a nice place.

Kami akhirnya mendapatkan tempat bagus.

It wasn't our preference, but it was secure and it was clean.

Tidak sesuai selera kami, tapi aman dan bersih.

And so we had a great sleep that night.

Jadi kami tidur nyenyak malam itu.

The piece that's important about that

Bagian penting dari kisah ini adalah

is that we had similar kinds of experiences

kami mendapatkan pengalaman serupa

from Idaho all the way through to Pennsylvania,

dari Idaho hingga menuju Pennyslavania,

where we were rejected from hotels, motels and restaurants.

di mana kami ditolak hotel, motel, dan restoran.

But we made it to Pennsylvania.

Tapi kami berhasil tiba di Pennyslvania.

We got the family settled. Everyone was glad to see the kids.

Keluarga bisa menetap di sana. Semua orang lega melihat anak-anak.

I jumped on a plane and shot off to Goose Bay, Labrador,

Saya naik pesawat dan pergi ke Goose Bay, Labrador,

which is another story, right?

itu cerita lain, kan?

(Laughter)

(tertawa)

Here it is, 53 years later,

Sekarang, 53 tahun kemudian,

I now have nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren.

Saya punya 9 cucu, dan 2 cucu buyut.

Five of the grandchildren are boys.

5 cucu saya adalah laki-laki,

I have master's, Ph.D., undergrad, one in medical school.

Saya punya cucu dengan gelar S1, S2, S3, salah satunya sekolah kedokteran.

I have a couple that are trending.

Ada dua cucu yang segera.

They're almost there but not quite. (Laughter)

Nyaris lulus tapi belum. (tertawa)

I have one who has been in college now for eight years.

Satu cucu sudah kuliah selama 8 tahun.

(Laughter)

(tertawa)

He doesn't have a degree yet, but he wants to be a comedian.

Dia belum mendapatkan gelar, tapi dia ingin menjadi pelawak.

So we're just trying to get him to stay in school.

Jadi kami mengusahakan dia tetap di sekolah saja.

Because you never know,

Karena Anda tidak pernah tahu,

just because you're funny at home, does not make you a comedian, right?

walaupun Anda lucu saat di rumah, bukan berarti Anda bisa jadi pelawak, kan?

(Laughter)

(tertawa)

But the thing about it, they're all good kids --

Tapi yang jelas, mereka anak-anak yang baik --

no drugs, no babies in high school, no crime.

tidak terlibat obat-obatan, tidak hamil saat SMA, tidak ada catatan kriminal.

So with that being the backdrop,

Jadi dengan cerita latar seperti itu,

I was sitting in my TV room watching TV,

saya duduk di ruang tengah menonton TV,

and they were talking about Ferguson and all the hullabaloo that was going on.

dan mereka bicara tentang Ferguson dan kegemparan yang sedang terjadi.

And all of a sudden, one of the news commentators got on the air and she said,

Tiba-tiba, salah satu komentator bilang,

"In the last three months,

"Dalam waktu 3 bulan terakhir,

eight unarmed African-American males

8 pria Afrika-Amerika tak bersenjata

have been killed by police, white homeowners, or white citizens."

telah dibunuh oleh polisi, pemilik rumah kulit putih, atau warga kulit putih."

For some reason, at that moment it just all hit me.

Karena alasan tertentu, pikiran ini muncul saat itu.

I said, "What is it? It is so insane.

Saya bilang, "Apa ini? GIla.

What is the hatred that's causing people to do these kinds of things?"

Kebencian apa yang membuat orang-orang melakukan hal seperti ini?"

Just then, one of my grandsons called.

Saat itu, salah satu cucu saya telepon.

He said, "Granddad, did you hear what they said on TV?"

Dia bilang, "Kakek, kau dengar apa yang mereka bilang di TV?"

I said, "Yes, I did."

Saya bilang, "Iya."

He said, "I'm just so confused.

Dia bilang, "Aku bingung.

We do everything we do, but it seems that driving while black,

Kami melakukan semua hal, tapi menyetir mobil selama jadi kulit hitam,

walking while black, talking while black, it's just dangerous.

berjalan atau bicara selama jadi kulit hitam, itu berbahaya.

What can we do? We do everything that you told us to do.

Kita bisa apa? Kita lakukan apa yang kau bilang.

When stopped by the police,

Saat dihentikan polisi,

we place both hands on the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position.

kami akan meletakkan tangan di setir mobil dalam posisi jam 12.

If asked to get identification,

Kalau diminta kartu identitas,

we tell them, 'I am slowly reaching over into the glove compartment to get my I.D.'

kami bilang, "saya akan mengambil kartu identitas perlahan-lahan."

When pulled out of the car to be searched,

Saat ditarik keluar mobil untuk diperiksa,

when laid on the ground to be searched,

saat berbaring di tanah untuk diperiksa,

when our trunks are opened to be searched,

saat bagasi dibuka untuk diperiksa,

we don't push back, we don't challenge because we know, you've told us,

kami tidak melawan, tidak menantang, karena seperti katamu,

'Don't you challenge the police.

"Jangan melawan polisi.

After it's over, call us and we'll be the ones to challenge."

Dan saat semua selesai, telepon kami dan kami akan berurusan dengan mereka."

He said, "And this is the piece that really bugs me:

Dia bilang, "Dan yang sangat mengganjal:

Our white friends, our buddies, we kind of hang together.

Teman kami, seorang kulit putih, kami sedang keluar bersama.

When they hear about these kinds of things happening to us, they say,

Saat mereka dengar hal seperti itu terjadi pada kami, mereka bilang,

'Why do you take it?

'Kenapa terima-terima saja?'

You need to push back. You need to challenge.

Harusnya kau melawan. Menantang mereka.

You need to ask them for their identification.'"

Minta kartu identifikasi mereka.'"

And here's what the boys have been taught to tell them:

Lalu inilah yang sudah diajarkan kepada cucu kami:

"We know that you can do that, but please do not do that

"Kami tahu, kau bisa melakukannya, tapi saya mohon jangan lakukan

while we're in the car

saat kami di mobil

because the consequences for you are significantly different

karena konsekuensi untukmu sangat berbeda

than the consequences for us."

dengan konsekuensi kami."

And so as a grandparent, what do I tell my grandsons?

Jadi sebagai kakek, apa yang saya ucapkan kepada cucu-cucu saya?

How do I keep them safe? How do I keep them alive?

Bagaimana agar mereka aman? Bagaimana agar mereka tetap hidup?

As a result of this, people have come to me and said,

Akibatnya, banyak orang datang kepada saya dan berkata

"Jim, are you angry?"

"Jim, kau marah?"

And my response to that is this:

Dan respons saya adalah:

"I don't have the luxury of being angry,

"Saya tidak punya hak untuk marah,

and I also know the consequences of being enraged."

dan saya juga tahu konsekuensi jika terpacu untuk marah."

So therefore, the only thing that I can do

Jadi, yang bisa saya lakukan

is take my collective intellect and my energy and my ideas and my experiences

adalah menggunakan kecerdasan, energi, gagasan, dan pengalaman saya

and dedicate myself to challenge, at any point in time,

dan mendedikasikan diri saya untuk menghadapi tantangan, kapanpun,

anything that looks like it might be racist.

apapun yang mengarah pada rasisme.

So the first thing I have to do is to educate,

Jadi hal pertama yang perlu saya lakukan adalah mendidik,

the second thing I have to do is to unveil racism,

Kedua adalah untuk membuka rasisme,

and the last thing I need to do is do everything within my power

dan terakhir adalah melakukan semuanya dalam kemampuan saya

to eradicate racism in my lifetime by any means necessary.

untuk menghapus rasisme dengan cara apapun selama saya hidup.

The second thing I do is this:

Hal lain yang saya lakukan adalah:

I want to appeal to Americans.

Saya ingin memohon kepada warga Amerika.

I want to appeal to their humanity, to their dignity,

Saya ingin memohon demi kemanusiaan, kehormatan,

to their civic pride and ownership

kebanggaan dan kepemilikan bernegara

to be able to not react to these heinous crimes in an adverse manner.

agar tidak bereaksi pada kejahatan ini dengan cara yang merugikan.

But instead, to elevate your level of societal knowledge,

Tapi, dengan membangun tingkat pengetahuan sosial Anda,

your level of societal awareness and societal consciousness

meningkatkan tingkat kesadaran sosial

to then collectively come together, all of us come together,

dan dengan datang bersama, kita semua bersama,

to make sure that we speak out against and we challenge any kind of insanity,

untuk menyuarakan perlawanan dan menantang semua jenis kegilaan,

any kind of insanity that makes it okay to kill unarmed people,

semua jenis kegilaan yang membuat wajar membunuh orang tanpa perlindungan,

regardless of their ethnicity,

tanpa melihat etnis,

regardless of their race,

tanpa melihat ras,

regardless of their diversity makeup.

tanpa melihat keberagaman riasan.

We have to challenge that. It doesn't make any sense.

Kita harus melawan itu. Semua tidak masuk akal.

The only way I think we can do that is through a collective.

Satu-satunya cara adalah kita bisa lakukan itu jika bersama-sama.

We need to have black and white and Asian and Hispanic

Kita perlu kulit hitam dan putih, Asia, dan Latin

just to step forward and say,

untuk maju dan berkata,

"We are not going to accept that kind of behavior anymore."

"Kami tidak menerima perlakuan seperti itu lagi."

(tepuk tangan)