WEBVTT 00:01:04.578 --> 00:01:13.544 - One day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little 00:01:13.544 --> 00:01:22.424 - white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. Thank you, Mrs. Wagador. I'll 00:01:22.424 --> 00:01:31.048 - come back and get Cory. That's your mother? Yeah. Your what? What? Your mother's colored. Of course, 00:01:31.048 --> 00:01:32.158 - I'm colored. 00:01:43.970 --> 00:01:57.327 - But one day, this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths 00:01:57.327 --> 00:02:10.684 - to be self-evident that all men are created equal. It's just when I saw you at the funeral, to see how 00:02:10.684 --> 00:02:13.278 - much we look alike. 00:02:14.402 --> 00:02:22.274 - to see how much we look alike. It just didn't seem right not to at least say hello and to meet you. 00:02:22.274 --> 00:02:30.224 - At least once. I just felt I had to do it. You know, common blood. Yes, yes, common blood. I think I 00:02:30.224 --> 00:02:39.198 - understand, Clay. Our physical similarity is disarming, isn't it? Our physical similarity is disarming, isn't it? 00:02:47.362 --> 00:03:00.691 - We're brothers. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that 00:03:00.691 --> 00:03:13.502 - honor and suffering is redemptive. Your restraint is admirable. Your restraint is admirable. Yeah. 00:03:17.730 --> 00:03:27.474 - With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony 00:03:27.474 --> 00:03:36.858 - of brotherhood. Now, come on, boys. Where's your spirit? I don't hear no singing. When you were slaves, 00:03:36.858 --> 00:03:44.798 - you sang like birds. Come on, how about a good old nigger work song? What's wrong, man? 00:03:48.770 --> 00:04:08.816 - I get no kick from champagne. Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all. So tell me, why should it be true 00:04:08.816 --> 00:04:14.654 - that I get a belt out of you? 00:04:14.882 --> 00:04:30.594 - Some get a kick from cocaine. Hold it, hold it. What the hell is that shit? I'm in a song. A real song. 00:04:30.594 --> 00:04:44.190 - Something like... Swing low, sweet chariot. Swing low, chariot. Don't know that one, huh? 00:04:45.602 --> 00:04:56.149 - Well, how about the camp town ladies? The camp town ladies. The camp town ladies. Oh, you know. The 00:04:56.149 --> 00:05:07.329 - camp town ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo-dah. The camp town racetrack five miles long, all a doo-dah 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:09.438 - day. Run, run, run. 00:05:16.130 --> 00:05:28.851 - Let freedom ring when it happens. When we allow freedom to ring. When we let it ring from every village 00:05:28.851 --> 00:05:41.083 - and every hamlet, from every state and every city. We will be able to speed up that day when all of 00:05:41.083 --> 00:05:45.854 - our children, black men and white men, 00:05:46.626 --> 00:05:54.425 - and 10,000 Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro 00:05:54.425 --> 00:06:02.224 - spiritual. Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty! We are free at last! Here, let me pour that 00:06:02.224 --> 00:06:10.023 - for you. Thank you, Maurice. Nice party, huh? Very enjoyable. Yeah, this is a nice town. It's the kind 00:06:10.023 --> 00:06:14.718 - of town you could settle down and carve yourself out of home. 00:06:15.042 --> 00:06:21.672 - Listen, Stevens, I'm not going to mince words. After your brother gets sent up the river, there's going 00:06:21.672 --> 00:06:28.365 - to be a certain job opportunity open up that I want to speak to you about. You want me to replace Chris? 00:06:28.365 --> 00:06:34.931 - There's no point in broadcasting it. Look, you showed me something today, Stevens. You showed me a man 00:06:34.931 --> 00:06:40.094 - who is ready and willing to pick up the fallen standard and continue the charge. 00:06:40.418 --> 00:06:47.041 - You've got a way with words, son. You've got the Stevens way with words. And on top of that, you don't 00:06:47.041 --> 00:06:53.599 - sound black. Truth is, Bernard, if I close my eyes, you sound as white as Casper. You know something, 00:06:53.599 --> 00:07:00.287 - Maurice? I like you. I do. And it troubles me. Troubles you? Yeah, this may come as a shock, but you're 00:07:00.287 --> 00:07:07.038 - a bigot. Bigot? You're a racist. Wait a minute, because you don't sound black. I'm a bigot and a racist. 00:07:07.842 --> 00:07:14.191 - Look, Stevens, I know black people. I've been around black people and know how they talk. They say, 00:07:14.191 --> 00:07:20.794 - uh, thing instead of thing. And they say, uh, ax. I ax you this, brother. I ax you that. Now, you don't 00:07:20.794 --> 00:07:27.207 - say ax. Neither does Colin Powell and that, uh, that, uh, Denzel fella. You know what's interesting? 00:07:27.207 --> 00:07:33.620 - Is the linkage of King's English and superior breeding. And the further linkage of superior breeding 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:36.350 - with being white. Now, rather than saying, 00:07:36.450 --> 00:07:42.571 - there's a black person speaking King's English, we say there's a black person speaking white. What's 00:07:42.571 --> 00:07:48.753 - wrong with that? Well, for a long time, it hung me up. I mean, I tried to talk ghetto in high school, 00:07:48.753 --> 00:07:55.298 - and it wasn't me. Very unsettling. Well, what's your point? My point? Well, I'm not exactly sure. Although, 00:07:55.298 --> 00:08:01.662 - admittedly, you're a racist, and what you said makes me uncomfortable, there's a crown with truth to it. 00:08:02.562 --> 00:08:08.272 - So I suspect it has more to do with intellectual and cultural standards than it does with racial 00:08:08.272 --> 00:08:14.276 - distinctions. Why is it that when I say something like that, I'm a racist, and when you say something 00:08:14.276 --> 00:08:20.339 - like that, you're just being thoughtful? Oh, no, Maurice. I'm a racist, too. For a long time, I didn't 00:08:20.339 --> 00:08:26.225 - like being around white people. But once I realized that imperialism, slavery, and genocide weren't 00:08:26.225 --> 00:08:31.582 - exclusively white institutions, it helped me loosen up a bit. I have a dream that one day, 00:08:33.570 --> 00:08:44.573 - Even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat 00:08:44.573 --> 00:08:56.003 - of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream. Sit down, please. 00:08:56.003 --> 00:08:59.742 - Well, what can I do for you today? 00:09:00.130 --> 00:09:05.444 - I have this problem, this very delicate matter. I have a friend of mine who wants to emigrate to South 00:09:05.444 --> 00:09:10.707 - Africa. Yes, of course. I can certainly help him do that. Oh, sure. But I want you to talk him out of 00:09:10.707 --> 00:09:15.866 - it. Talk him out of it? Yeah. Whatever for? Well, you see, this is such a bad time for him to go to 00:09:15.866 --> 00:09:21.180 - South Africa. I mean, with all the trouble and everything, OK? Oh, look, why don't you ask your friend 00:09:21.180 --> 00:09:26.443 - to come back later in the week? We can sit down. No, he's here. He's here. He's here? Yeah, he's here 00:09:26.443 --> 00:09:28.094 - now. Where? Alphonse. Alphonse. 00:09:36.354 --> 00:09:47.371 - What are you doing? I think there must be some mistake. Say what? Sir, listen to your friend here. He 00:09:47.371 --> 00:09:58.281 - knows what he's talking about. I don't think you really want to go to South Africa. Why not? Because 00:09:58.281 --> 00:10:05.950 - you're black. You are. This will be the day when all of God's children 00:10:07.234 --> 00:10:15.821 - be able to sing with new meaning. My country tears at thee. Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land 00:10:15.821 --> 00:10:24.242 - where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And if 00:10:24.242 --> 00:10:32.994 - America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring. From the prodigious hilltops 00:10:32.994 --> 00:10:35.966 - of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. 00:10:36.962 --> 00:10:45.367 - from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. 00:10:45.367 --> 00:10:53.534 - Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes 00:10:53.534 --> 00:11:01.463 - of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring 00:11:01.463 --> 00:11:04.318 - from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. 00:11:13.122 --> 00:11:21.532 - The sheriff is a niche! What did he say? The sheriff is near! No, God of Blaming didn't believe it! 00:11:21.532 --> 00:11:23.550 - The sheriff is a niche! 00:11:46.178 --> 00:11:56.621 - Chairman of the Welcoming Committee, it is my privilege to extend a laurel and hearty handshake to our 00:11:56.621 --> 00:11:58.142 - new... nigger. 00:12:27.746 --> 00:12:40.778 - Excuse me while I whip this out. The only thing that matters is what they feel and how much they feel 00:12:40.778 --> 00:12:47.166 - for each other. And if it's half of what we felt, 00:13:08.034 --> 00:13:16.707 - For you two and the problems you're going to have, they seem almost unimaginable. But you'll have no 00:13:16.707 --> 00:13:25.466 - problem with me. And I think that when Christina and I and your mother have some time to work on him, 00:13:25.466 --> 00:13:34.654 - you'll have no problem with your father, John. But you do know, I'm sure you know, what you're up against. 00:13:36.002 --> 00:13:43.922 - There'll be a hundred million people right here in this country who will be shocked and offended and 00:13:43.922 --> 00:13:51.764 - appalled at the two of you. And the two of you will just have to ride that out, maybe every day for 00:13:51.764 --> 00:13:59.998 - the rest of your lives. You can try to ignore those people, or you can feel sorry for them and for their 00:13:59.998 --> 00:14:05.566 - prejudices and their bigotry and their blind hatreds and stupid fears. 00:14:06.434 --> 00:14:15.610 - But for necessary, you'll just have to cling tight to each other and say, screw all those people. Anybody 00:14:15.610 --> 00:14:24.699 - could make a case, and a hell of a good case, against your getting married. The arguments are so obvious 00:14:24.699 --> 00:14:33.356 - that nobody has to make them. But you're two wonderful people who happen to fall in love and happen 00:14:33.356 --> 00:14:36.126 - to have a pigmentation problem. 00:14:37.858 --> 00:14:46.318 - And I think that now, no matter what kind of a case some bastard could make against your getting married, 00:14:46.318 --> 00:14:54.458 - there would be only one thing worse. And that would be if, knowing what you two are, knowing what you 00:14:54.458 --> 00:14:59.646 - two have, and knowing what you two feel, you didn't get married. 00:15:21.986 --> 00:15:28.270 - Tillie, when the hell are we gonna get some dinner? I have a dream that one day every valley shall be 00:15:28.270 --> 00:15:34.493 - exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the 00:15:34.493 --> 00:15:40.838 - crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall 00:15:40.838 --> 00:15:46.999 - see it together. What do you want to know? Is Mr. Biasi at R.N.? No, a technician. She used to be a 00:15:46.999 --> 00:15:50.942 - dancer. She told you that? We're friends. She told me about it. 00:15:51.458 --> 00:15:59.464 - She was performing with a modern dance company. I don't know if she made a living out of it. But you 00:15:59.464 --> 00:16:08.104 - do know what happened? She was attacked down in the subway by three youthful offenders. After she recovered, 00:16:08.104 --> 00:16:16.031 - she came to work here. And what was her reaction to the attack? Same as anybody's. She was fearful, 00:16:16.031 --> 00:16:21.342 - resentful of all the little... Little what? Little black bastards? 00:16:22.114 --> 00:16:29.470 - You see some black teenagers on the train? Are you automatically afraid of them, Miss Maltese? Aren't you? 00:16:54.274 --> 00:17:00.486 - the former slaves and the sons of former slave owners. Will they be able to sit down together at the 00:17:00.486 --> 00:17:06.822 - table of brotherhood? How about your glasses? Can I get you a drink either, Mr. and Mrs. Prentice? No, 00:17:06.822 --> 00:17:13.219 - thank you. John, would you? Mike? No, you've had enough as it is already. Dad? What's going on? There's 00:17:13.219 --> 00:17:19.431 - something I want to say, and I'd like you to sit down and see if you can keep quiet for once in your 00:17:19.431 --> 00:17:22.814 - life. Please, sit down, John. Sit down, Chris, please. 00:17:25.346 --> 00:17:32.767 - I have a few things to say and you might just think they're important. This has been a very strange 00:17:32.767 --> 00:17:40.189 - day. I don't think that's putting it too strongly. I might even say it's been an extraordinary day. 00:17:40.189 --> 00:17:47.833 - I've been out there thinking about the day and the way it has gone. And it seems to me that now I need 00:17:47.833 --> 00:17:52.286 - to make a few personal statements for a variety of reasons. 00:17:56.962 --> 00:18:03.595 - The day began for me when I walked into this house, and Tilly said to me... Excuse me. Tilly! 00:18:03.595 --> 00:18:10.651 - Just a moment, take a sec. Everything has been ready, it's been ready. All right, all right, Tilly, 00:18:10.651 --> 00:18:17.778 - sit down. Mr. and Mrs. Panters, this is Miss Matilda Biss, who's been a member of this family for 22 00:18:17.778 --> 00:18:24.975 - years, and who today has been making a great deal of trouble. Sit down, Tilly. How is it that we know 00:18:24.975 --> 00:18:25.822 - who we are? 00:18:30.338 --> 00:18:39.210 - We might wake up in the night, disoriented, and wonder where we are. We may have forgotten where the 00:18:39.210 --> 00:18:48.170 - window, or the door, or the bathroom is, or who is sleeping beside us. We may think, perhaps, that we 00:18:48.170 --> 00:18:57.305 - have lived through what we just dreamed of. Or we may wonder if we are now still dreaming. But we never 00:18:57.305 --> 00:18:58.974 - wonder who we are. 00:19:00.802 --> 00:19:10.636 - However confused we might be about every other particular of our existence, we always know that it is 00:19:10.636 --> 00:19:20.855 - us, that we are now who we have always been. We never wake up and wonder, who am I? Because our knowledge 00:19:20.855 --> 00:19:29.918 - of who we are is mediated by what we doctors of the mind call ourselves schemata, the richest 00:19:30.082 --> 00:19:39.405 - most stable and most complex memory structures we have. They are the structures which connect us to 00:19:39.405 --> 00:19:49.007 - our pasts and allow us to imagine our futures. To lose those connections would be a sign of pathology, 00:19:49.007 --> 00:19:59.262 - a pathology called amnesia. But it makes no sense to begin this story here without its history, its past. So, 00:20:00.162 --> 00:20:07.358 - Let me take you back to a proper beginning, to a time before identity has been confused.