All language subtitles for America Divided s01e02

Previously on America Divided. They're
buying a $90 million apartment.

They're looking at it as a safety
deposit box.

900 to 2100 in one lead. He's at Palm
Heights in New Manhattan.

There's dust, there's debris.

Those are the tactics they use to
displace you. He is displacing those

who happen to be black.

And breaking the law so thoroughly.

Residents started congregating in your
house.

Rashes, hair falling out. We have
completely different kids.

They went from straight -A students to
failing.

Rusted, corroded pipes.

Basically, this is crime scene evidence.

Crime one, destruction of our
infrastructure.

Crime two, poisoning people.

What's that vocabulary word?

Persistent. Let's clap it out. Ready?

Persistent.

Persistent. I still remember my own
second grade classroom.

It's amazing how many of us do.

School is where we learn how to read,
how to think, and how to argue.

What do we need to know?

It's the stage where the small dramas in
life come to define our lives.

Our first friendships, first fights,
first crushes.

It's where we learn how to learn.

What is the purpose of underlining and
jotting notes?

Why do we do those things?

I shared my own second grade classroom
and my teacher with the third grade.

Sixty students in total and two lesson
plans crammed into one tiny space.

It wasn't until we moved that I realized
that this wasn't how it was supposed to

be and that being born into the wrong
school district can change your life

forever.

And that's why I've come here, to St.
Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida,

where something has gone terribly wrong
with the education system.

It's a system that effectively sweeps
millions of poor people into second

status. Did we invest in those
communities?

No, instead we declared war.

What we have today is a wealth gap that
is huge.

We are dying with money. We are dying
with money. The working class have been

hammered. These are human beings. These
are people.

What can we do to get that point across?

The continent telling us that we're not
doing enough is causing us to lose.

It is not a matter of opinion anymore.

It is clearly exposed.

What do we do? They can only win by

dividing America.

We know that the way things are working
are working at all. That's right.

If you just keep pushing, if you just
keep trying.

If you refuse to let the nightmares have
the last say, eventually the dawn will

break, the sun will come out, and you
will be in a brand new day.

If there's no struggle, there can be no
progress.

So we just got another delivery today.

Everybody's trying to come together.

Millionaire Monopoly is devastating what
they're doing to our community because

we all deserve to have access to safe
water.

Period.

As I dig back into the history of Flint,
I learn things that today are hard to

believe. In the city of Flint, Michigan,
all is excitement.

All this is a day. Back in the 1970s,
Flint had the highest per capita income

in the United States.

It was a General Motors company town
back when what was good for GM was good

America.

But GM apparently only cared about
saving money. They moved the jobs to

countries where they could pay lower
wages and shut down their big factories.

Flint collapsed.

This place used to be Buick City, a
factory that employed 27 ,000

people.

Now there's nothing left.

I find it almost incomprehensible that
the water crisis would be visited on a

place that was already so devastated.

I need someone who's not a Flint
resident, someone with some distance, to

explain how this could happen.

People are recommending I track down a
Michigan State professor named Josh

Sapochny.

His area of research is how states treat
cities like Flint when they run out of

money.

In Michigan, the state assigns emergency
managers.

Hi. I'm Josh.

Sorry. Nice to meet you.

I have a lot of questions for you.

Sounds good.

I'm ready.

So I've heard that the Flint water
crisis was made worse.

by the fact that the city was governed
by emergency managers. Can you explain,

does Flint have a water crisis because
of emergency managers?

The failure of the state in the Flint
water crisis was that it designed an

approach that empowers one individual
who effectively displaces the local

elected officials, right? So in 30 days
following the switch, there were people

in the streets with bottles of water
showing...

The discoloration. The people in the
city of Flint are raising this issue.

To their elected officials who don't
have power to do really anything about

That's right.

I'm just in shock at how democracy was
just completely thrown out the window.

seems like the whole point of emergency
managers is to not just override elected

officials, but basically that means to
override democracy.

It's an accounting solution, right? It's
an accounting policy.

When it was clear that there was a
problem with the drinking water in the

of Flint, the emergency manager's job at
that moment was to turn a blind eye.

The job of Flint's four successive
emergency managers, Dr. Sopoczny says,

cut costs at all costs.

They slashed funding to senior centers,
gutted the police and fire departments,

and even auctioned off Santa.

The starting bid was $5.

That's, you know, this is sort of the
powers of the emergency manager. They're

coming in and say, these things have to
be cut and go because my job is to

reduce the deficit. Reduce the deficit,
yeah.

Was the city being mismanaged? Was it
necessary to bring an emergency manager?

I think it was necessary for the state
to get involved in some way.

It was a one -industry town,
effectively, and that industry left.

But Michigan's policy essentially
assumes that the revenue structure in

is fine.

We're going to come in and we're going
to make a bunch of major cuts. But

there's no additional help on the
revenue side.

They're strapped as it is. They're
having issues around revenue and needing

money to do things.

And then the answer is to cut even more
of their programs and give them even

less money to work with. So there's a
death spiral.

Dr. Sipoczny says that the debt spiral
is the product of the austerity programs

of several Michigan governors, the most
drastic being that of the current

governor, Rick Snyder.

The relationship between the state
government in Michigan and its city

government is not a very good
relationship. In fact, in certain issue

it's a toxic relationship.

I'm an accountant and your governor.

I've found I can help more people when
the numbers add up. We didn't change

the times, and we let politics get in
the way.

Not anymore.

We're on the road to recovery for every
Michigan.

The credit never goes to the person who
built a strong foundation.

But that's what you have to do first.

And that's why we have accounts.

So is Governor Rick Snyder ultimately
responsible for what happened?

So, Mr. Jefferson, if you want the loan,
you'll just have to locate your store

in a more respectable neighborhood.

Oh, you mean like a white neighborhood?

That's a thought.

Back in the 70s, our shows reflected
what I felt was a national consensus

race relations needed to be discussed.

Boy is a white racist word.

And solved.

Whereas we got our fair share of colors
in this street.

What? That's a petition.

It ain't a petition.

It's a letter for the people who live in
this street.

To who?

To some people that we don't want living
in this street. What do you want to

start this thing up for again?

Oh, Daddy, isn't it a little late? The
Jeffersons have been living here for

two years. This letter ain't got nothing
to do with the Jeffersons. The

Jeffersons are different. Why are the
Jeffersons different?

Because one college family is a novelty
and two is a ghetto.

These days, as I meet people living on
the edge, I can't help but notice

that just about all of them are people
of color.

Why is so little changed in America?

Is skin color still destiny?

I've come to see someone who spent years
studying this question.

I really first got interested in
segregation as a young child when I

getting bused from a black neighborhood
in Waterloo, Iowa, to go to white

schools across the other side of town.

It became very clear to me that people
were living in very different types of

neighborhoods, and often that
corresponded with their race.

But when people have the chance to live
in integrated neighborhoods, people do

see that we're all pretty much the same
and we all pretty much want the same

things. The problem is, in this country,
it's so rare that we get that

opportunity, and especially in cities
like New York.

When I think about segregation, it's in
the South.

Believe it or not, when it comes to
housing segregation, the North is worse

the South.

New York City is actually the third most
segregated city in the country.

All of the most segregated cities in the
country are in the north. New York City

is the third most segregated city in the
country.

In the 1930s, we had the Great
Depression, and the federal government

that it's going to build the middle
class by insuring federal loans for

It took a map of a city, and the
government decided that neighborhoods

white... got the best ratings. And
neighborhoods that were integrated or

got a lesser rating.

Neighborhoods that were black got the
worst rating.

And those neighborhoods were literally
outlined in red marker, redlining.

For the first 30 years, black Americans
were almost entirely excluded.

98 % of those loans went to white
Americans.

But we saw the largest expansion of...

the white middle class in the history of
our country. And all of that wealth

mostly was coming from housing.

And so what we have today is a wealth
gap that is huge.

The average or median wealth of a white
family is $140 ,000, and the median

wealth of a black family is $7 ,000.

$140 ,000. To $7 ,000.

If I'm a young white kid and I'm going
to college, I don't have to take out a

student loan because my parents have
wealth in their house that they can take

out to help me get through college.

If I'm a young black kid, more likely
I'm going to have to take out a loan to

to college. And in fact, we know black
Americans are the most likely to take

loans and also take out the largest loan
amount, even though they have the least

wealth to pay it back.

Then I'm the white kid and I graduate
and I go into teaching and maybe I'm

making $35 ,000 a year, but my parents
can give me a down payment to buy into a

good neighborhood.

The black kid's going to have to make it
on his own. Same income, but isn't

going to be able to buy into that good
neighborhood.

You just either pass on your privilege
or your disadvantage to the next

generation.

It must be so hard for Americans
listening to this to believe their

could behave that way.

I'd say it's hard for white Americans. I
think for black Americans, it's very

easy to believe that our government
behaves this way.

And then you have this myth that if a
lot of black people move into a

neighborhood, the property values go
down.

That's actually true.

It's true, though, because of the way
the federal government rated integrated

neighborhoods. But we've come to believe
it's true because black people just

don't keep up their properties. So you
see the way that a reality can be fueled

by a myth.

Reality can be fueled by a myth.

Yes, absolutely.

And is our government doing anything
about that?

Well.

We have fair housing laws now. We don't
have fair housing yet.

I don't think we realize how much effort
went into creating segregation.

We had cooperation from individual
homeowners all the way up to the federal

government to reorder our society in a
way that harmed black Americans and

helped white Americans.

So you have to break it up. You have to
do what you did to create it.

To end segregation, you have to break it
up.

I agree.

But how can you fight something that's
so widespread and so subtle?

St. Petersburg, Pinellas County,
Florida.

It looks like a prosperous vacation
town, its harbors filled with yachts and

backyards dotted with pools.

But in a small cluster of five schools
on the poorer south side, Test scores

have collapsed.

Students can't read at grade level and
they're failing in math and English.

I'm meeting civil rights attorney Amir
Whitaker. I'm hoping that Amir can help

me find out exactly what is happening
here and why.

What makes Pinellas so unique? We talk
about how it sits in the state

nationally, but let's kind of...

Break down a little bit of that. What
have you found that makes it so

particularly egregious? The Florida
Department of Education looked at the

achievement elementary schools, and they
found at the bottom of that list, or I

guess the top, right?

If you look at the 15.

Pinellas has five in there, number one,
number two, and then a couple more.

Five of the worst 15 performing schools.
In the state and probably in the

country, right? And they're all
clustered into this area that was

through housing discrimination and other
policies where most African Americans

are in the county.

Five out of the top 15, which is
incredible.

Right. Side by side. There's a dual
education system here in Pinellas. If

black, it looks a certain way. If you're
white, it looks a certain way.

Amir tells me that the majority white
schools on the north side are

outperforming the state averages.

But here, on the south side, in the five
worst schools, 95 % of black students

are failing reading or math.

Amir has analyzed the data, but we're
canvassing the community to try to

understand what's behind those
disturbing numbers.

Most of the teachers, I don't know, they
try to teach the students, but some of

them just fall back and let the kids go,
just passing it on.

And nobody paying their attention, so I
think they need to work on paying the

kids' attention.

A pattern of stories quickly emerges.

High teacher turnover, failing test
scores, school staff stretched too thin.

Morning.

Can we talk to you all for a second?

My name is Amir. I'm a civil rights
lawyer looking into things happening in

schools here.

I'm Jesse Williams.

How you doing? We're looking into the
school system here. We'd love to just

some stories about what's going on and
talk to you all, too, and hear about how

you like school and what's happening.

I want them to change schools.

I want them to go to Bay Point next
year. I do not want them going to

That is one of the worst schools.

They all went to school since they was
one years old. Every single one of them

went to school. She was a straight -A
kid her whole life.

Now all of a sudden she fell in math.
She was the smartest kid you ever seen.

Now she having a problem with math. I
just don't understand it. I just think

that school ain't teaching her. Well,
everybody struggles a little bit here

there. I know, but giving her to her
full attention.

Sunshine and Andre Walker's family just
moved near Lakewood Elementary, one of

the five failing schools.

They echo themes we've heard all along
the campus.

Two of their children, who thrived at
their last school, were even held back a

grade.

Do you feel connected to your teachers?

Sometimes.

I don't have like five different
teachers this year.

He just started like Tuesday, my new
one. Getting close to the end of the

year and you're still getting new
teachers coming in.

You too, huh?

And he has bonding issues like a little
bit of anxiety when he first meets a new

teacher.

It hurts my heart to hear parents say
that. You know, we're talking about

schools that are now F and failing
schools that were A schools, that were B

schools. And now, if there's no school
you can just go to, that's not a D or an

F school on the South Side.

name and number along with a detailed
message and we will return your call as

soon as possible. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Rosario Dawson. I'm here
in Flint, Michigan conducting interviews

about the water crisis here and I would
love to be able to speak to Governor

Snyder the sooner you can get back to me
the sooner we can put this interview on

the book.

Thank you so much.

No one in charge will agree to an
interview.

Some people are being prosecuted, so
everybody's lawyered up.

The closest I'm getting to speaking
truth to power is a phone call I've

with a lawyer for former emergency
manager Darnell Early.

In preparing for the call, I come across
something insane.

By law, emergency managers enjoy
immunity from prosecution unless

negligence can be established.

When it was discovered that there was a
problem with the water and Detroit said

that they would switch back at no
additional charge, why then did Darnell

say no?

Darnell Early, when he first got in
October of 2013 or thereabouts, the

to terminate the contract with the
Detroit water system had been made

And because of the money that had been
invested.

He turned it down because they could not
afford a long -term deal, even if some

of the costs were going to be absorbed
by Detroit.

I'm just curious, at what point is an
emergency manager's actions going to

to the level of prosecution?

Like, what responsibility or
accountability can be expected?

He has said that he is accountable based
on a leadership standpoint, and that he

wished he had done more, could do more.
He's even apologized to the public in a

very public way.

But that's because he should be blamed
for what was a water treatment process

failure by the experts who he relied on.

So overseeing the poisoning of a city
isn't criminal negligence?

I'm not crazy about the way you cast
that.

Political appointees, emergency
managers.

Public officials, they should not be
prosecuted for detrimental reliance on

those who have greater expertise than
they do.

Absolutely not.

If you're an emergency manager, your
duties and responsibilities are to right

the financial shift.

When you ask about an apartment, you're
looking for a one -bedroom. So if he

offers a studio, that's too small.

If he offers a bigger size unit, it's
probably going to be too expensive. So

you're sticking with a one bedroom.

So when is an apartment available? Price
range?

New apartment.

Make $41 ,000 a year. My wife, Suzanne,
makes $29 ,000.

I've been at my job for four years.
She's been at job for six.

Remember my phone number?

Yes, remember your phone number.

It's not unlike many others who have not
in the past.

My name is Roger White.

Roger Sean.

Oh, the white means I'm white.

So my name is Roger Sean. My wife's name
is Mona.

She works at Cavalry Hospital, and we're
looking for $1 ,300 to $1 ,500 one

bedroom.

We're doing that because my wife would
love to be a little closer to where she

works.

She's now 30 years old.

Fred Freiberg's group is an
investigative outfit that hires actors

they're searching for apartments.

Today, that's what I'm doing.

I'll be carrying a hidden camera to find
out whether a landlord racially

discriminates. Will the landlord tell
one thing to me?

and another to LB.

If the landlord treats us differently,
Fred Center intends to sue him.

We did test a number of buildings in the
neighborhood you're going to and found

this one was, in fact, discriminating
based on race.

Your organization has been in business
for 11 years, and you've sued often, I

understand. We do sue often. When we
find discrimination, we have not lost a

case.

But why are you, I mean, you're
exceedingly white.

Yes, but I realize the harm that comes
to everybody, including white people in

the society and living in a segregated
society.

I know I was greatly impaired growing up
in a segregated white neighborhood,

going to segregated white schools, not
having contact with people of other

and cultures, impaired my ability to
function now in a more multiracial

It's L .B. Williams tagging in as
Lawrence Williams.

So that is recorded.

The camera? Yeah, this is the camera.
The camera's right there. So when it

in your pocket, it's perfect.

We tend to think of education as a
personal problem.

It could be bad luck with a teacher this
year, or kids going through a phase.

But here, in Pinellas County, Florida,
the schools have become a collective

problem affecting an entire community.

So why?

Why is this happening here?

I taught high school in Philadelphia,
where our school system always seemed to

be on the verge of bankruptcy.

But St. Petersburg isn't a poor city. In
fact, it has one of the highest per

capita income levels in all of Florida.

But beneath the surface, this sunny
tourist town has a darker side.

A history of housing discrimination
packed much of the county's black

into south St. Petersburg.

And when school busing began in 1971,
whites rioted against desegregation.

Riots erupted again in 1996.

after the police killed an unarmed black
man, Tyrone Lewis.

But throughout the 80s and 90s, the
schools in South St. Petersburg seemed

doing fine.

It wasn't until 2007 that the bottom
began to fall out.

In the news coverage from that year, one
school board member's name appears

again and again, sounding the alarm.

Mary Brown.

Each year, of course, you look at the
budget and see where you can cut costs.

Right. The school board felt, well, we
have a budget cut that we have to make,

and we've got to cut out busing some
children.

So we were talking about a vote on
whether we end busing. The vote was that

would go back to neighborhood schools.

And now you called it neighborhood
schools.

They're segregated schools.

They're segregated schools.

Yeah, that's the bottom line.

They're segregated schools.

The parents thought that they would get
everything they needed.

Some of the people of the black
community thought, oh, the money has to

with the children.

Yeah. And the money should go with the
children. Yeah.

But the money didn't quite go with the
children.

Why do you think the money never came,
never went to where it was promised to

go? Because it went to other schools
where they felt the need was greater.

Why might they think their need is
greater? What are some differences

South County and those other schools?

North County has more white children.
South County has more minority children.

Okay. And therefore, you can take

that and think of it in any way you want
to.

Funds didn't come like they were
supposed to come.

Right. I just see a whole decade of
children.

Get up. Let's go.

Time to go to school.

I told y 'all two times to go to school.

In 2007, the Pinellas School Board
didn't say they were voting for

But how could they not know?

For all of its spring break parties and
Yankee retirees, this is the Jim Crow

South.

I remember my own father's stories about
his school in Valdosta, Georgia.

After a wave of protests across the
South, the Supreme Court had ruled in

v. Board of Education that segregated
schools were unconstitutional.

And in most of America,

desegregation meant busing.

In Valdosta, the white kids spat on my
dad and his black classmates, and in

cities across America, whites rioted
against busing.

But American schools became more
integrated, and the achievement gap

white and black students narrowed to its
lowest margin ever.

But a recent series of court rulings has
begun to weaken Brown v. Board.

And so, Every morning, Sunshine and
Andre dress and feed their kids.

They check their homework and make sure
that their walk is safe, before handing

them over to a school that is failing
them in every measurable way.

Sunshine and Andre's children, and an
entire generation of their classmates,

growing up in what are essentially the
same separate and unequal schools that

the Supreme Court outlawed 60 years ago.

Councilman Eric Mays and his
constituents continue the fight to tell

what's been happening here.

And today, there's a victory on that
front.

It's been more than two years since the
water was switched, and five months

since President Obama declared a state
of emergency.

Still, despite the waves, a presidential
visit means the country is paying

attention to what's happening here.

And to the Flintstones, that's a pretty
big deal.

apparently with the governor.

That's me.

The American people are paying attention
and they care about you.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that this should not
have happened in the first place.

This was a man -made disaster.

This was avoidable. This was
preventable.

An emergency manager was put in place
whose mandate was primarily to

cut at all costs.

Listening to the president, it feels
like he's summarizing the lessons I've

learned in Flint.

It feels like after all they've been
through and all they've done to help

other, their voices have finally been
heard.

Can I get some water?

The president's visit did not make the
water safe.

Even though Flint switched back to the
Detroit system months ago, the water is

still flowing through corroded pipes.

To truly fix the problem, much of
Flint's water infrastructure needs to be

overhauled. And that will take a lot of
money.

And possibly many years.

Fair Housing Justice Center is a
nonprofit civil rights organization

in New York City.

What we did this past week here in New
York is we tested in a predominantly

white neighborhood and sent L .B.
Williams and Norman Lear.

And we actually have an audio and video
account of what occurred during these

visits. So this is L .B.'s recording.

Hi. Hi.

Are you the landlord?

Yes, sir.

My wife and I are looking for a one
-bedroom apartment.

Last month, I rented one.

Two months ago, I rented two.

Okay. At the moment, I have no vacancies
here.

Okay, no vacancies?

No, at the moment.

Okay. When do you think you have one
that will be available? One bedroom, I

don't expect.

Two bedrooms, I don't expect.

Maybe a studio a little next month.
Okay.

He clearly said there was no one bedroom
available.

Clearly, he said it several times.

So this was basically Tuesday night and
then Wednesday morning, you visited the

same landlord.

Hey, how you doing?

Hey, my wife was out here the other day.

I guess you saw that sign. Yeah.

We were looking for a one -bedroom
apartment.

I'm going to have a studio here, and I
have one bedroom in Pelham Bay.

Uh -huh.

I think I know where that is.

In the studio here.

Studio, I'm going to have end of the
month here.

Uh -huh.

Terrific. I thank you very much, sir.

You.

got told about a studio apartment in
that building that was coming available.

A one -bedroom apartment was available,
which he's willing to show me, and a

studio. Yeah, and the one bedroom,
according to the recording, is in Pelham

on Wellman Avenue, another predominantly
white neighborhood. Last night, the way

LB was treated, was that a surprise to
you? No, it was not, because we had

previously investigated this building
and done multiple.

African -American white tests at this
building. And the exact conduct that we

observed on your test, we observed three
additional previous times. The way this

housing provider does business is to
discriminate against African -Americans.

Now, it's not against the law. It is. So
why hasn't something been done about

it? Well, I think part of it goes to
this issue of the type of discrimination

is. If LB had been a bona fide apartment
seeker.

he would have had no idea that the agent
was lying to him about availabilities.

So you'd have no inclination to file a
housing discrimination complaint.

So everything we're talking about, how
pervasive is this?

I think it still accounts for much of
the segregation that we see in our

metropolitan region. It's one of the
prominent factors, I think, in why we

move more quickly toward a more
integrated society.

I think people of color carry...

additional baggage, through no fault of
our own, that other people, that

white people don't worry about,
essentially.

There's this issue that you always have
to be aware of, that someone is going to

look at you differently, not for what
you are, essentially, but for what you

look like.

It always saddens me, but consistently
says to me, as an African American,

That I'm less than.

And that's a horrible feeling to feel.

You deserve a lot of credit for doing
this.

I feel like I have to.

You know, it's my way of making a
difference.

I think hopefully shining a light on the
problem.

in this forum, by bringing the lawsuits
that we subsequently will, in response

to these situations, will show the
government that it is possible to

this discriminatory conduct, but you've
got to devote the enforcement resources

to do it.

Back in 2007, The Pinellas School Board
promised that newly resegregated schools

in South County would get the resources
that they needed.

But Mary Brown told me the funding never
came.

The federal Title I program provides
additional funding for schools with high

concentrations of low -income students.

All five of the county's worst schools
receive Title I support.

I called the local Title I office, but
they blew me off. So I'm dropping by in

person to look at their public records.

Hi, how are you?

I'm with Jesse Williams.

I don't have that information right now.

Not right now. We don't have anyone here
that can help you with that. Do you

want to come back or make an
appointment?

Who are you?

I'm shooting a Norman Lear documentary,
America Divided. I'm Jesse Williams.

Is there a reason for the hostility?

What's the problem with that?

The Title I office called the police on
me instead of talking, and it's hard for

anyone here to get answers from the
school system.

So families like the Tuckers must drive
across Pinellas to attend the monthly

school board meetings in North County.

They join Ashley Green and the Dream
Defenders for the protest outside.

Our children deserve wins!

Win! Win! Win!

Win! Win! Win!

All right, let's do this!

Inside, they are each given three
minutes to speak to the people

their children's future.

You can argue about the money. You can
argue about the resources.

But if we're truly talking about equity
and equity for black kids, the black

students here, they need more resources.

My son's education is important just
like anybody's kid's important, black,

white, Asian, anything. These children,
my children, the children that attend

these schools are not failures. They're
not dumb.

They need more help. I challenge you
from the position that you stand to

actually serve the students whom you are
entrusted.

The constant excuses, the constant
telling us that we're not doing enough

causing us to explode.

I want to invite you all out to a
community barbecue that we're going to

having on March 19th.

We have to limit to three minutes. Thank
you, though.

So we will do our board meeting
evaluation and be in adjournment.

The Title I office still won't talk to
us, but I managed to track down copies

the state audits.

And it's immediately clear that Mary
Brown is right.

The state auditors repeatedly cite
Pinellas County for staffing the schools

unqualified teachers and for
misallocation of funds.

So I dig a little deeper and find that
in spite of all their promises to the

contrary, funding after segregation was
erratic at best.

Some years, the failing schools received
less money from the county than other

schools in the district.

Though the superintendent refuses to
talk to me, I set up a meeting with a

school board member who voted to end
busing and presided over the

of Pinellas schools.

Linda Lerner.

We spoke yesterday. I stopped by. I was
looking for an apartment, that one

-bedroom apartment.

My wife had seen the sign.

Can we make a date to look at that?
We're interested.

The time has come to confront the
landlord who discriminated against OB,

him no one -bedroom apartments were
available.

I will see you at 9 .30 at 2854.

Thank you.

I must say I'm good at this.

I spent

my

career creating characters whose lives
would shine a light on our divided

society.

The point was to move beyond the
divisions.

But being a part of this experiment has
shown me that racism still stands.

our country, through subtle words and
gestures that shut people of color out

neighborhoods and out of opportunity.

The landlord's actions placed me on one
side of the divide and L .B. on the

other. Now I want to see how he will
answer for himself.

With a hidden camera and a producer
posing as my daughter, we continue the

charade as he shows us an apartment in
the building.

Two windows.

Do you remember that face?

Because he came looking for an apartment
just the other day. And you told him

that the one bedroom of the studio was
available.

I didn't have no one bedroom.

We have one at Wellman Avenue, but we
were supposed to be there.

I'm sorry to cost you this way, but
there were no blacks in the building,

we're not going to rent to blacks in the
building.

Come with me.

Come with me.

I

don't

want the camera here.

though it says he'll take us to meet
some of his black tenants.

But after we enter the building, he
changes his mind and says he doesn't

disturb them.

He lied, I believe.

And he represents a good deal of
America.

And I'm...

I'm not sad because they're bad guys.
I'm sad because we don't have a culture

that discusses us with them, with the so
-called good guys.

You know, we're all going to have to
know about it, think about it, talk

it before we ever get past it.

I feel sadder for having done it because
this is our America and it

isn't what we promised.

So in 2007, there was a vote cast that
seriously impacted predominantly black

population and a generation of that
population that has been pushed into the

most underserved and underperforming
schools in the nation. One of the really

unique things that you provide to this
narrative is that you were there.

Is that something, looking back on it,
that you regret?

No, I don't regret the vote. Our goal
was not to segregate the schools.

Our goal was to attract diversity.

It wasn't like there was no plan. So
that's what I want to get into. So you

at the hearing that we're going to be
held accountable by our constituents,

community, to follow through. And that
may mean taking some resources from

schools. And that's not easy.

I believe we understood that when we put
that commitment to place. This is

attributed to you. So the part of the
deal was we're going to segregate the

schools. But we're going to add
resources to supplement that. We may

resources for a very high poverty area.

They did have extra money as Title I
schools.

They actually did have, I can't tell you
the amount, lots of extra money. But,

you know, we're looking through the
numbers.

And in 2008, an audit, which is really
the first full year after this decision

was made, was showing that the funds
were misallocated. I won't even get into

that. I can send you to their head of
finance.

That is completely false.

But that 2008 audit, that's where I'm
getting that information from the

highlighted sections in particular.

That's what's saying very specifically
that the funds were misallocated.

Absolutely not true.

Starting in 2013, 2014, we started
putting extra money in those five

What strikes me is that what we're
talking about is 2013, 14, but the

was made in 2007, 8. We have other
schools that have high numbers of

students. So why are these five schools
getting it? Because there was the

recognition.

That these were the schools that were
most in need of those resources.

And when did they become in need of
those resources?

When did they become in need of those
resources? Yes, you identified a need.

I'm wondering how do you measure that
need and when did you find out they had

need? I'm just saying before we gave
some extra resources, we had

But when we really looked at the data
and what was happening, recognized...

Pardon? Is this 2014?

I think it'll be four years and next
July. Next July. I won't accept that we

were doing nothing. That's not true.
Were we doing enough?

No. And another big part of it, as you
know, having been a teacher, and you

understand all of this, it's attracting
and retaining the most highly qualified

teachers who really want to be here.

The 2012 state audit said that 171
teachers were not.

were not qualified and they needed to be
qualified, and they were receiving

those federal funds. I've admitted that
we did things but could have done more.

You keep going back to it. Because that
kid gets one chance.

He gets one chance.

You keep wanting me to say how terrible
I was with the vote, how bad I was to

vote for that, how I was going to make
schools that were underperforming. I

won't agree to that.

It seems like the whole school system
here is in denial.

But momentum is growing behind a cluster
of community groups that are demanding

change.

The Dream Descenders have convened a
meeting in a local park.

And some parents, like Sunshine and
Andre, are joining them for the very

time.

Sunshine

and

Andre had been looking for a way to get
their children out of Lakewood.

But now they want to stay and join the
growing movement for change.

They're organizing to transform their
schools collectively rather than escape

them individually.

Dream Defenders Barbecue, where you have
this kind of intersection of

organizers, activists, and parents, and
students. How does that feel?

I love to see people coming together for
a good cause like this, man.

The only thing I wish it was more
people. I wish this whole part was

people and parents.

To have kids and trying to get the word
out.

To me, I think we're going to join
whatever we got to join so we can help.

It was the fight for school
desegregation that launched the civil

movement. And it didn't begin with a
courtroom argument.

It began with black students and their
parents organizing across the South.

The Dream Defenders invited the school
board to come to this meeting.

None of them showed.

But I can feel something building here.

Something the school board will not be
able to ignore for very much longer.

Before I head home, I want to say
goodbye to a new friend, Councilman Eric

He says I'll find him at a place that's
close to his heart.

Somewhere. He finds solace in the
ongoing battle over the future of Flint.

Hi. Hey, how you doing?

How are you, company?

This is a place to come and reflect and
build back up your

strength and momentum.

It's very encouraging. It's a good place
to come every now and then. I worked

over in the plant UAWTF.

And this is the sit -down strike
monument.

When you look at these guys, even though
they're sitting down, they protest.

Councilman May tells me that in December
1936, workers demanding better wages

and conditions occupied Flint's GM
factory.

They stayed through New Year.

As they sit down in the plant, I want to
show you what the women did.

They were breaking out the windows and
bringing the men food and supplies.

And this woman here took more than one
police to drag her on.

She was really something.

Even when the police attacked with tear
gas, the workers stayed put for six

weeks.

In the end, General Motors negotiated,
acceded to many demands, and for the

first time recognized the United Auto
Workers Union.

And unions started to form across all
major industries, ushering in a golden

for American workers.

So this monument is a very encouraging
place to come in the middle of the

right?

It reminds you that you have to stay
active.

There's a spirit of activism here that's
really necessary.

I call myself an activist.

You call yourself a what? An activist.

An activist.

They're naming us actorvists. You know,
actors, they're also activists.

Right. Mm -hmm.

This monument makes me continue to
believe that organizing and fighting is

right. The labor strike was a fight of
the middle class to get better working

conditions and economics. The water
fight is still an economic turbo

war. You had the emergency manager
coming in, taking over control.

And I think that's what I want people to
understand about the water crisis. It

wasn't just the quality of the water. It
was who would control the water in

the future.

From the history of the city of Flint
and the way we've operated as a people,

Flintstones, we will be successful.

I have to show them they will care.

They mess with the wrong people when
they mess with Flint.

We're going to stand up and fight back.
We ain't taking it. We ain't going to be

quiet. We ain't going to be silent.

We're going to keep on fighting. We're
taking it.

But they take it away from us.

On

the

next.

This disease is hollowing out suburban
and small -town America.