Original subtitles

It was the decade after the Civil War.

Those first years of freedom were a time of change...

...for Tom Harvey and his family.

But freedom was only the beginning.

Hold your horses! l got me a dumb nigger making trouble.

l gots the right to vote!

Papa, this here's Will Palmer.

-Mr. Palmer. -Do you love me?

This ain't the time nor the place to be talking about a thing like that.

And things had changed for Col. Warner and his family.

-We were married. -As far as l'm concerned...

...you are a nigger.

Your father'd never forgive me if he knew l came at all.

What's that white lady doing here?

l support with my heart's blood...

...any action to safeguard...

...the purity of white civilization.

Roots: The true story of an American family.

This family gonna go forward.

From the end of innocence, to the easy times of a new era.

l wish you could stay with me now.

Through the war overseas and hard times at home...

He's Alexander Murray Palmer Haley.

...the family,s dream of freedom survived.

Haley. Alex Haley. l'm a writer.

We call your race "niggers."

l have been called "nigger" many times...

...and this is the first time l'm being paid for it.

The fulfillment of a dream that lasted 200 years.

You old African!

l found you!

Kunta Kinte!

One family,s triumph is a triumph for us all.

And now, Roots: The Next Generations.

Cincinnati scored one run home half of the third.

Pete Sommers dropped a fly ball for the Giants.

A man got to third, and Jud Smith bunted him home on a sacrifice.

See there? That's what l'm talking to you about.

-There's your science for you. -What's that got to do...

...with whether a colored man can play as good as a major-leaguer?

Well, you take a darky. Ain't no way in the world...

...he's gonna be as good a baseball player as a white man is.

Y'all recollect what happened a few years back...

...when that colored Cuban Giant team...

...played the regular Cincinnati major-league team?

Red Stockings whupped them niggers 1 1 -5. That's a fact.

Unless l've been mistook...

...ain't that the same year the colored Gorhams...

...played the regular national league New York Metropolitans...

...and whupped them 2-1 ?

That's a horse on you, Harry. Can't have it both ways.

You sure Elizabeth's gonna be on that train?

Papa, l read you the letter six times.

Well, she write that slanty spider writing.

You could be mistook, Cynthia.

Well, that's Palmer method.

All schoolteachers write like that.

Well, anyway...

...Kansas City a long way off.

She could miss that train at some junction.

Don't you want Elizabeth to be on that train?

lt's all right with me.

-Papa, she been gone 1 0 years. -Was her choosing.

You ain't gonna ruin Elizabeth's homecoming for no old grudge.

Now, you watch how you talk to your father.

As big as you is....

Now, that train be 1 4 minutes late already.

Now, look here. This here ain't gonna vex me none.

There she is at Ripley Crossing.

Cynthy.

Liz!

Cynthy.

-Liz! -Cynthy!

Why, you're a young lady already!

Oh, Lizzie!

You gonna stay home with us now?

Well, for a while until l get another job teaching.

How are you keeping yourself, Elizabeth?

Well, Papa, l'm glad to be home.

All aboard!

Papa, l'll be along.

l'll just ask Mr. Hapgood if the parlor organ you expecting...

...from Brattleboro, Vermont come in the freight.

Come on, boys. You're causing more work.

Yes, sir, massa.

We getting it fast as we can.

Noontime!

Man called noontime.

Morning, Mr. Palmer.

Morning, Miss Harvey.

Miss Harvey...

...l was wondering-- l mean....

Maybe--

Well, l don't know is it proper...

...for a young lady to be seen in the company of a gentleman...

...that's a member of this section gang.

lt say in the gospel:

"Comfort ye the laborer in the field...

...in the heat of the day."

Where in the gospel it say that?

Matthew.

What verse?

l don't know.

l just made it up.

Anyways, l didn't come round here to see you.

l was just asking about a freight order for my daddy.

And if you don't want to talk to me, Will Palmer, l can go on home.

No! l mean...

...l wanna talk to you...

...but....

Hey, you.

Hey, Lee Garnet.

Thought l seen you here. What you doing here?

Working part-time.

ln the first place, l don't want niggers working on my place...

...working for nobody else.

And what's this l hear about you going around...

...telling people l done you out of money?

Well, look here, Mr. Owens.

Now, l've been working for you for over five years now.

And this is the first time l ever been ahead on a debt.

l mean with the seeding and furnishing and everything.

Truth is, Mr. Owens, you owe me $38 for a year's work.

You're a black liar, Garnet.

l ain't no liar, Mr. Owens.

You go around bad-mouthing me and you're gonna be one sorry black boy.

Come on.

Well, l ain't never said nothing...

...but you owe me $38.

Point is, Miss Harvey...

...before l can walk you home from church and like that...

...l gotta ask your daddy permission.

Well, why don't you ask, then?

Miss Harvey...

...l means on going forward in this here life.

l ain't about to ask him for permission to take up with his daughter...

...whilst l ain't nothing but a member of a section gang.

Well...

...Mr. Will Palmer, you better get to be something else...

...because when you ready...

...well...

...maybe l'll just be long gone.

And Mr. W.W. Felts...

...well, he sold out to Fletcher, who opened a barber shop...

...across from my smithy. And over here--

Papa, before we go another step...

...it wasn't your fault.

l mean, not all of it.

John Dolan asked me to go away with him that night...

...and l could have.

l can't blame you for what l couldn't bring myself to do.

Child...

...those long years gone...

...l said my word...

...because l was sure in my mind.

But if it were wrong...

...if l done a hurt to you out of some meanness in my soul...

...then that's an evil...

...and l got to bear the sin.

There ain't nothing you say gonna lift the burden...

...if l were wrong.

We best go on home.

Your mama will be fretting about you till we get there.

Lucy, it is time for you to retire to the bedroom.

Oh, shoot. l ain't done crimping my hair. Can't you wait?

We're expecting a gentleman. Now, go on...

-...and drag your drawers out of here. -l like that.

-This here is my boudoir, ain't it? -lt certainly is your place of business.

Now go on.

You can start without me.

Go on now.

Who's coming? Who we waiting on?

Good evening, sir.

-Good evening, Mr. Warner. -Won't you join us?

Populist of the farmers' alliance? That's who we're waiting on? Matthew Holmes?

Now, wait a minute right here.

Earl, why don't you listen to what Matthew's got to say?

Gentlemen, l have come to a practical conclusion.

The only way to keep conservatives like your father...

...from winning elections with black votes...

...is to take the vote away...

...from the blacks.

You gonna take the vote away from the nigger?

This is the time.

There's an election coming up...

...and the Supreme Court of the United States has shown us the way.

They said the Mississippi Plan for wiping out black votes is constitutional.

And the Senate refused to pass the Force Bill controlling elections in the South.

They're handing it to us on a platter.

Andy, you gonna back our Democrats in the election?

l will do more.

l will, with a suitable show of modesty, allow you...

...to place my name in nomination on your slate.

Good. Against your own pa.

The key is the Negro vote.

Now, there's a poll tax already in the state constitution.

There's the literacy and understanding clauses.

The ingenuity of man is boundless.

Now, if we can get the darky vote away from your pappy...

...we got him where it hurts. lt's been a long time coming.

Gentlemen, l think we may drink to a new winning political combination.

Earl, here's to keeping the Negro where he belongs:

-Beneath you. -God's truth.

And, Matthew...

...here's to removing the divisive factor of the black vote from politics.

Andy...

...to you...

...and your nomination.

This here is a white man's country.

And come next election...

...we're gonna put them niggers back where they belong.

Oh, yeah!

l told that Harry Owens this morning...

...l said, "This is the last crop l'm gonna make for you ever."

-You know what he said? -What?

"Get off my land."

l said, "With pleasure. With pleasure."

Where you gonna stay? Wanna move in with me? l got room.

Oh, no, thank you, Will. l don't wanna be beholden to nobody.

Ain't beholden. Besides, we almost like brothers, anyways.

Yeah. Well, l'll be all right.

Hey. Harry Owens paid me that $38 he owed me.

We're gonna get four bits for working here, for sure.

So that'll tide me over for a while.

But, Lee, then there ain't no money.

Besides, that's only when there's a flatcar to unload.

The way Campbell run this place...

...it might be weeks before another flatcar come in.

Champ!

Champ Sugrue, where the devil are you?

-Champ! -Right here, Mr. Bob.

Damn you for a no-account, wooden-headed dummy!

What is it that you want, Mr. Bob?

l give you Sam Cavanaugh's order first thing this morning.

Now, where the hell is it?

But it ain't my fault, Mr. Bob.

That little pile is so higgledy-piggledy, l can't find anything.

Now, it took me an hour to lay my hand on four dozen, two-by-four 1 2-footers.

Why don't you go back in the office and rest yourself.

Don't you tell me what to do!

l am sick and tired of you presuming on my good nature.

l warn you. l warn you every other day.

l've fired you and taken you back a dozen times.

Mr. Bob, l'm only trying to do my job.

Now, l can't get anything done if you keep me here talking.

You putting me in the wrong?!

Well, now you are fired, you hear me? You are fired!

Go on.

l'll give you a fair chance.

You tell me why l should take you back.

You done fired me one time too many, Mr. Bob.

Well, maybe l better think about it.

No, l got me a better job...

...at a sawmill in Dyersburg.

Now, you owe me two weeks' pay.

l'll come for it Saturday.

What did l say? Where are you going?

Champ, who's gonna get out Sam Cavanaugh's order?

What's the matter with that crazy nigger?

Mr. Campbell?

Mr. Campbell.

Mr. Campbell?

Would you oblige me, sir, by stepping outside?

What for?

Well, there's something out there l think you should see.

l'll be damned.

-You do that? -Yes, sir.

Who the devil do you think you are?

What'd you do that for?

Well, l sort of figured you gonna be needing a new yard boy...

...to kind of take the place of Champ Sugrue.

Well, sir...

...l'm applying for that job.

Well, if that don't beat the Dutch!

You can't hardly tell what a darky gonna do next.

By Jim, you got the job.

Will Palmer...

...l do believe you done start to go forward.

Lee!

l got the job!

Lee!

Move along, Garnet. You're under arrest. Now, just come along quietly.

l got the papers all legal.

Told you you'd be one sorry black boy.

lf there had been time, we could've sent to Memphis for a lawyer.

There ain't no difference.

lt Lee Garnet word against a white man.

To tells you the truth...

...a Memphis lawyer maybe get Judge Peters riled.

He'd put a five- or ten-year sentence on that boy.

Papa...

...this here's Will Palmer.

Evening, Mr. Harvey.

-Mr. Palmer. -Ladies.

Mr. Warner, Mrs. Warner.

These here is for you, Mrs. Harvey.

Ain't that nice?

Thank you.

And, Mr. Harvey, l done brung you these here...

...cigarettes.

They's factory-made. They all the way from North Carolina...

...and they's the newest things.

Thank you.

Papa?

Will got something he want to talk to you about.

Well, l'm afraid we must be running on.

-Ain't going yet. -Yes, we must go. There's homework.

-Sister Carrie. -Good night, Mr. Warner.

Now, you tell Mrs. Harvey thank you very much.

Good night, Miss Elizabeth. lt was a delight to see you.

Take care. Nice to see you both. lt was a delightful dinner.

Come on, darling. Let's go.

Mama...

...l swear to you, Papa say no, l just gonna run off.

Cynthy!

He just gotta say yes.

Mama, l ain't gonna be no dried-up old maid just because Pap--

Lizzie...

...l'm sorry.

Now, l don't want you to worry. That was another time.

Why didn't you just go to Memphis...

...and marry him?

Cynthy...

...two months after he left Henning, that John Dolan was married.

l met him a few years back. He had four children.

Now, l don't want you to worry...

...because this here is gonna be different.

Now you just stop that.

l'm a member of the CME New Hope Church, which you already knows.

And l's been working for Mr. Bob Campbell's lumberyard now for 5 weeks.

l studies on getting me some of that old lumber...

...building some houses and renting them out to other folk.

Mr. Harvey...

...l means on going forward.

And...

...l guess l's here to ask your permission...

...to see Miss Cynthia home from church on Sunday evenings and...

...to...

...generally take up with her.

l thinks on it.

-Why don't you play something for us? -No.

Oh, come on. We ain't had us a good sing in a long time.

Come on now, Mr. Palmer. You sit right on down here.

He asked me what l could do about his friend Lee Garnet again.

ls there anything?

Ain't no way to turn around a prison sentence l know...

...but he gonna keep after me.

He asked you could he take up with Cynthy too.

-Why didn't you just say yes? -l will, l will...

...after l think on it.

Might as well. What that boy want, he gonna get.

Oh, Jimmy. Are you all right, son?

-Are you all right? -Yes, Mama. l'm fine.

Your note said there was something urgent.

-ls the boy all right? -The boy is just fine.

Don't you worry about that. Sit down. Please, Mama. Sit down.

l saw him last Tuesday in his schoolyard.

l was driving by with Sarah Hewlett.

l couldn't even ask the coachman to slow down.

Frankie is just fine. He's asleep in there.

Carrie's at church, a meeting of the sisterhood.

Mama, l do wish that someday you would call when she's here.

Oh, it's very difficult, Jimmy.

Your father'd never forgive me if he knew l came at all.

-l know. -He's at Judge Peters' tonight.

Something about the Democratic primary.

Do you need money? l have those bank shares in my own name.

No, Mama. l work when l can, and we have Carrie's salary.

We're considered reasonably affluent...

...for this end of town.

Are you ever sorry?

Mama, it's funny.

l miss the most trivial things.

New things, like new clothing and new books from Cincinnati...

...and Papa's imported claret...

...and the absolute, God-given assurance of being white.

You can't speak to her about it, can you?

Not really, no.

When you married her, l thought it was spite...

...that somehow you were angry at me and your father...

...and that was the way you could hurt us most deeply.

lt was simpler than that, Mama. l was in love with her.

l still am, even more now...

...but there are some things that l just can't seem to share with her.

You should have gone North, Jimmy, or to Europe.

Mama, there's no hiding place. Besides, this was home.

Her family was gone. The black people here were all she had.

-They accepted her. They accepted me. -Papa, who's there?

Mama home yet?

-No, honey. She's not home yet. -What's that white lady doing here?

Frankie...

...this lady....

This lady is just visiting.

-Go on back to bed now. -l want Mama to tuck me in.

-Mama's not home yet. Now, please-- -Frankie...

...would you like me to tuck you in?

Mama...

...l need something from Papa.

There's a colored boy who was convicted in Judge Peters' court.

We need a pass to visit the prison camp.

-Papa's the only one who can get it. -l can't ask your father.

l promised this boy's friend that l would get it.

You can tell Papa that a colored woman asked you.

Minnie or lrene Harvey. He'd understand that.

Asking your white folks for help.

He doesn't like me to concern myself with that sort of thing.

The man's name is Garnet. He's in camp number seven.

Tennessee lron and Coal Company.

-Oh, l don't know. l don't know-- -l promised Will Palmer.

l'll try.

Oh, Jimmy.

My poor Jimmy.

My poor boy.

These are my people now, Mama. l have to do what l can.

l'll try.

All right, Bert. Run them on up to camp.

-See you next trip. -Hope you do better by me next time.

Let's go.

-You want something, uncle? -You the chief engineer?

Yeah. Why?

Gots me a permit to see one of the men here.

Lee Garnet.

That from the state prison board.

-You Tom Harvey? -Yes, sir.

He's working down the tote road.

You can see him noontime.

Now, Lee, l done brung along Mr. Harvey here...

...because he the most important colored man in the politics and like that.

-Well, he's gonna help you. -l ain't promised nothing like that.

This here's a matter of influence.

Who be knowing who amongst the big white men of the state and all.

Now, l've got to know from your mouth.

What happened about the money you supposed to stole...

...from Mr. Harry Owens' cashbox?

Well, you remember, Will.

That Mr. Harry Owens, he told me to come and make my complaint to his face.

Well, l done that. l went to him that morning, and l told him...

...that he owed me $38.

He said he don't and say l been calling him a liar.

l said, "l ain't done that." l told him l was gonna go talk to Col. Warner.

Col. Warner? What's he got to do with this?

Col. Warner own the land.

Harry Owens, he just sublease it out to sharecroppers.

So anyway, when l said Col. Warner's name...

...then Mr. Owens say, "That different," for me to go on in the house...

...get my money out the cashbox.

And you done that?

Yeah, like a damn fool.

Put the sheriff on me for stealing that same morning.

He say he put his mark on the money and l stole it.

l ain't never stole nothing. He owed me that money for a whole year's work.

Mr. Harvey, you got to make them see the truth.

l mean, you got to get Lee out of this here place.

l don't see what l can do for this boy, Tom. He....

He was convicted in Judge Peters' court according to law.

-l know that. Yes, sir. -Received a very light sentence.

Tom, you know l can't interfere with the law.

l know that, colonel. That's what l told all the coloreds in town.

"Col. Warner is a man what uphold the law."

Ten years now, l've been saying:

"Col. Warner and his Democrats, they gonna look after the colored."

But now with this here election coming up soon...

...there's two kinds of Democrats running...

...and if we all don't vote for you, maybe you're gonna lose to some...

...no-account, white trash Democrats.

Well, just a minute, Tom. You know l value your support politically...

-...but this is something else. -Well, l told them:

"That's the mark of a gentleman.

He look after his own people."

What are you driving at, Tom?

Mr. Harry Owens lease from you...

...but this was your land.

Lee Garnet was making a crop on your land.

l told him, "Lee, a high gentleman like the colonel...

...with all the power of Lauderdale County in his hands...

...he ain't gonna try and cheat one of his people out of $38."

But this man, Harry Owens...

...scratching by the best he can, he would.

l don't want this to go any further...

...but l've suspected Owens for a long time of cheating with the accounts...

...and that is not inconsistent with the story that the Garnet boy told you.

That's the truth, colonel. l told him, "Trust in a gentleman...

...to set things right."

Well, l'm not sure what l can manage, but...

...l may know someone in the penitentiary system...

...might be able to do something for that boy.

l knew it.

l got the confidence in you, colonel...

...and l'm gonna leave it in your hands.

Morning to you, sir.

Morning.

Good man, that Tom Harvey.

-He's one smart man, Papa. -Solid, honest...

-...forthright. -Papa...

...that old darky played you like a trout on a line.

Your generation just doesn't understand.

A properly controlled work force of decent colored people...

...is the cornerstone of our prosperity.

They will be loyal as long as we are decent and honest with them and--

Papa, you negotiated the contract...

...leasing convicts to Tennessee lron and Coal and to the railroad.

How come you didn't tell forthright old Tom that?

As long as l do my duty to those dependent on me...

...l see no need to make them privy to my affairs.

Well, it won't be so privy, Papa...

...if folks find out about the convict lease system.

State officials taking kickbacks...

...companies making a fortune working convict labor.

-Whiskey, Papa? -Not at 1 1 :00 in the morning.

That late? You know, the white trash Democrats...

...have entered a slate against you in the election. You might have problems.

l think not.

Everyone knows them for what they are.

Men of no property or tradition.

What happens if folks find out all you fine gentry...

...been stealing everything not nailed down?

Y'all make those Yankee carpetbaggers look like Presbyterian deacons.

l am shocked at you, Andrew.

Not only have you made nothing out of your life...

...but you see fit to subject your own father...

...to scurrilous innuendo.

You are right, Father.

And l'm gonna take your kindly criticism of my character to heart.

lt is time l stopped being a wastrel and a layabout.

l more or less decided that what l want to do...

...is politics.

Well...

...that is gratifying, Andrew.

l'm sure l can arrange something.

Some appointment or state office.

-l shall inquire of my friends-- -Don't bother, Papa.

l don't need you.

l can make my own contacts.

Mr. Bob, that Mr. Calloway out there.

-He getting mighty testy-- -l believe l was telling you a story.

Yes, sir, but he out there inquiring about the lumber--

There was this old darky on my Aunt Eliza's place. This was before the war.

He's supposed to get 2000 board feet of pine last Tuesday--

Uncle Cudjo. That's what we children called him. Uncle Cudjo.

Yes, Mr. Bob. That there Mr. Calloway, he getting--

He was always telling about Brer Rabbit.

Funniest little stories you ever did hear...

...about Brer Rabbit and this fox and all.

Yes, Mr. Bob. Mr. Bob, you got to go.

You see, Mr. Calloway, he is the bank. He holding--

All right, all right. Don't pull on me now, hear?

What l'm gonna do is just take 40 winks.

-Yes, sir, but Mr. Calloway out-- -You take care of it, Will.

Yes, sir, Mr. Bob.

God, how l miss old Uncle Cudjo.

Where's Mr. Campbell, Will?

He ain't here. He went home early, wasn't feeling too good.

-Now look here, Will-- -Mr. Calloway...

...last load of pine come in was all knot and weeping slashes.

Why, it just wasn't fit for your order.

You tell him...

...l just better have my lumber by Wednesday, hear?

Mr. Calloway, we expect our next flatcar in Monday.

Your 2000-foot order will be on your job first thing...

...8:00 Tuesday morning.

Mr. Calloway, l....

l give you my word.

All right, Will. l'll take your word.

What you doing here, girl?

He's been feeling poorly most of the week.

You know perfectly well Mr. Bob Campbell lying in there...

-...drunk as a polecat. -You hush your mouth, girl.

You can't tell Mr. T.J. Calloway that.

He owns the mortgages to this whole lumberyard.

-What you laughing at? -"Mr. T.J. Calloway...

...l gives you my word on that."

Just go on away from me. l ain't got time to talk.

Ain't even got time for my own lunch pail.

You got time for Hattie Summers.

-When l talk to Hattie Summers? -Choir meeting, Wednesday night.

l never did. She just dropped her hymn book, and that's all.

Everybody ask me, "How come your Will Palmer...

...standing next to the altos and you a soprano?"

Well, how you think l feel?

l drop my hymn book, and where are you? You way across the tenors from me.

Expect me to sing alto so's you can pay some heed to me?

-Are you listening to me, Will Palmer? -l hear you talking, girl.

You so tongue-tied.

How am l gonna know how you feel about me?

Here. Go on and take it now, girl. l ain't got all day.

Here.

"Miss Cynthia Harvey.

Kindness of bearer."

What do that mean?

That mean l was gonna bring it by your house this evening.

"Dear Miss Cynthia:

l feel we have kept company long enough for me to propose...

...to you that we discuss the contract of marriage.

l would appreciate it...

...if you would give me your reply...

...when l come to call upon you as usual...

...the coming Sunday.

Sincerely, W.E. Palmer."

l told that school committee...

...there's no way l'm not staying on for my sister's wedding.

Now, l'll be right back--

-l said, suck in your breath, honey. -l am!

l couldn't hold it.

Need Papa's tongs.

Well, that Will Palmer is gonna have to marry me...

...without no wasp waist. Lizzie, you tie this corset...

...and l ain't gonna have the breath to say "l do."

Liz?

Liz, honey.

What is it?

Nothing.

You gonna make me cry.

Oh, it's nothing.

l'm just so happy for you, Cynthia.

You know, l feel like it my wedding day too.

Oh, Lizzie.

Lizzie, l loves you.

Mr. Bob?

l'm gonna be going now.

l done took care of everything.

l just gonna lock up...

...and....

Mr. Bob, you done forgot to bring this here note money...

...down to Mr. Calloway at the bank.

Mr. Bob.

Mr. Bob...

...you done forgot to send this here due money to the bank.

You got to get up.

Now, you know Mr. Calloway say you late one more time and....

l guess the bank already closed anyway.

Where you keep your money at, you old mule?

l got to be at the church by 7:00.

Come on now. Don't make no fuss now, you old horse.

l got enough trouble as it is. Come on over here.

Hold it. Good boy.

Good boy. Good boy. Good boy.

We're gonna be late at the church.

What you doing barefoot on your wedding day?

l'll put them on in the carriage, Papa.

Come on, Lizzie.

Come on up here.

Go along now and come back for us in the second load, hear?

Bye-bye!

Now you be still. Stay there.

-What you want? -l gots to see Mr. T.J. Calloway.

What for?

Just tell him that Will from the lumberyard is here.

Will, what are you doing all the way out here?

Mr. Calloway, l done brung you this here.

That there's the due money on Mr. Bob Campbell's note.

Well, why didn't he send it over to the bank this afternoon?

Well, sir, he sort of forgot. But it's all there. You can count it.

Will, look at you. You're soaked clear through.

Opaline, bring a whiskey bottle and a glass.

No, sir. Thank you. Fact is, l's temperance.

Then we'll fix you some supper, Will, set up a pallet...

...so you can sleep here tonight till the rain stops.

Well, sir, l appreciate that, but l best be going along now.

Will, it is teeming out there!

Yes, sir. See, fact is, Mr. Calloway...

...l gots me a little bit of business to tend to back in town...

...but thank you, and you have yourself a good night, sir.

-lt's still raining. -He'll be here.

Ain't nobody at the lumberyard, Tom.

l gonna kill him.

Ain't nobody seen him nowhere in town.

Ten minutes more, then we all going home.

Don't you worry, sister.

Tom!

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here tonight--

Good evening. Evening.

Mama, should we serve the turkey?

Mr. Jim. Carrie.

Miss Carrie, is what you're playing proper for a Christian wedding?

Of course, Tom.

We sent to Memphis for it. lt's the latest song.

Written by a colored man. "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" ...

...by James A. Bland, as sung in London, England...

-...by Haverly's European Minstrels. -lt ain't sinful?

lt's joyous! Joyous!

Okay.

Where was you?

Leave me standing in the church for hours.

And how'd you get your suit all wet?

You smell all horse.

lt was business for the lumberyard.

You let that whiskey-drinking fool, Mr. Bob Campbell...

...keep you in the rain on your wedding night?

-l got there. We's married, ain't we? -May l kiss the beautiful bride?

-Of course, Mr. Warner. -Thank you.

l know you'll be very, very happy, Mrs. Palmer.

Thank you.

Will?

Do you love me?

This ain't the time nor the place to be talking about a thing like that.

Will Palmer...

...you are gonna tell me you love me, right now.

And you gonna kiss me right this minute...

...or l'm gonna walk out that door and spend the night at my cousin Georgia.

l loves you. Now, for Lord's sake, girl, you behave yourself.

lt's about time you brung out the jug, Tom.

-What's a wedding without a toast? -Well, l promised lrene...

-...it'd be a Christian wedding. -Well, Christian is fine...

...but bone-dry is against my religion.

Well, it be my baby's wedding day.

Who out there?

Lee!

My God, Lee Garnet.

What you doing here? You run off?

No, they turn me loose.

Here, have some of this.

That Col. Warner say he gonna put in the word with the prison board...

...and he done that.

Shirt's stuck to me. Gotta pull it off.

What happened?

My papers came for them to turn me loose...

...and that camp boss...

...kept my papers in his pocket...

...till after they whupped me.

He say he do it for example to the others.

-Sweet Jesus, Lee, they turned you loose! -Look out.

The blood clot open. Let's get him inside.

Take him on in the back bedroom.

Come on.

Come on. Bring him on in here to the bed.

Okay, now.

Be careful. Come on.

Take your arm over here.

Elizabeth, go get that bottle of croton oil from the cupboard.

Y'all stay back and out the way.

l remembers what to do from the old days.

Lord, Lord.

l thought l'd never have to look on nothing like that...

...not ever again.

Andy Warner, you can't just throw me out.

Well, my dear girl, that is exactly what l am doing.

Easy for you, Col. Warner's son.

There was 1 1 kids in my family.

Little to eat. Pa drunk all the time...

...going after the girls soon as they was old enough to notice.

Andy.

We've been fine for near 1 0 years, on and off.

-What do we got to change for? -Now, Lucy...

...today l embark on a noble civic career in the body politic...

...and l can no longer afford to be associated in the public mind...

-...as your consort. -What does that mean?

You always wanted to go to Memphis.

Well, l'm gonna give you a fine letter of recommendation...

...and a heartfelt introduction...

...to a fine businesswoman of my acquaintance.

You mean Mrs. Burkhart? Runs the parlor house in Memphis?

"When l was a child, l spoke as a child.

When l became a man, l put away childish things."

l'll see you when l'm in Memphis.

On and off.

-Welcome. -Andy.

lt's time to go out there.

My father's gonna be in a real quandary.

This crowd is crazy to get the vote away from the nigger...

...and Papa's wing of the party made a deal for black votes 1 0 years ago.

My papa's an honorable man. So are they all, all honorable men.

You got your speech ready?

Andy, l have read the orations of Cicero...

...the political theory of Henry George...

...and studied the Haynes-Webster Debates.

Trust me, l have prepared an address...

...which will appeal to the logic...

...and the reasoning power of our constituency.

Niggers!

l'm telling you, my friends, that there is an unholy alliance...

...between the rich, the powerful, the corrupt...

...masquerading as redeemers of the South...

...and the blacks that they are in bed with!

They use black votes to pick your pockets.

And in return, they turn lascivious black rapists loose...

...on your wives and daughters!

l say, turn these hypocrites out!

Vote the true Democratic slate!

Vote for Andy Warner!

-Andy Warner! -Andy Warner!

-Andy Warner! -Andy Warner!

Join the men all over the South who are taking justice into their own hands.

-l say, God bless those men. -God bless them!

l say, this hand...

...this hand would hold the rope to punish any black beast...

...that would violate white womanhood!

-That's our man! -Andy Warner!

Andy Warner!

-Congratulations there, Andy Warner. -Looking out for us.

-You got the old man boxed out cold. -l'm voting for you!

l carried this with honor through the war.

Hold it for me, sir.

l cannot wear it now.

To all honorable men.

My friends!

My friends and neighbors.

There has been a great deal of talk here about the Negro.

l should like to quote to you...

...from a learned professor from one of our great Southern institutions in Virginia.

The old fool's gonna bury himself for sure.

This is what this scholarly gentleman says:

"The Negro race...

...is essentially a race of peasant farmers and laborers.

As a source of cheap labor for warm climate...

...he is beyond competition."

Now, l believe that. That is the Negro's place...

...to work loyally in his humble position...

...under the tutelage of the superior white race.

Are you for darkies voting or ain't you?

l am and l have always been...

...against any form of Negro domination.

As for the ballot, the good Negroes don't want the vote...

...the bad ones must be barred from it!

l categorically support any measure...

...to totally disenfranchise the Negro.

Who says l do not, lies in his teeth!

l support with my heart's blood...

...any action to safeguard...

...the purity of white civilization.

That lying old man is trying to out-nigger us.

You was born stubborn, you gonna die stubborn.

What you send for Miss Carrie and Jim for?

To talk some sense into your hard head, that's why.

lt ain't no business of nobody but me!

l'm going down Main Street to Fletcher's Barbershop to register to vote.

Brother Jim, will you talk some sense to him?

Tom, this time they're gonna enforce the poll tax.

And the literacy test and the understanding clause.

What the point on going out to let them redneck crackers make a mock of you?

l done vote every year since the war been over.

l votes in Alamance County, North Carolina...

...and l votes in Henning, Tennessee.

l votes with the guns of the Yankee soldiers behind me, and when they gone...

...the old Bedford Forrest and the Ku Klux Klan riding around in their bed sheets.

Tom, honey, them times is long gone.

First time l marked the ballot, l dropped it in the box, and l say:

"Tom Harvey...

...now you know you is free."

Tom, nowadays that's just an empty symbol.

l is a free man!

l got the right to vote.

They gonna have to tell me to my face.

Ain't no use. Ain't no use, Tom.

That Col. Warner that you been voting for all these years...

...talks so fine about being friend to the colored.

Push come to shove, he the one hollering "nigger" louder than anybody else!

Even so, Tom, there's no point in it. They're gonna stuff the ballot box.

They're gonna count the votes any way they like. l've watched them do it.

-lt's a futile, dirty business. -And anyways...

...both sides holler "nigger," look like choosing twixt the boils and the toothache.

That don't matter.

A vote belongs to me because l is free.

They gonna have to look me in the face.

Tom, Miss lda Wells wrote the truth about that lynching in Memphis...

...in her paper, Free Speech, and because of that, the mob burnt down her office.

-That is Memphis. -No, it's all over, all over the South.

ln New Orleans and in St. Louis.

Tom, over the last few years...

...more than a thousand colored people have been murdered by mobs.

lt can happen right here in Henning, Tom.

Oh, the respectable people like the colonel, they won't dirty their hands with it...

...but they give the word, and it doesn't take much.

They say, "That fellow sure is getting out of line.

l reckon he deserves whatever he gets."

And then the others know that they've got permission.

Tom, you gonna lose.

Honey, you bound to lose.

What you think you doing?

What he done.

The African.

-He kept on. -Sweet Jesus, Tom, that old African.

He live 1 00 years ago! Now, what he know about these days?

He know his name.

Kunta Kinte.

He know enough to keep fighting to be free...

...no matter what they done to him, till he can't fight no more.

Now, l be a free man.

They gonna have to tell me to my face.

That's the troublemaker.

Now, where you think you going, uncle?

You see, you let one in, they all want in.

He sure got his nerve.

What you want, uncle?

My name is Tom Harvey.

l come to register to vote.

Well, why don't you just run along, uncle.

Go on, get out of here. You don't want to get in no trouble.

l come like l do every year...

...to register for the vote.

-You'd better go on, get out of here. -Well, the point is, uncle...

...you can't vote. The new law says you got to have the poll tax paid up...

...before you can even register.

l got me my paid-up receipt...

...for the poll tax, last 1 0 year.

That don't make no never mind because of the literacy requirement.

You got to be able to read and write.

l can write, and l can read.

Good. Then it won't be no trouble at all...

...for you to read this here section of the constitution of the state of Tennessee.

"Acts which...

...repeal...

...revise...

...and amend this...

...provision...

...of the...

...constitution...

...applies...

...only to these...

...statutes...

...which expressly...

...purport...

...to repeal...

...revise...

...and amend...

...4 LEA 650.

lt has no reference to...

...statutes...

...which repeal by...

...implication."

Good. Real good.

Now, suppose you explain it to me.

Well, go on, uncle. Explain it to my satisfaction.

How you expect to qualify if you can't even explain a simple thing...

...like the constitution of the state of Tennessee?

l rule officially that this applicant has failed to read and understand...

...the constitution of the state of Tennessee.

Now go on along, uncle. lt's all over.

l done voted every year since the war.

Now, l ain't time to waste all day on a stubborn old man.

Go on, uncle! Get on out of here...

-...before you get yourself in trouble. -l'm a free man! l gots the right to vote.

Now, you get this through your thick skull, boy. Times have changed.

Colored don't vote no more. This is a white man's county in a white man's state.

You get out of here before the sheriff comes by and takes you in...

...for disturbing the peace.

You tell me to my face l can't vote?

Fool old man.

Go on, get out of here before you get hurt.

-Let's get him! -No! No!

-What you got in your shirt? -l got my gun.

Well, you leave it be. They're looking for an excuse. Let's go.

Did they hurt you?

We gonna have to do something about that now.

-Yeah, l saw it. Come on, let's get him! -No.

Tom's going home, that's the end of it.

The niggers will settle down.

l'm telling you, colonel, listen to me.

Word gonna get around the nigger had the brass to walk in here to register to vote.

-But he didn't. -One pushed his way in...

-...another tried to assault a white man. -You gonna stand for a black boy...

...with a bad name, on parole from the state prison, pulling a gun on a white man?

Colonel, you for black or white?

You're gonna have to show which side you're on.

-Garnet drew a pistol on a white man? -Yes, sir, he sure did...

...and he pointed it right at me.

Of course, that is different.

lf he did that, he will deserve anything that might happen to him.

You heard him, boys!

-Let's go! -Hey, Fred, go get your dogs!

-Chester, we'll get horses. -Meet back at the station!

-Everybody that's got a gun, bring one. -Come on!

lt won't work, Papa. You're gonna lose anyway.

You can't really out-redshirt Earl Crowther. You haven't got the talent for it.

That's why l'm gonna win.

You look like you could use a drink, Papa.

No, thank you, sir.

l will not drink with you.

Hell, Papa.

Will you drink with yourself?

Lee!

Lee, you gotta run.

Yeah, l know. But where l gonna go?

Even if l gets away, they gonna take the parole back.

And l ain't going back to that prison. Not live, l ain't.

-Lee, we gots to get running. -We ain't got to go nowhere.

l mean, they ain't after you, they after me.

-Plus, you got a wife and a baby coming. -We's been raised brothers.

l ain't gonna just run off and leave you here. Ain't no way.

Then we got to be sly like old Brother Rabbit, like your daddy told us.

Here's what l want you to do. You go on--

No. No!

Will you listen? Just listen to me now.

Now, l want you to make a false trail for them.

Draw them off for a while, and then--

You know, kind of roundabout like the rabbit.

You'll come right after?

Yeah, l gonna be all right, Will.

We gonna clear you.

We gonna get you clear, Lee.

He told me to make a false trail.

l would have stayed...

-...but he told me. -He right.

You gots a wife. You gonna have a child.

That's what he said.

They should have come after me.

l's the one stood up in their face.

I,m afraid for Will. What are we gonna do?

We gots to tell him.

Minnie.

Will...

...Col. Warner send for you.

He wants you, Will. He say you to come to his house right now.

He say what for?

Gotta be about Lee.

Will, one man dead is enough, now don't you go.

Ain't no way out.

l don't come when the colonel ask...

...he gonna mark me.

l gonna lose everything we've worked for.

They gonna lynch you too?

-l go with you, son. -No.

Ain't gonna put this here off on nobody else.

Come in, Will.

Will.

l imagine you have no idea why we called you here.

No, sir.

There's a serious and troubling situation in town...

...and you've been deeply involved in it.

You're aware, of course...

...that Campbell's Lumberyard has been in difficulties for some time now.

You say the lumberyard?

Yes.

Well, the bank has decided to call the notes, foreclose the mortgage.

However, that lumberyard is the key to business growth...

...in this whole end of the county.

Now, Will...

...we know you've been running the lumberyard for some time now.

And l admire you for it.

l have not forgot how you rode that old gray plug out to my place...

...in the pouring rain to bring that payment.

And you rascal, you never once let on it was your wedding night.

Will, we've decided to give you the chance to take over the lumberyard.

We'll refinance Campbell's notes...

...lend you whatever money you need to put the business back on its feet again.

Now, you have a reputation for honesty and hard work.

And by George, we are not ones to let color stand in the way...

...of sound business judgment.

Well, what do you say, Will?

Shall we shake on it?

Not much left.

Well...

...suppose we drink to the new owner.

No, thank you, sir. l don't drink much none.

That's right.

That's right, you don't.

Well, l'll drink to you, Will.

l ain't got no hard feelings. No, sir.

By God, you know the lumber business.

And you a good man.

And you gonna do fine.

l better hustle if l'm gonna catch my train.

Well....

You take care of yourself, Mr. Bob.

Morning.

That what it was like...

...when you went around that table at the colonel's...

...and shook all them fine white gentlemen's hands?

What you getting at, Mr. Harvey?

What it feel like?

lt feel like a hand.

lt was the redneck trash that done the lynching.

Wouldn't dare without the say-so of the colonel...

...Mr. Calloway, and all that.

You think of that when you're saying, "Thank you kindly, sir" ...

...for them giving you the lumberyard?

lt's a hard world, Mr. Tom.

And you makes it the best way you knows how.

Now, ain't no white man gave me nothing.

They just grab at the chance to get their money back.

Now, l took on every one of Mr. Bob Campbell's mortgages.

And l got to pay it back at high interest.

You hear me? When l pay it back.

Oh, and l am going to.

Because l ain't gonna owe nobody for nothing!

See, there's different ways to fight...

...and you do it likes you can.

Now, there was a-- There was a time...

...when you should bust out with a blacksmith's hammer.

And there was a time...

...when you thought you can do it with a vote. Now maybe, just maybe...

...that time come again, but not now!

See...

...l'm going to make a success out of this business.

That's my way of winning this here fight.

l means on making do for my family.

And l means on going straight forward.

Mr. Will!

Miss lrene say-- Miss lrene say you gotta come home.

Why, it-- lt the middle of the day. l just can't...

-...take off in the middle of the day. -Young fool!

lt her time. That's why lrene sent for you.

Now, you better start going forward and get yourself home to your wife.

You're about to be a father.

Tom!

Tom Harvey!

My cook tells me you have a brand-new grandchild.

-Congratulations, Tom. -Thank you, colonel.

lt must be a great pleasure, Tom, to be a grandfather.

Generations growing, not to feel that your line has been cut off forever.

l'm gonna see the baby now, if you excuse me, colonel.

We're both getting old, Tom.

We both remember times the young ones have forgotten.

This is true.

Well, l-- l've lost now.

My son, Andrew, he's the power in Lauderdale County.

God help us all.

lf you excuse me please, colonel.

At least you and l, Tom, we have the old time in common.

l don't understand these new politicians.

My own son, l don't understand him.

Tom, at least you and l understood each other. We...

...knew what was in each other's minds.

Now, that ain't true, colonel.

You never understood me.

You never knew what was in my mind.

But l understand you...

...and always knew what was in your mind.

And your grandpa...

...is Tom Harvey.

And his papa...

...was Chicken George Moore.

His mama...

...was called Kizzy.

And her papa was the first one.

The African.

And his name was Kunta Kinte.

Tom?

Crazy old man. What you doing with Bertha George?

You just like your daddy, old Chicken George.

When he done wandering and my Cynthia just born...

...that scoundrel took that baby right out of my arms...

...took her out in the cold night air.

What you do that for?

l don't know.

Just something in the family.

Old woman...

...this here our grandchild.

This family gonna go forward.

Next on Roots:

-Be careful now. We love you. -You be good, baby. Bye.

Bye!

Pop, l'm not gonna be like the-- Like the ox in the bible.

Blinded, gelded and going round and round, grinding somebody else's corn...

...and muzzled so you live and die hungry!

"Vengeance is mine," sayeth the Lord!

Kill them niggers!

Now, you listen to me, old man--

Lead this fool not into temptation, Lord.

Else l may just have to cut him everywhere...

...excepting under the bottom of his feet.

l will earn the money for the rest of the term.

Now, what makes you think you owe any money for tuition?

Well, l--

Your entire year's been paid for in advance.

l'm afraid, Simon.

l promise you l won't let those Germans do anything to me.

l ain't worried about Germans.

l read in papa's newspaper about terrible things happening to the colored in the army.

Let's move it!

l love you.

I love you.