Original subtitles

Last on Roots:

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

...we discuss the contract of marriage.

Sincerely, W.E. Palmer."

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

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

Good. Against your own pa.

l don't need you.

l can make my own contacts.

They's the newest things.

Thank you.

Papa?

Will got something he want to talk to you about.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here tonight....

l'm gonna make a success out of this business.

That's my way of winning this here fight.

l means on making do.

And l means on going straight forward.

This here our grandchild.

This family gonna go forward.

Don't you look pretty!

We just had to come down and wish you good luck.

Thank you, Miss Carrie.

You're gonna meet the most important people in the world.

-At Lane? -Shakespeare, Plato, Carlyle...

...and l want you to be good friends with all of them.

l'll try, Uncle Jim.

Oh, let me help you with that, Mr. Palmer.

Go.

Miss Cynthy, you remember my boy, Frank.

My lands, child! l wouldn't have knowed you!

-How long you been gone? -Almost five years, Miss Palmer.

The last two years of medical school, residency and internship.

Now he's ready to practice.

You gonna be the first colored doctor in this county!

Yes, ma'am, but l think first l better set this trunk down somewhere.

Bertha, l am very proud of you. You are one of my very best pupils.

Miss Carrie, my girl's got brains.

Just look at this truck right here:

"Call 22, your lumber number."

See, that her idea.

That's like a little rhyme, see. First come "lumber" ...

-...then right after it come the "number." -Oh, Papa, stop it!

Now, Bertha, you'll do very well at Lane.

l have something for you.

lt's by a young man who l remember was just starting Fisk when l graduated.

Souls of Black Folks.

Thanks so much, Miss Carrie.

l'll read it as soon as l can.

Hey, congressman! Are you gonna give them hell in Washington?

Good to see you, Clyde.

Now, don't you worry, congressman. l'm gonna put your bag on the train myself.

Thank you, Walker. l tell you, Earl, this is the session.

The South is gonna rise again.

Ain't you gonna have trouble with the new president?

l mean, he is a professor from New Jersey.

Virginia.

-What did you say, Papa? -Virginia.

Staunton, Virginia, that's where Woodrow Wilson was born.

The old man's right.

Even if Wilson was president of Princeton college, he was born in the South.

-That's right, isn't it, Pop? -Pardon?

Wilson.

l knew a Theodore Wilson.

Captain, First Louisiana Zouave.

-'63, l believe. -Sure, Papa.

You just stay there now, listen to your arteries harden.

Let me tell you, Earl, half of old Wilson's Cabinet are Southerners.

He's already put out an executive order to Jim Crow the post office, the Treasury...

...and even the Bureau of Printing and Engraving.

He's gonna do business with us good old boys from the South.

lt's the truth, Papa.

Y'all were pikers in the old days.

We Southerners gonna rule the nation!

Train coming. Where's my satchel?

Take it easy. You ain't going anywhere.

Where's my satchel? lt's got important papers in it!

Sure, Papa. You just stay right in the car, hear?

Don't let him wander off, Earl.

He hasn't looked well since your mother died.

l know.

He had another attack last Thursday. They took him to Dr. Kendall.

Who told you? Not your brother?

Minnie. She heard it all from the kitchen.

Here come the train, Mama!

Now, you be a good girl. And you go to church every Sunday.

Mama, chapel's compulsory.

Congressman. Got your stateroom ready, ice in the bucket and everything.

-Take care of that, George. -Yes, sir. Yes, sir! Morning!

Morning, sir.

Mama, please. Why are you crying?

Oh, l just wish your Grandpa Tom and your Grandma lrene was here to see this day.

You going off to college. The first one in this family.

-You got your ticket? -Yes, Papa.

Got your letter of credit to apply to the bank?

-Yes, Papa. -You look here, girl.

-lf you have any trouble, you write me. -l won't have no trouble, Papa.

l'll be up there so fast...

-Don't worry, Papa. -...your head'll spin, you hear?

You take care of yourself.

-Be a good girl, all right? -l will, Papa.

Anything you need, you just write me, okay?

-Bye-bye. -Bye.

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

We love you, doll!

lsn't it bad enough we already got one foot in the grave?

Colonel?

Colonel?

Now, where did he go?

Colonel!

Papa?

Frank? Frank, help him.

Sit him up! Sit him up!

-What's the matter? -lt's probably his heart.

-l got to check his lungs. -Colonel!

What you doing?

-Get your black hands off him! -He's a doctor.

Get the hell out of here! Colonel, you all right?

He can treat him. lt's all right. He's a doctor.

He's having heart failure. His lungs are filling.

-You need to get out. -Don't tell me what to do, nigger!

-Now, get out of here. -l'm a doctor!

Go get Doc Kendall! Get him in the auto!

Don't let him take him. Don't let him take him!

Keep his head up. Keep his head over his knees!

-Nigger! -Don't you touch him!

Hurry up! We gotta get him to the doctor, quick!

l used to watch him from across the street.

l never been this close to my grandpa before.

l know.

He missed a great deal.

So did you.

Come on, now!

-Get him in here! -He'll die before they get him to Dr. Kendall.

Divide both sides of the equation by eight.

Add the components of both sides of the equation...

...which makes the left-hand side a perfect square.

Factor both sides of the equation.

Take the square root of both sides--

Now, you take the square root of both--

Miss Palmer.

Miss Bertha Palmer.

Would you favor us with the answer to the question just posed?

May l ask further, do you have the faintest idea of what the question was?

l.... l....

No?

When l was your age, young lady...

...l walked all the way from my home in Georgia...

...to Hampton lnstitute in Virginia...

...where l was enrolled by the great Mr. Booker T. Washington himself...

...in the first night-school class.

We labored in the fields all day and pursued knowledge by lamplight.

Do you know what Mr. Washington dubbed us?

Miss Shaw?

He called you "the plucky ones."

lndeed, he did. "The plucky ones."

l submit to you, Miss Palmer...

...how will y'all go forth as leaders of the race...

...if you cannot pay attention to the general quadratic equation?

You may sit down.

All right. Mr. Simon Haley.

Would you step to the board, please, and complete the derivation?

X equal minus....

Minus B, plus or minus...

...the square root of B squared...

...minus four AC.

You mean he hasn't asked you yet?

Well, no, not exactly.

Criminetly, Bertha! The church picnic is this Saturday!

l suppose that Eddie Franklyn thinks he's the cat's whiskers.

He's always like that.

My papa says that his papa is just nouveau riche!

Eddie Franklyn is nothing in my young mind.

Bertha, you just can't go with a boy if he asks you at the last minute.

l'd die first.

-lt's just like admitting you're not popular. -Or being taken for granted!

-Don't look, but there he is. -Eddie?

Don't look! He's coming over.

Well, well. Miss Bertha Palmer.

-As l live and breathe in the flesh. -Don't be vulgar, Mr. Franklyn.

Oh, you tell them, goldfish. You've been around the globe.

No, really, Bertha, l just came by to tell you l'd come around on Saturday at 1 1 .

-Well, whatever for? -The church picnic.

Well, the wagon leaves in front of the chapel at 1 1 :30.

Mr. Franklyn, l do not remember that you invited me to accompany you anywhere.

Oh, come on, Bertha. l just took it for granted.

-l mean, l took you-- -As a matter of fact...

...you're much too late.

l've already accepted another invitation to the picnic.

You tell them, corset. You've been around the girls.

Oh, he's awful! He's just awful!

Bertha, you just told a big lie.

I should worry, I should care I should marry a millionaire

So, what are you going to do?

Nobody else really asked you to the picnic.

Oh, she's just stuck. She'll go with Eddie, or she'll stay home.

l'll go if l want to, and l'll go with anybody l choose.

Would you like to take me to the church picnic?

Why.... Why, yes, Miss Palmer.

l'd be-- l'd be right proud to escort you to the picnic.

Bertha!

l guess the joke's on you.

You're gonna have to get down off your high horse and beg Eddie to take you.

No, l won't. l'll go with him.

-Who? -The waiter?

Simon Haley?

-Bertha, that was just a joke. -No, it wasn't.

l asked him, and l'll go with him if l want to.

But you can't! He's just an old country boy...

...with patched britches and everything!

I should worry, I should care I should marry a millionaire

Now, you be careful, Grace.

All right, boys and girls, get ready for the three-legged race.

Would you like to enter the race?

No, thank you, Mr. Haley.

l think races are childish.

She must be dying. l know she is.

His daddy is a sharecropper, don't you understand?

Sophia!

Every time he's our waiter, l have to wipe off the fork. l can't even eat with it!

Look at her now! She got all of them like they're trying--

Last call, three-legged race.

-She's got a lot of nerve. -What does his daddy do?

Honey, his daddy gets $50 a year sharecropping.

-Now, Eddie Franklyn, you be nice. -You be nice too, Claire.

l suppose you are right.

Three-legged race is childish.

-Are you all right, Miss Palmer? -Of course l'm all right.

Miss Palmer, l don't think we-- We're not supposed to--

Where are we going?

l just couldn't breathe up there!

l don't think we're just supposed to go off alone.

-Fudge! -That's the whole point of chaperones.

l just get so tired of all their old-fashioned rules, don't you?

l suppose if you go to a Methodist college, you gotta expect some rules.

And that dumb Professor Loman, always going on. "Education is a privilege."

l'd just as soon never hear about that Booker T. Washington again.

Oh, Miss Palmer.

You ought not talk like that.

l will if l want to.

Well, not if you read Mr. Washington's book on his life.

Up From Slavery.

There's no doubt in my mind he is the most important Negro in America.

He is?

His speech, at the Cotton States Exposition--

There he was...

...one colored man on the platform with all those white men listening to him...

...then cheering him.

"The wisest among my race...

...understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly...

...and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges to come to us...

...must be the result of severe and constant struggle, rather than artificial forcing."

"ln all things that are purely so social...

...we can be as separate as the fingers...

...yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress."

l'm sorry, but it is funny.

Are you all right?

What's the matter? Are you hurt? What is it?

Oh, it's nothing.

lt's nothing. l'm all right.

You tore your trousers!

Oh, l'm sorry. lt's not funny at all.

l know it is. lt's-- lt's very funny.

Maybe it isn't too bad. ls it a seam?

-Let me see. -No!

lt's a three-corner rip.

Here.

Here. Let me pin it up for you.

Miss Palmer!

One more time!

Well, of course l noticed you.

l mean, you were the prettiest girl in the dining room three times a day.

l knew you were joking when you asked me to the picnic, but l didn't care.

Well, the truth is, l noticed you.

l don't mean just in the dining room, but in math class, and history...

-...and in choir. -Oh, you didn't.

You're just teasing me some more.

l am not. You sing tenor, and you sing next to that boy who's always flat.

Maybe l just didn't want to go with Eddie Franklyn in the first place.

Well, l...

...l appreciate your honesty.

l think you have a very open personality.

Well, l.... l think l ought to thank you.

l mean, for pointing out to me that l was wrong to make fun of Professor Loman...

...and Mr. Washington.

-Oh, you didn't mind? -Oh, no!

No, l think it's a mark of a particular dear friend to point out faults in...

...such a sincere manner.

Well...

...l would like very much to be your particular dear friend.

How do you do, sir?

Hey, uncle. Hot enough for you?

Say, l'd like a few words with Mr. Palmer on business.

Yes, sir.

What can l do for you?

Well, that's nice of you, uncle, but l expect l better speak to the boss.

Tell him l'm the new salesman for Great Southern Lumber Company...

...of Bogalusa, Louisiana.

So if you'd kindly just run and find the owner and give him this.

Mr. Davidson.

Now, l told you, boy, run and get the owner.

l'm the owner.

You are the owner?

-Yes, sir. -You're W.E. Palmer?

Yes, sir.

Well, they never told me that at the home office.

Naturally, l mean, you wouldn't expect to find a--

Well, l mean...

...how the hell was l supposed to know that?

You sure you're the owner?

Oh, yes, sir, l sure.

Mr. Davidson, l suppose you's down here to discuss my lumber order.

Oh, yes. Yes, yes, well...

...they told me at the home office you always been a fine customer.

Of course, they didn't tell me everything at the home office.

Believe me, missus...

...on you, it would look nifty.

Oh, l don't know.

l ain't never bought nothing ready-made before.

Missus, your little girl is coming home on vacation from college.

She'll want her mama to look stylish.

Try it on.

Tasteful.

Refined. Beautiful.

l don't think Mr. Palmer would understand. l don't think so, Mr. Goldstein.

Just the yard goods.

Thank you kindly.

Give my regards to the college girl.

Thanks again.

-Goodbye. -Bye-bye.

Mr. Crowther, now, that's a suit!

-You let that darky try clothes on? -l beg your pardon?

Listen here, Goldstein, you're new around here. You're a Yankee.

A Yankee?

Suppose a white lady came in here to put that thing on...

...after a nigger woman tried it on?

You have to let people try on.

Not in this town, Goldstein.

You could get yourself into trouble...

...treating niggers like they was white.

Say, you ain't gonna charge me extra for shortening?

For you, Mr. Crowther, not a penny extra.

Bertha, do you have any idea what you've done to me?

You gonna help me, or are you not?

You must have known when you gave it to me.

-l don't know what you're talking about. -The book. The book. You gave it to me.

The Souls of Black Folk, by Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois.

Well, what you getting so upset about?

lt's just some old book by some professor that Miss Carrie Warner give me.

But you must have realized when you read it that--

You never read it.

You never read it!

l certainly don't have time to be reading every old book.

But he attacks Booker T. Washington!

He says terrible things about him. You can't attack Booker T. Washington.

Listen.

"Mr. Washington represents in Negro thought...

...the old attitude of adjustment and submission...

...and asks that black people give up three things: political power...

...insistence on civil rights and higher education of Negro youth.

What has been the return? One, the disenfranchisement of the Negro.

Two, the legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro.

And three, the steady withdrawal of aid from institutions...

...for the higher training of the Negro."

You acting like you lost your faith in Jesus.

And Mr. Washington's coming here for dinner tonight.

He's gonna be sitting in this very room!

l still don't see what you're getting so upset about.

Well, you don't understand.

l read Up From Slavery when l was in grammar school.

l have formed my life in his image.

l worked at the l.C. yards...

...and houseboyed for white folks and everything to get to college...

...so l could follow in the steps of Booker T. Washington.

But now l have doubts.

Well, go ahead, laugh, but if this is right...

...if Mr. Washington is...

...the great leader of the race because he's saying what whites want to hear:

"Be humble, don't make trouble, be a good nigger."

Ain't nothing left in this world you can believe in.

What a terrible fuss to make over some book!

Who cares what Professor W.E.B. Du Bois say, anyway?

Besides...

...l love you.

Henning! Station Henning!

Papa!

Hi, Mama.

A new Model T!

-l was looking all over for the lumber truck. -That's a surprise.

lt's beautiful! l wanna learn to drive it before vacation's over.

-Sure. -All aboard!

l'll write to you, Bertha George.

Well, who was that?

Oh, a particular dear friend, that's all.

Papa, you've got to teach me to drive this here new car!

You all finished with school, Simon?

l graduated from Lane, Obie, but, well, there's a lot more l need to learn.

Much obliged, Obie.

You look fine, Pa, real fine.

-That's your boy, isn't it, Aleck? -Yes, sir, that's my Simon. Yes, sir.

l hardly known him in his citified clothes.

Boy, l remember when you used to run around this ferry landing naked as a jaybird.

-You been away to college, ain't you? -Yes, sir, Lane college.

ls that a fact?

l told you, Aleck, there ain't nothing in them stuck-up schools...

...that'll do a colored boy any good but spoil him.

What they ought to do is kick their highfalutin butts back to the fields...

...where they can help their daddies make a bale of cotton like the Lord intended.

lsn't that right, Simon?

Well, there is a lot in what you say, Mr. Perry.

You don't have to worry, Aleck, you got a good boy.

He'll soon forget all that stuff they stuffed into his head...

...now he's back home to settle down.

Bet you'd like to get rid of those shoes, huh?

l ain't ever seen anything as uncomfortable as a country boy with shoes on.

Giddap!

Pa, what did Mr. Perry mean about "back home to settle down"?

l saw the Bankheads out on the road toting everything they own.

What's going on around here?

Your mama gonna be waiting supper.

Honey, l made you boiled custard, like you cried for when you was a little fella.

-Mama! With a dab of berry preserves? -That's right.

-That is nectar and ambrosia! -Listen to that child talk.

-Necktie-- -Nectar, Mama, nectar.

That just means it's good!

Mama.

-Pa said you having that dream again. -Oh, it come on now and again.

The same dream?

Just the way it happened more than 40 years ago...

...in the dry goods store. This here...

...Miss Abby Braithwaite...

...new in town.

She start to serve me first...

...because she got the cataract and don't hardly see, and she think l be white.

And l says, "Miss Braithwaite, you serve this other colored lady first...

...because l am colored too!"

Miss Braithwaite, she got real peeved.

And she tell her husband that l trick her, passing, and that l sassed her.

And all these mens come after me. lt be night, and the mens be hollering...

...and the coonhounds baying for blood.

And l be running, running, through the dark with the torches coming after.

And l knows if l can run the 1 5 miles to Saltillo where they's all colored, l'd be safe.

-You got to Saltillo all right, Mama. -Yeah.

But in my dream, l never gets there.

That old mule come down with glanders, l gonna bust a pick hammer over his head.

Pa, you never did answer me.

Why were the Bankheads out on the road?

And what did Mr. Perry mean about settling down?

Boll weevil come two years running.

Mr. Perry, he plant 2000 acres around here.

Ran almost 500 plows. He even took a loss.

So he cut back.

John Bankhead been turned out.

Twixt weevils and floods, l so far behind to Mr. Perry for the seed, the tools, the mule...

...it about eat up the cash wages from the ferrying.

What's that got to do with what Mr. Perry said?

l ain't gonna have no more $50 to give you for your school like l said.

That's over with.

Aleck, the boy work hard to keep hisself at school.

l work for my room and board, all l need is tuition.

-lt's foolishness anyways! -Because Mr. Perry said?

lt ain't only Mr. Perry. All the colored around here say so too.

They laughing at me for sending a grown son off to school.

Now, we named this boy after Simon Brooke...

...taught common school here in Savannah.

And that was of a purpose.

This the last of our boys. All the others took to farming and cropping for hire.

We can waste one out of seven for educating.

The important thing is training people to train others.

Pa, l figure on going on to agricultural college for four more years.

Four more years?!

Mr. Perry sure got the right of it. They done stuffed your head full of foolishness.

Somebody has got to learn to do better.

He wanna learn farming, he don't need no college.

You can start tomorrow.

l made arrangements with Mr. Perry for you to take up 50 acres...

-...and you gonna make him a crop. -No!

Pa, l start cropping for Mr. Perry, l ain't never get back to school.

Pa, l'm not gonna be like the ox in the Bible...

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

And muzzled, so you live and die hungry!

l is a dirt farmer, and that's what your brothers be.

That's what schooling teach you? To be high and prideful?

-Think you better? -That isn't the point--

l tell you the point! Ain't no money to waste on a grown man going schooling.

Now, it time for bed.

Now, son, don't you fret yourself.

There gonna be some way you go on back to school.

Not if l'm tied to 50 acres for Mr. Perry.

l worked as hard as l could. Sometimes l couldn't stay awake in class...

...for working nights and all.

l got a job this summer for the Pullman Company...

...but that can't get me ahead enough money to....

Oh, l hate him. l hate his ignorance and his meanness--

That's your father, don't be too hard on him.

l knows the colored men around these parts.

They all broke down from years of sharecropping.

They can't see no further than the crupper on the same old bony mule...

...plowing the same old furrow.

And folks being what they is...

...they get boiling mad when anyone tries to pull hisself out the mud.

-How am l gonna get enough--? -l does some washing and ironing...

...for the white folks. Four bits a week for their shirts and the sheets.

And l been keeping some of it in the snuff tin.

About five years.

-Now, that there's $1 8... -Mama, no.

...and...

...thirty-seven cents.

Simon, honey, you know, l has my dream.

lt comes from the trouble and the wickedness of the old times.

But you got a dream about the times to come.

But your daddy ain't got no dream left at all.

He just go day to day, back and forth, like the ferry across the river.

Lot of hard work and tribulation...

...but he ain't going nowhere.

Mama....

l....

Thank you, Mama.

That sound like the 9:38 Memphis train...

...at the Ripley crossing.

lt is.

What they doing out there?

Will, come away from that window.

She been out there with that young man since supper.

Will, why don't you read your paper?

There's all kinds of things going on, like that war in Europe.

Now, why don't you sit down, easy, and you can tell me who's fighting who.

l know l already told you that the German Kaiser fighting with them....

l just don't like it.

l remembers what l had to go through to ask your papa permission to take up.

Ain't nobody asked me nothing.

Your daughter just took the bit in her teeth and took up on her own.

My daughter?

And what does she mean by "particular dear friend"?

Probably just what it sound like.

Well, l'm gonna go out there and lay down the law to them.

Will, that boy is taking out the early morning train.

They're just saying goodbye.

l says goodbye to you every morning, when l goes off to the lumberyard.

And it don't take no hour and a half.

lt's no use. lt was a fool idea anyway.

l managed to finish at Lane...

...but four more years at agricultural college?

And you worked so hard.

-Oh, Simon. -l shouldn't even have come...

...but l wanted to say goodbye.

We might as well face it, l haven't even got enough money to start next term.

Agriculturist!

Sharecropper, that's what l'm gonna be.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Perry, sir. l sure gonna make you a fine bale of cotton."

Simon Haley...

...l've always held a high regard for you.

And we've always said we were particular dear friends.

And....

Well, l won't let you just say goodbye!

lf you gonna be a sharecropper down in Savannah, l'm going with you.

Bertha, no.

l love you.

Simon?

l love you so much...

...that l couldn't stand seeing you just fade into one of those women l seen all my life.

Well, l won't let you go.

Simon, l'm not the same as l was.

l even read that book by Dr. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk.

You know, you who he's talking about.

"The talented tenth."

You've gotta go on with your education so you can lead the people.

l ain't be leading nothing...

...except an old mule down a red clay furrow.

Something gonna happen.

What about the job this summer with the Pullman Company?

-Can't you make enough money for school? -Porters only make $27 a month.

But there are tips! Oh, Simon, it'll be so exciting!

Porters go everywhere. New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis--

-But l don't know if l can save enough-- -And New York!

And l'll be stuck here in old Henning, Tennessee, waiting for you.

Will you?

l mean, would you be waiting for me?

Cross my heart.

What's the matter?

Something...

...over there on Keller's Hill?

Fire.

lt is, fire. Papa! Papa, there's a fire! Papa!

-What is it? -There's a fire over on Keller's Hill.

lt look like a cross.

That's funny, there ain't no church over there.

l ain't seen that since l was 3 years old.

"Vengeance is mine," sayeth the Lord!

Kill them niggers!

What you gonna do, Uncle Earl? Put that whip across one of them's back?

What is the insane idea of burning a cross?

Now, look here, Andy--

Who told you you could start up the Ku Klux Klan in my district without my permission?

-You was off in Washington, and l thought-- -The hell you did!

lt is one mighty fine idea. lt's a business proposition.

lt ain't like the old Klan at all. There's these two fellas, insurance salesmen.

They started up on it a couple years ago.

Well, one of them come to town two months ago.

He's gonna let us in on the ground floor, Andy.

Every member pays $1 0 initiation fee.

l'm the local kleagle. l get to keep 4 dollars.

There's the robes and the hoods. Everybody's got to buy them...

...and l get 20% commission on that. There's good money in this.

lt's a two-bit proposition. l run this district, and l run it my way! l say no!

Now, wait a minute.

lt's not just the money alone.

This is a white man's country.

And white men gotta stick together against niggers, Catholics and Jews.

You ain't worth taking out and dumping. We don't need no fast-talking con men...

...to teach us to deal with niggers or Jews. Hell, all the Jews you seen...

...you wouldn't know one if he run up and bit you on the ankle.

You just don't get the point, Andy.

Because you see, l also figure it'd be powerful useful...

...against keeping the darkys in line.

Now, this war we got over there in Europe, suppose we was to get in...

...and they put them niggers in the Army and give them all guns.

Well, you finally made a point, Earl.

l guess it can't hurt to have an ace or two up your sleeve in case you get called.

All right, go on with whatever it is you call it.

Klavern.

With a K. Everything starts with a K. Like, l'm the kleagle.

l don't want anything to do with it. Any grubby little graft...

...you can squeeze out of those fools is all yours.

Sure. We won't do nothing without your say-so.

Except a couple cross-burnings and whupping some big-mouthed black...

...just to kind of stimulate interest and keep them $1 0 rolling in.

l don't want you doing anything in my district unless you clear it with me first.

So you the new college boy, huh?

Yes, sir. Simon Haley.

Yeah.

l seen a lot of them, just like you.

Summers, they come. Winter, they go.

Everybody, including the ladies, call me Dad. Dad Jones.

-Well, l am in the right place, then. -Yeah. That's your car, Cayuga Falls.

That's mine, Mount Washington.

You got your car ready? Linen, ice, shoe polish, all that truck?

Yes, sir.

-You like the job so far? -Well, l guess l do.

Every time l heard the hour strike, l said:

"There's a half a dollar for next year's school."

ls that so?

l hate to contradict a wise man when he's talking to hisself...

...but hold the count. You ain't made a plugged nickel yet.

-Well, l punched in at 7:30. -Punching in don't matter.

That's time you've given away.

Your paid time don't start till the train pulls out at noon.

And if there ain't sold no berth on your car...

...you don't get paid even then.

You could be running deadhead maybe 200 miles...

...before you make one red penny.

Now, you so good-looking, you bound to die rich.

But not while you're working on the railroad.

Well, here they come.

The gates are open. Now, get out there and make George Pullman happy he hired you.

-We both need to practice. -Oh, that's a shame. George!

He's calling you.

-No, he said George. -That's you.

You George, l'm George, all God's children called George on the railroad.

Now, open your face, loosen your jaw...

...and show that man how glad you is for the great opportunity.

-George! -Watch.

Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Coming right up, sir.

Now, what we have here?

1 34. Yes, sir, that's Mount Washington, right over there.

Now, Mr. George Pullman give me special instructions.

"George," he said, "now you make sure that that gentleman has a real nice trip."

So anything you want, anything you want at all, you just tell old George.

George!

Yes, sir. Yes, sir!

Cayuga Falls. Yes, sir, right this way, sir.

Right this way. Yes, sir. Welcome aboard, sir.

Anything l can do for you, just call on George.

Five's up! Coming up five! Here we go! Let's shoot me, shoot me now!

You know how l loves to win.

All right, all right, you can put me off, but l'm gonna walk home a rich man!

One more time! You wanna see it one more time again?

One more time. Here she comes, rolling right back at you!

Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord!

All right! Here we go! One more time.

One more time, now! All right, pay me now.

You might as well pay me in advance, because this--

Oh, l love it! Come on, give me the money. Give me the money!

-Wait, wait. -lt's your turn, boys, here we go!

Does somebody wanna buy these dice from me?

All right, well, then l'm gonna roll them one more time.

Coming up five now. Here we go, one more time! All right, boys.

Here we go. Come on! Seven, come 1 1 , take me to heaven!

There ain't no question. We just got to organize.

-Done heard that before. -lt's getting worse.

ln the St. Louis division, they got them doubling-out more often than not.

Know what that means? Two, three weeks without no day off...

-...and the second week at the low rate. -Same in Chicago, it'll be.

Then what we waiting on? lf we don't get in a union--

Which one? The railroad union is just like the damn Knights of Labor. Lily white.

Brotherhood, they call theyself.

Get more brotherhood in a Georgia chain gang.

What you gonna do?

Just shuffle around the rest of your life?

Massa George Pullman's boy?

The last man called me "boy" died with the print of my size-1 2 shoes...

...all over his backside.

Now, l'd hate to see that happen to a ginger-haired fellow like you.

The point is...

...we got to get us our own brotherhood just for us Pullman porters.

-That's what l say! lf we get us a union-- -Watch your mouth!

You know what they do, they catch us talking union.

-l ain't scared of Pullman Company. -And they ain't scared of you.

They got spies and finks.

Goons all over the place.

We gotta be careful if we wanna talk union.

-Little Phoebe coming back again. -Would you shoot?

Boys, this here is a hot hand.

-Come on. Shoot! -l'm gonna shoot a seven the hard way.

Two 3 1 /2s.

Shoot the 60, boys! Shoot the 60!

Come on. Fade me, boys.

-Five dollars open. -What?

-You heard what l said. -l done bust the game.

Where is the new money?

Where is the new money? Hey, college boy, l got $5 open.

Oh, come on, country boy, what you got, mule flop in your blood?

Well, l don't.... Well, the truth is--

You too good to shoot craps with us ignorant niggers, is that it?

No, no. l.... Well, actually, l just don't know how.

Oh, well, let me school you, college boy. Come on, l'm gonna teach you.

l seen your black hide. Now l wanna see the color of your money.

Detroit...

-...let that boy alone. -Who asked you, old man?

He's saving his money for his schooling.

Now, go on back there and play with yourself and your trick dice.

What you mean, "trick"?

Some of them dice of yours so crooked...

...when you throw them they don't stand straight, they leans.

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 feets.

Thank you.

Don't worry about Detroit, son. He ain't nothing.

l....

l'd be interested in any plans about the union.

l thought you would be.

But....

Well, anybody can be a Pullman porter. Hustling baggage, carrying trays.

Grinning in the white man's face to make a dime.

That don't take no brains.

But you a student.

That's something special.

So you stick to your books. Save your money.

Keep your nose clean.

Finish writing your letter.

"For the first time in months, my dearest, I will be able to get to Henning to see you.

I'll finish a run in Memphis next week, and we,ll have four days off.

I will arrive on the night train into.... "

That is ridiculous. Look at that skirt.

lt's the latest thing from Delineator magazine.

Oh, you wear that, and you gonna be hobbled like a rambunctious mule.

Mama, that's the whole idea. lt's a hobble skirt.

You going to meet that boy at the depot tomorrow...

...you gonna fall down twixt one step and another.

Between, Mama, between! lt's not "betwixt."

You "between" all you wants to.

l'll betwixt. Now, you put that letter down.

You done read the ink clean off of it.

Oh, Mama, l'll be so glad to see him--

Oh, baby!

l bet all them fashionable New York ladies falls down a lot.

Don't bang that umbrella handle! And be careful with that pasteboard.

-Yes, ma'am. -Here we are, Lucille.

Look, you nearly crushed that valuable valise.

-Will you please try to be careful? -l'm sorry, ma'am.

l'll get you a redcap.

-Why can't you carry my bags to the car? -lt's against regulations.

That's absolutely ridiculous.

Here, take this one first.

l want you to know that l spent a terrible night. l didn't sleep a wink.

Yes, ma'am, l know. l'm sorry about that.

Now, l had seven pieces. You sure they're all there?

Yes, ma'am, seven pieces. Exactly seven pieces.

There, that ought to do it.

Thank you very much.

One dime. That's all. One dime.

That lady rang that bell last night every hour, on the hour.

"lce water, clean washcloths, open the window, close the window--"

Yeah. You lucky.

Drygood Drummond done downed a whole pint of lrish whiskey.

Got sick all over the upper berth.

At least you get paid extra for being acting conductor.

Sure l do. Ten dollars if l do it for the whole month.

A white conductor gets $1 20 for the same job.

Well, then, l will even forgive that lady her miserable dime...

...because after six days straight, l'm on my way to Henning...

...to see my beautiful Bertha.

What?

What's the matter?

Well, l just got the schedule from the division super.

l think they got you doubling-out on the next train.

What?

Well, l been on six days straight, 24 hours a day.

l know, l know, but there it is. "Haley, 1 0:1 9 double-out."

l'm supposed to see my girl in Henning.

Pullman Company ain't studying you or your girl.

And that's a small scrimption compared to how they figure your pay.

Six days straight at the regular wage, and then for the next six...

...instead of paying you more, they pay less.

-We got to get us a union. -l guess l have to send a telegram.

l guess they'll deliver it to her father at the lumberyard.

Son, let me give you a piece of advice.

l know H.L. Willett, conductor on that run, and he is one mean redneck.

So you be careful, hear?

1 0:1 9, it goes right by Henning.

It doesn,t even stop unless they flag you down for a passenger.

How do, Jasper?

How do?

-How do, Mr. Willett? -Let's go, Alvin. We're seven minutes late.

Oh, you'll make that up next division. You got any baggage to put on here?

-No. -Simon!

-Well, where's your passenger? -Beats me.

Over here.

-You did flag down the train, didn't you? -lt ain't my fault.

Well, you ain't supposed to flag down the train unless you got a passenger.

-Didn't you get my telegram? -l just had to see you.

But the train wouldn't have stopped if it hadn't been flagged down--

Oh, by George, you look so good. l missed you.

-Oh, l missed you. -Just kiss me.

Oh, we got the angels on our side tonight.

lf there hadn't been a passenger to flag the train down, we would've never--

You bought the ticket? You're the passenger?

l can't help it if l changed my mind about going somewhere.

-Honey, l-- -l love you.

l love you.

Get on this train!

Porter, sir.

-Can l help you, sir? -Yes, my wife is having trouble sleeping.

l wondered if the dining car was still open, if we could get a glass of milk.

No, sir, the dining car won't be open till breakfast.

But l've got a spirit lamp back in my locker. l could--

-l could warm up some milk for the lady. -Well, that's very kind of you.

Thank you very much. What's your name?

George. Just call me George. George will do fine.

No, l mean your own name.

Simon.

My name is Simon Haley.

Thank you, Simon Haley. Thank you very much.

Oh, evening, sir. l trust the milk was satisfactory?

Yes, my wife is sound asleep. Unfortunately, l am not.

Oh, let me, sir.

Thank you very much.

-l hope l'm not interrupting your work. -Oh, no, sir.

A porter's work is like rolling a rock uphill.

You think you got it all the way, and it rolls back down, and you start over.

-The myth of Sisyphus? -Yes, sir.

You're not a regular porter. l mean, all the time.

No, sir, just for the summer. l was going to college.

That's very interesting.

The truth is, you can't really save that much money.

Not on $27 a month, even with tips.

And the uniforms come out of that, and meals...

...and supplies for the cars, even the soap here.

And l have to send some money back home to my folks.

But you didn't tell that to your young lady when she flagged the train?

No, sir, she was so happy-- Well, l just didn't tell her.

How much have you saved?

About--

About enough for half a term at A&M...

...or a down payment on a second-hand mule.

-But you're not sure which? -l don't know.

Sometimes l just feel l'm sinking back...

...and if l am, maybe l ought to get that mule while l've got the money.

lt's better to be a sharecropper with a mule than without one.

And the alternative, the half a term?

l don't think l have the confidence...

...to just start without seeing any chance of finishing.

Maybe l should just forget it.

Go back and raise cotton at Mr. Perry's 50 acres.

That's a very interesting dilemma, young man.

lt would be gratifying to one's curiosity to know how you finally decide.

Yes, sir, it would.

Well, if you'll excuse me, sir. We'll be getting into Cincinnati in half an hour.

-Watch your step. -Watch your step getting off.

Thank you.

Watch your step getting off. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

-Watch your step getting off. Thank you. -Thank you.

Watch your step.

-Watch your step. -Thank you.

-Thank you, sir. Thank you. -Keep it all.

-Thank you, sir. -Thank you, George.

-Thank you, sir. Thank you. -Thank you, George.

-Watch your step getting off. -Watch your step.

-Watch your step. Thank you. -Thank you, Simon.

This is my business card. l'm with Curtis Publishing.

We put out The Saturday Evening Post.

l mention that because as a matter of professional habit...

...l hate to start a serial and not find out how it comes out.

-Yes, sir. -You be sure to write to me...

...and tell me whether it's the half-semester or the mule, will you?

Oh, this is for you, as well.

Thank you again.

"For Simon Haley."

All right, shoot the 5 dollars. Charley, you the bagman. How much you want?

Four seventy-five.

Hey, college boy, what you gonna do with all that cabbage?

Just count it.

There's two bits here ain't faded. You want to get in?

Oh, let him be, Detroit.

The boy pinch every nickel so tight the lndian end up riding the buffalo.

The trouble with you is, you ain't got the guts to put your money in the middle...

...and let it ride!

Well, as a matter of fact, Detroit, that's exactly what l intend to do.

Gamble, shoot the roll, but in my own game.

l've quit this job. l'm gonna take this money and let it ride.

Go to school for as long as it lasts and just holler "7 come 1 1 " and take my chance.

-Go on, boy. Thataway. -All right, professor.

All right. Here she come. Here she come back again.

-Six and six. -Six, baby.

Hey, Dad, l thought you went out on the 8:1 4 to Cleveland.

Well, what happened?

You remember that ginger-headed fellow...

...that was just itching to organize, always talking about the union?

-Yeah. What'd he do? -Turns out he was a Pullman Company spy.

The superintendent called 1 8 men into his office, including me.

-Fired us all on the spot for talking union. -Eighteen?

Just for talking union.

And that, after 22 years in these cars.

Oh, Dad.

Look.... Look, if you short, l mean--

l mean, if you need anything. l've got this money.

No, that money is for your schooling. l'd as soon rob the church collection plate.

-Yeah, but-- -Simon. Simon.

You gonna be somebody. That's important.

Me?

l've been a Pullman porter since the days of the wooden car and the wicker lamps.

Now it's over and done with.

-Craps. -Pass the dice, man. You done crapped out.

Well, l've gotta get the 4:07 to Memphis.

Gonna see your girl?

Gotta tell her l'm gonna let it ride.

Where are you going, Dad?

You know, we ain't never been able to get us a brotherhood on account of...

...every time the Pullman Company...

...just hears one of us breathe union, they fires us.

Well, l'm already fired.

And that just may be the biggest mistake George Pullman ever made.

Ain't nothing they can do to me now.

And, son, l'm bound to organize.

l know why you called me in, President Harper.

l admit l registered for this term...

...with only half enough money to pay the tuition.

-Now, hold on-- -l'm gonna get a job...

-...for nights and Saturdays. -That's all very well and good, but--

l know the college can't keep anyone who doesn't pay...

...but l promise you, sir, l will earn the money for the rest of the term.

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

-Well, l only-- -Your entire year has been paid in advance.

-There must be some mistake. -Oh, no, l have it right here.

The letter registering Simon Haley for a full year...

...with tuition paid for in advance by certified check.

Plus a stipend: room, board, books.

Now, the letter asks that the student not be notified...

...unless he arrived to register for the term.

Now, the letter is signed by Mr. R.S.M. Boyce, The Saturday Evening Post.

R.S.-- R.S.M. Boyce.

Why--

-Why, he gave me 5 dollars once. -He gave you a lot more than that.

You have nothing to worry about, except your studies.

You mean, if l hadn't taken the chance...

...to come and register for the term, l never would have known about this?

That's right, and we would have had to return Mr. Boyce's check.

l would've crapped out.

Well...

...l guess l made my point.

This is most stylish. You got my word.

From New York City, direct.

For a graduation, this is a number one.

l never seen nobody make such a fuss over somebody else's graduation.

Now, Papa, l've got to look pretty for Simon, don't l?

He worked so hard all these years. Can l try it on, Mr. Goldstein?

Certainly. Well, then, in the back, behind the screen.

A nice girl. She's going to look gorgeous in that dress.

We going all the way to Carolina for her young man's graduation...

...from agriculture and technical college.

-College! -Ain't that something?

Listen, Palmer, l want to ask you something.

l mean...

...we did business together...

...ever since l opened the store. l still owe for the new shelves and fittings.

Now, Mr. Goldstein, look here. l don't want you to worry, because you pays on time.

l'm not talking about that.

l've peddled off the wagon too many years.

l thought maybe, finally...

...l could settle in one place.

There's a widow in Chicago l would send for.

But recently l got this letter.

"Leave town before it's too late. Signed, KKK."

What do you think about that?

Truth is, l'm surprised the Klan would send something like this here to a white man.

You're surprised. l'm not.

You look at me, you see a white man. They look at me, they see a Jew.

l don't understand what you want to ask me.

Who's the man?

Who do l talk to? There's always one person you can talk to.

-What did l tell you? Gorgeous! -Do you like it, Papa?

-Oh, that ain't bad. -l love it.

But, Mr. Goldstein, it's a little tight here in the waist.

We'll let out the cummerbund...

...and it'll fit like a glove.

-We're leaving tomorrow for North Carolina. -Yeah, you'll have it. You'll have it.

You will knock the eye out from your college boy.

l give you my solemn word of honor.

-Looks so silly, that little dog. -lt's not so funny.

Go change your dress, girl.

Go on.

Now, that's what l mean.

l swear, l never do see a pea pod in Oklahoma that's worth the squeezing.

l told you, Liz, you want a fresh garden truck fit to eat...

...you got to come home and visit us more often.

You know, l can remember what Grandpa George used to say...

...about the old slavery days.

-How his mama-- -"Kizzy.

Always make sure the first spring greens from the garden goes to her childrens."

That's right. And old Mrs. Moore, she'd say:

"Kizzy, why, my mouth's just set for some fresh garden peas.

How comes there ain't no peas?" And Kizzy would say:

"Oh, missus, the frost done got them. There ain't no peas!"

All the time, they in the quarters eating fresh peas for sass!

Now, you see, child, that's the way it was in the old slavery days...

...when your Great-Grandpa George--

Mama, l don't want to hear about that old-time slavery stuff.

Things are different now.

lt don't matter anymore.

l want the both of y'all to hear this.

The secretary of war, Baker, done promise the NAACP that the Army gonna be free...

...of its racial discrimination. But at the same time, he say:

"There's no intention on the part of the War Department to undertake at this time...

...to settle the so-called race question."

So-called!

-Two long, two short. -That's Main Street.

l got to say one nice thing about the Jew.

-His store sure does burn good. -lt sure does.

Mr. Goldstein, come on in.

-You all right? -Personally, l'm fine.

My shop....

Ten years peddling from the wagon it took me to open my store.

lt's all finished.

Total loss.

l still can't figure out why the Klan would want to burn out a white man.

Listen. lt's nothing new.

l lived through the Pogrom of 1 903 in Kishinev.

The czar's Black Hundreds massacred Jews everywhere.

Listen. Your Klan, they're pikers. They should take lessons.

Call that a pogrom?

A little ready-to-wear business burnt to the ground?

Well, such a pogrom!

ls there...

...anything l can do?

So l go back to Maxwell Street, Chicago.

Palmer...

...l still owe on the lumber.

l come to tell you l'll make good.

But you got to wait.

You don't have to worry about that, Mr. Goldstein.

l trust you as long as you need.

Palmer, you're such a mensch.

What l mean, you're a...

...a...

...gentleman.

Look at that. l forgot.

The dress for the little girl. lt wasn't in the shop.

l took it home to do the alterations.

So...

...l promised.

Thank you, Mr. Goldstein.

l'll just get my pocketbook. How much?

What is one dress?

lt's a present for the little lady.

She should wear it in good health.

Goodbye, Palmer.

Goodbye, Mr. Goldstein.

You can forget about that lumber bill. We's even.

Goodbye, my friend.

-Aunt Liz, will l look beautiful? -All girls in love are beautiful.

l just have to look beautiful for Simon's graduation.

l am beautiful.

Bertha George Palmer!

-Ain't never heard nothing so vain. -What?

Lord, keep it from the devil's ear. That poor man come over here toting your dress...

...in the midst of his trials, and you prancing your vanity!

l know.

But Simon's graduation is the most important day in my life.

ln our lives.

l don't see him, Papa.

He was supposed to meet us here.

Probably couldn't get his tie tied.

On a big day like today, l'd be dogged if a tie let itself be tied.

-Seems like the ends never come out even. -Oh, hush about ties, Papa.

Now, remember, we just say hello to Simon now.

And then after the graduation, you say:

"Young man, got a small graduation present for you. lt ain't much."

Girl, you go on away from here.

"You have my consent to get married right away."

What time is it, Papa?

Seven minutes to 1 .

-Where is he? -The boy's got seven minutes, now.

-Miss Palmer? -What?

-Miss Bertha Palmer? -Yes.

l'm Nate Atkins. l'm a schoolfellow of Simon's.

-Where is he? We just got off the train and-- -Yes, l know.

Simon asked me to give you this letter.

lf you excuse me. lt's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Palmer.

Sir.

My dearest Bertha:

You always laugh at me for trying to find the truth written in books...

...but I have found it this time in the NAACP paper, "The Crisis This Month. "

Dr. Du Bois writes that from a victory of the Allies in the war...

...will emerge an American Negro with the right to work...

...and the right to live without insult.

So I know you will be proud to know I have enlisted in the United States Army...

...and I will not be there for the graduation ceremony.

But I am glad you will be there to pick up my diploma...

...which means so much to both of us.

Here at the Agriculture and Technical College of North Carolina...

...we are proud of the graduating class of nineteen hundred and eighteen...

...seven of whose sons...

...have already marched away to heed their country's call.

We feel the spirit of these brave young lads is with us now.

And now the granting of diplomas to the class of nineteen hundred and eighteen.

l declare by the power vested in me by the state of North Carolina...

...that you all have satisfactorily completed the course of study at this institution.

Nathaniel Thaddeus Atkins.

-Congratulations. -Thank you, sir.

Randolph Lucius Jones.

Simon Alexander Haley.

Now, listen up!

Y'all gonna stay in this one cotton-picking place...

...till this cotton-picking train pulls out of this here cotton-picking station.

Y'all ain't in no college no more.

You is in this man's army.

You is recruits.

And that is the lowest thing in the world...

...way under yellow dogs and polecats.

Now, when Captain Honeycutt come...

...you gonna jump to attention then holler out, "Yes, sir!"

Because Captain Honeycutt...

...he eat nigger recruits alive before breakfast.

Where in the hell you think you going?

Corporal...

...that's my girl.

-That's your trouble, not mine. -But, sir...

...l didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her.

She come all the way from Tennessee.

Go on over there behind them signs.

And you hear the brass, you look sharp, you hear?

Yes, sir.

Simon Alexander Haley, l am furious at you. You hear me? l am just furious.

-Honey-- -Running off to enlist without a single word!

We came all the way from Henning. We planned a surprise for you.

-You've gone and spoiled it all. -l'm sorry. There was no way...

...l could tell you. The Army man told us Tuesday we had to report before graduation.

Please, don't cry.

l'm so afraid, Simon.

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

Ain't worried about Germans. l been reading Papa's newspaper...

...about terrible things happening to the colored in the Army.

l know. l know, but the important thing is the war...

...to make the world safe for democracy.

-Honey, Dr. Du Bois says-- -l don't care.

-l don't care about Dr. Du Bois. -But you've got to!

He says we've got to put aside the fight for rights for the duration of the war.

That's what he wrote.

"We make no ordinary sacrifice, but we do it willingly and gladly...

...with our eyes lifted to the hills."

l love you so.

l love you.

-l'm gonna be fine. -Haley!

Get over here, on the double!

Captain coming. Attention!

Try to look like soldiers, will you?

You on the end, tuck in your puttees!

Detail all present, sir.

-Sergeant. -Sir.

-Let's get these damn coons on the train. -Yes, sir.

You heard him.

l want you to get on that train...

...and l want you to get on there quick! Move out!

Let's move it!

Move!

Move it, Haley!

Haley! Move it!

Move it!

Bye!

l love you!

l love you, Simon.

l love you.

Next on Roots:

lf ye but believe in me, ye shall never die.

Comes a time when a papa got no more notion...

...of what's going on in his child's heart.

So, Will, you wanna keep the love of the child.

You wanna keep her respect for your word, then you got to bend.

You gotta let go.

l wish you could stay with me now.

Come home to Henning.

-We could get married in the old church. -We will, honey. We will.

Simon, why do you have to go?

Well, it's just my patriotic duty.

l'll tell you what l am. Same thing l was in the Army.

-A nigger. -Simon Alexander Haley...

...l don't ever wanna hear you say anything like that again!

You're colored. You're Negro, and so am l.

Don't you ever use their words to make yourself small.

All right! All right!