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Brush with racism is turned to good

Erik Dowdy delivers keynote remarks at the 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast at BRCC on Monday.

Erik Dowdy, one of the top real estate sales agents in Atlanta, could have been scarred for life from his first brush with racism at age 11.


“I was happy,” he said, describing a Saturday morning trip to McDonald's in his hometown in Illinois. “I recall a feeling of joy and anticipation of a great time. I was anxious to see which toy I would get in my children’s meal. As soon as we parked I jumped out of the car and followed my parents inside.”
Those parents, his mother and stepfather, are white.
“Then something happened,” said Dowdy, whose biological father, Luther Dowdy, is black. “As soon as I entered the doorway and walked past the first booth a hand reached out to grab my arm. ‘What are you doing with these people?’ a large man said in a deep bellowing voice. ‘Those are not your people. You need to be with your own people.’
“No sooner had the man said those words aloud then my stepfather at a pace that seemed no slower than the speed of light pulled me from the man’s grasp. He stood between us and said, ‘Please, take your hand off my son.’ The man quickly retreated to his booth and I recall my stepfather’s arms around me asking if I was OK.
“This man just could not accept that this young boy entered with two parents who were white. For a long time I wondered where he got such an idea.”
He was raised in household, he said, “never knowing I was different because of my color,” he said. “This was my first experience with racism. In retrospect, it was the moment I realized how much of Dr. King’s dream my life represented.”
Instead of an ugly scar, the experience — and his stepfather’s reaction to it — taught Dowdy an early and important lifelong lesson.
“I became aware that relationships are more important than color,” he said. “I felt safe, and I learned to feel compassion and forgiveness towards that man because he, too, was a victim of racism. Dr. King’s teachings have inspired me to learn that interactions like this present opportunities.”
One of the most successful real estate agents in Atlanta, Dowdy is connected to Hendersonville through his mother, Linda, and stepfather, Gary Prichard. Dowdy delivered the keynote address, "Pursuit of Happiness through Jobs and Freedom," during the 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast Monday at Blue Ridge Community College.
Support systems, he said, make the difference between success and failure for many young people.
He urged business owners to hire teenagers and teach them work skills.
His high school baseball coach “pushed me harder than I thought I was ready to be,” he said. “We learned discipline and direction were the keys to success. We played as we practiced — ‘who feels like winning today?’”

A consistent .350 hitter, he was frustrated that he had never hit a homerun. His coach taught him to switch hit. “Dowd,” he said. “If you want to be good at hitting homeruns you have to be great at consistently hitting singles. Keep driving the ball and sooner or later you will hit one out of the park. The batter that always swings for the homerun is the one that often strikes out the most.'”
One game, hitting as a left-hander, he faced a 3-1 pitch. In came a pitch, high in the strike zone. He swung and connected and felt the contact vibrate through the wood of his 33-inch Louisville slugger. He took off toward first base, his head down, and heard a cheer rise up from the home crowd. “I looked up and saw the line drive quickly clear the 330-foot left field fence.”
He urged the crowd to get really good at hitting singles, to help the youngest generation in the job market, classroom and the family home.
“Encouraging teachers empower young people in the workplace,’ he said. “A great teacher plants seeds that build self-esteem. You don’t have to be a teacher to build self-esteem. That’s what a parent does. That’s what a policeman does. That’s what a neighbor does. That’s what a mayor does. That’s what an employer does. That’s what a clergyman does — plants seeds that empower people for success in the workplace.”
A person with self-esteem “doesn’t fall prey to bullying,” he added. “This person doesn’t fall victim to participating in negative online and social media behavior. This person doesn’t fall victim to drugs and promiscuity. That’s why support systems like home, community, school and the church are so important. They empower people.”
In the crippled real estate market of the recession, Dowdy got the job of selling 74 luxury condos that had been abandoned for five years. It was hard, he said, but he began to realize if his pool of buyers occupied the whole world, the number did not seem do high. He urged the Hendersonville audience to regard a difficult task as “a possibility, not an impossibility.”