FROM THE READERS: Letters

Damaging ads
Scouting policy unacceptable
With love, to the troops
History doesn’t tell whole story


Damaging ads
Admittedly, I’ve spent too much time watching TV lately as I recover from major spinal surgery. However, my viewing has called to my attention a Century 21 commercial that I believe is derogatory of real estate professionals.

In the ad, a golf ball comes through the window of a home and lands on the dining room table while a couple enjoy dinner. The husband says to the wife, essentially, “I thought the salesperson told us this golf course was being closed.”

It’s taken us 25 years to improve our public image. So it’s unfortunate that a big-name company would perpetuate the myth that we are anything other than honest, hardworking professionals. Rethink your advertising, Century 21. You’re damaging all of us, including yourself.

—Edna G. Siedsma, ABR®, CRS®, Liberty Realty, Las Vegas

Scouting policy unacceptable
REALTOR® Magazine is a fine publication. However, I was deeply offended by a photograph of Boy Scouts in the July 2003 issue(“ Community builders ,” page 16). I was a Scout myself many years ago. But that organization has since taken a public and virulent homophobic stance under its current leadership. Many fine young people and qualified, concerned Scout leaders have been humiliated, excluded, and diminished by the organization simply because they aren’t heterosexual. It’s a disgrace.

However proud some of our members may be about their scouting involvement, the fact is that the discrimination practiced by that organization is unacceptable in a country where all people are created equal.

—Bill Barksdale, Pacific Properties of Mendocino County, Willits, Calif.

With love, to the troops
Thank you for the moving and beautiful perspective on being a REALTOR® in the U.S.A. (“ Defending our rights ,” July 2003, page 8). I’m sending this column, written by NAR President Cathy Whatley, to my niece’s husband who’s serving in Iraq. The troops so appreciate every show of support. I know they’ll be proud when they read this.

—Cheryl Fairbanks, CRB, CRS®, RE/MAX of Texas, Grapevine, Texas

History doesn’t tell whole story
I read with great interest NAR President Cathy Whatley’s July 2003 column. Although I agree with her words in principle, I get concerned when history is invoked to make a point about present-day conditions. A closer examination of the history of property rights shows that laws were changed so that whites could improve their lot in life through property ownership; not so for African Americans, Indians, and other people of color.

Even the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t end the injustices committed against African Americans. In the not-too-distant past, African Americans who owned property in the South could have it taken from them by whites.

Although many factors contribute to the current lower percentage of property ownership among African Americans, the educational, social, political, and economic setbacks suffered by African Americans in this country for centuries have certainly played a major role.

Much progress has been made in addressing many issues in this country, but, before we pat ourselves on the back too much, we must take an honest look at both the past and the present and acknowledge that much work remains.

—Cynthia D. Jones, Toledo, Ohio

Editor’s note: Six real estate professional organizations, including the National Association of REALTORS®, have formed a partnership to recognize organizations and individuals who help lower the barriers to minority homeownership. The HOPE Awards (“Home Ownership Participation for Everyone”) are granted every other year. For information, visit www.hopeawards.org.

Corrections
Several franchises listed in “Is it time to brand your company? ” (July 2003, page 48), contacted the magazine to correct information they had provided for our annual franchise survey.

Realty Executives’ franchise fee is $1,000–$26,000. Help-U-Sell and Avalar Real Estate & Mortgage Network target the entire country. And Avalar’s recruitment and retention program is based on revenue sharing rather than distribution of recruits’ profits, as our edited version indicated.

Letters are edited for space and clarity. Publication of a letter doesn’t constitute an endorsement of the writer’s views by the National Association of Realtors® or REALTOR® Magazine.

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