All language subtitles for Episode_5_en

Last on Roots:

And there are times all a woman got
to remember the rest of her life...

...is the soft, sad word
of her love saying goodbye.

l'm talking about what's proper and decent.

Now, God forbid, Simon don't come back.

Now, you let them cling to each other
and say goodbye!

Bertha, l love you.

l'm gonna come back to you.
That's all that matters.

Oh, Simon, l love you.

Let's move out!

Darling, l missed you.

Oh, l missed you so much.

Oh, Simon, l'm so happy.

lt's been a happy day.

And l's real proud to announce that the
bride and groom gonna be leaving soon...

...for Cornell University,
lthaca, state of New York...

...where my son-in-law, Simon Haley...

...gonna be studying agriculture.

Moon...

...this here is the seventh generation
since then.

This here is Alex Haley.

You watch over him.

You!

Oh, it ain't as easy as all that,
is it, Alex Haley?

Okay, l give up, Grandpa. l give up.

Grandpa?

lt's Sunday.

Why are all those people
going to the fields?

These is hard times, Alex.

We's in a depression.

There's a whole lot of folk ain't
as fortunate as we.

The Lord don't like them no less.

He understands why they can't keep
his Sabbath.

Pick up the paper.

Honey, what is it?

"Dear sirs, l am anticipating teaching offers
from several colleges...

...but am especially interested
in your institution.

Therefore, l would appreciate hearing...."

My Lord.

Well, l think it sounds fine.

l don't want to beg.

You just wanna find out where you stand.
Honey, that's not begging.

Bertha, l'm not anticipating
any other offers.

l was perfectly willing to lie.
lf that's not begging...

...it's close as a man can come
without falling on his knees.

Well, times as hard as they are,
we lucky you can stay here with Papa...

...work at the lumberyard
till something comes through.

Now, is that a fact?

Look, now, l know you and Papa
don't see eye to eye on things...

...and l know he's a bit old-fashioned.

Old-fashioned?

That's putting it kindly.

l tried to show him a better way to keep
his books, but he wouldn't even look.

Papa's never had to consult
with anyone about anything...

...so why should he change?

That's how he built the lumberyard
into what it is today.

Who knows what the lumberyard is today?

So many folks out of work.
Seems he's giving credit to all of them.

l can't make sense of the books, and when
l try to help him, he doesn't wanna listen.

Now, you know Papa is not used
to opinions.

l have a master's degree in agriculture
from Cornell University.

Now, there can't be more than a handful
of colored men anywhere...

...with my credentials.

What do l do
with my wonderful credentials?

l tote lumber.

l don't select it. l don't order it.

l totes it.

Well, if l have to go on much longer
like this...

...it won't be my back that gives out.

lt'll be my soul.

King me, Grandpa!

All right, all right.

Ain't as if l got no choice.

l can get it.

l can get it.

l think l better let you get that.

Grandpa?

Are you gonna die?

You come on with me, boy.

l got something l want you to see.

l was gonna give you that
on your birthday...

...but l want you to have it now.

That there is a slice of tree that come
all the way from California.

Now, do you see them rings?

Each one of them rings means another year
that tree's been growing.

That tree's got more rings
than a man can count.

Now, look here.

This was when Columbus discovered
America.

This here is the American Revolution.

And this was the war
when President Abraham Lincoln...

...freed the slaves.

And that's when you was born.

Get that box there.

Give me your hand.

This here is when l was born.

And this here, that's today.

And all in there,
that's my whole life.

But it seems so small.

Oh, it is small.

See, what seems like a long time
to us...

...is nothing but a tiny span
in the life of a tree.

And that same tree
ain't nothing but a tiny span...

...in the mind of God.

Now, when you stand back
and look at it...

...you don't see no wars,
and you don't see no people's lives.

All you see is time...

...year upon year.

Everything has its time.

A time to be born and a time to die.

And when the time comes,
Grandpa will die.

l got it! l got it!

l got it!

Come on! Let's go!

Hey, down here!

Thank you, thank you. l appreciate that.

All right.

l'll get somebody on that right away,
Mr. Selby.

-Simon, you just the man--
-l'd like you to look at this, Papa.

What is all this here?

lt's an inventory on that shipment
that came in this morning.

l'd also like to inventory all the rest
of the stock.

And that way, we can keep track of
overstock, and we'll know when to reorder.

l don't need no inventory.

l keeps it all up here.

Now, you come on.
l got something else l want you to do.

This here is Mr. Leroy Selby,
one of my oldest customers.

Pleased to meet you.

-And who might you be?
-l'm Simon Haley.

He the boy that married my Bertha.

Now, l want you to take good care
of Mr. Selby...

...because he got a mighty big order.

l'll write it up directly.

l wrote it up.

l want you to tote it.

Mr. Selby.

Simon!

From A&M lnstitute, Normal, Alabama.

Come special delivery.

Now, Simon, bad news don't come
special delivery.

"We are pleased to offer you the position
of director of agriculture...

...with the academic rank of professor.

Please advise us of your availability
at your earliest convenience."

You got it! You got it!

Oh, l am a professor!

A college professor!

Simon Alexander Haley,
college professor!

Hey, what's all that racket out here?

l'll go tell him.

Simon. He got the teaching job.
They want him there as soon as possible.

lsn't it exciting?

Sure.

Without a doubt.

l's real happy for both of you.

Papa, are you gonna be all right?

l mean, running the lumberyard
without Simon?

Never needed no help in the first place.

Now the truth can be told.
That boy just--

He ain't got the aptitude
for the lumber business.

Papa, why don't you admit it?

You like Simon.

Well, now, you handpicked the boy...

...and l wasn't gonna give you no whole
lot of who-struck-Johnny about it.

Well, l'm grateful, Papa, because
whether you wanna admit it or not...

...l couldn't have landed Simon
without you.

Oh, what you talking about, girl?

You did your share.

Remember when he graduated
from college...

...and you bought me that dress
from Goldstein, the tailor?

Picked it out yourself.

Well, l wasn't gonna let you
just run around buck-naked.

Then when l went to the graduation...

...you rode with me on the train
all the way to Asheville.

l was so glad l had my daddy to turn to.

Well, you know l wasn't gonna...

...ever let you want for nothing.

Papa...

...this time, l be going off by myself.

l won't have my daddy to turn to.

l guess it's silly to be worrying
at my age.

Simon, he--

He gonna take real good care of you.

He's a mighty fine man.

l love you, Papa.

Now, you just put that down.

Professor Simon Alexander Haley...

...you done toted your last tote.

Ruddy cheeks and face of tan,
neatly shaved, what a man!

Burma-Shave.

Ain't a lot much farther, boys.

We can institute methods of farming based
in science. Dr. Huguley, l have many plans.

Well, judging by these proposals...

...l would say very ambitious plans.

Oh, yes, sir, very ambitious,
but achievable.

Given time, l believe you and l can change
the face of agriculture in this entire county.

Professor Haley--

Excuse me. Come in.

Excuse me, Dr. Huguley.
We've finished our tour of the campus.

Oh, well, bring them in, Faison.
l want them to meet our new professor.

We are being visited
by the Hickinger Committee.

Well, they are a philanthropic group
from the North.

They are on their annual inspection tour
of colored colleges in the South.

Now, l don't need to tell you
that with their approval...

...we generally end up
with a very handsome donation.

The funding from the Alabama Legislature
is hardly adequate to run this institution.

But Mrs. Hickinger herself is with them,
and l would very much like...

...to have her meet
our illustrious new professor.

Well, it would be an honor, sir.

Doctor.

-Mrs. Hickinger.
-Dr. Huguley.

l trust you and our distinguished guests
had a pleasant tour?

Oh, yes. Yes, indeed.

l'd like you to meet
Professor Simon Haley.

lt was through your generosity
last year...

...that enabled us to bring him
here with us now.

Professor Haley received
his master's degree...

...from Cornell University.

Well, professor, you're
the very embodiment...

...of everything we're trying
to do down here.

Thank you for the kind words.

Ladies and gentlemen,
it's time for our luncheon.

Yes.

Oh, l'm so sorry to hear that your
magnificent choir won't be with us today.

No. Unfortunately, they are
on a fundraising tour.

Oh, how sad.

l'm reminded of the opportunity l had
to hear them last year in my own home.

lmagine Paul Robeson and
this splendid chorus of colored voices...

...in the same evening!

Oh, the richness of tone.

The power and vibrancy of that music.

-Dr. Huguley?
-Yes?

My colleagues weren't
as fortunate as l last year...

...and now they're doubly disappointed
that your choir is absent.

l wonder if you would favor us with one
of those magnificent Negro spirituals.

What a magnificent voice you have!

Doesn't he, Professor Haley?

Just lovely.

We better be going.

Oh, yes. Yes, of course.

-Thank you again, Dr. Huguley, so much.
-Thank you, Mrs. Hickinger.

-And l will see you shortly.
-Yes.

-Yes.
-Right this way, if you'll follow me.

What did l tell you?
The power of that voice!

And, you know, the amazing thing is,
they all have it.

Yes.

Well...

...l only hope it was satisfactory.

You see, my wife tells me
that when l sing a cappella...

...l tend to stray from the key.

Bertha?

You're not going to believe
a word of this.

l finally met Dr. Huguley.

The man is either a fool or a martyr.

Might as well be back changing sheets
in a Pullman car.

Bertha, what's going on?

Papa died.

Bertha.

Honey.

l'm so sorry.

Well, it's not like we didn't expect it.

l'm taking George and Julius with me.

They'd only be under your feet.

But l think Alex should stay. You don't
want him to miss a week of school.

ls that all right with you?

Of course it is.

lt's fine.

Bertha, you're taking
their bathing suits.

You know how Papa loves
to take the boys swim--

lt's all right.

Afternoon, sir.

Mr. Decker, isn't it?

Yes, sir.

My name is Simon Haley.

l'm a professor at the A&M college.

You is a professor, huh?

Well, go to war, Miss Annie.

For sure?

Bona fide.

Go on, Luke.

l'm....

l'm trying to meet all of the farmers
in this area to see if l can be of any help.

You don't look to be no farming man.

No, sir, but l teach farming.

And l believe l can give you
some good advice.

What kind of advice?

Well, sir, l know some ways you
can get more out of this land.

Now, this soil here, it's never grown
anything but cotton.

And you're burning it out.

Well, sir, this ain't my land.

All this here belong to Mr. F.R. Lewis...

...and when you crops for Mr. F.R. Lewis,
you plants cotton...

...and you plants it plenty.

Now, that's where you're wrong,
Mr. Decker.

You won't need any fancy fertilizer,
and you won't need any certified seeds.

lt's just a question of changing
some of the things you do...

...how you plow, when you plant,
and what--

Him yonder, sir.

Hey, you!

Will you come on over here, please?

Ab here tells me you're
from the Negro college. That right?

-Yes, sir.
-And what's your name, boy?

Professor Simon Haley, sir.

Well, professor, l'm Mr. F.R. Lewis.

Yes, sir. l figured that.

Yes, and what you're standing on
is my property.

What brings you on it?

Well, sir, l'm new here...

...and l'm just visiting the farmers
in this area...

...to see if l can help them raise
a better crop scientifically.

ls that a fact?
That's all you're telling them?

Yes, sir.

Well, l don't hold much
with this so-called scientific farming.

l always say there ain't nothing
more scientific...

...than one good mule
and one good nigger.

Sir, this is your land.

l'm just trying to help make it
more productive.

Now, you look here, professor.

Ab here is a good boy.

He is a hard worker who don't give me
any trouble.

So if trouble do start, l'm gonna know
where it's coming from.

-Right, Ab?
-Yes, sir.

Bye-bye.

Why don't you go on back
to that college of yours.

Ain't nothing you can do for me here.

Lyle, what can l do you for?

Well, l got a problem
with the radiator hose, Jake.

Well, let's take a look at it.

Dad, the toilet's over there by the sign.

Just a minute. l'll ask the man.

Dad!

Jake, why don't you take care
of these folks.

l can wait.

Go ahead, son.

Hey, you! Hold it right there!

Now, you want gas, or what?

No, sir. l don't need any gas.

-l'd just like to have my boy use your toilet.
-Maybe you'll just go someplace else.

We sell gas here.
We ain't got no facilities.

Jake. He's just a boy, for Lord's sake.

Look at him.

You know l can't let that boy go
in there and use the toilet.

l don't mean let him use the toilet.

Let him go back there in the bushes.
Nobody's gonna see him.

Jake, he's just a boy.

All right, go on back there
and do what you have to.

-Thank you!
-You make it fast.

Stay well out of sight of the road,
you hear?

Bet he kills them bushes.

Well, thank you.

You don't appear to be
from around these parts.

No, sir. l'm new.

l teach at A&M.

My name is Simon Haley.

Haley!

Well, then you're the one that's been
sending me all these farming proposals.

l'm Lyle Pettijohn,
county agricultural agent.

Well, pleased to meet you, sir.

Where in the world did you come up
with the notion of planting early...

...to get the drop on the weevil?

Did you get a chance to try it?

You betcha.
Worked like gangbusters too.

Well, they developed that technique
at the experimental farm at Cornell.

You went to Cornell?

l took my master's degree there.

lf that don't beat all.

Did you happen to run into
a professor named Wilcox?

Yes. He directed my research project.

l sure wished l could
have got up there.

Wilcox is about the best there is.
l tell you what, Haley.

l'm on my way out
to visit one of my farmers.

lf you have nothing better to do,
you could follow me on out if you like.

-You think it'd be all right?
-Well, the way l look at it...

...we can be of use to one another.

-Here's your change, Lyle.
-Thank you.

Why don't you and your boy
just follow me out.

We will. Thank you.

Ain't that just like a nigger?

Come and waste a man's time
and then not even spend a red cent.

Excuse me, sir.

A nickel?

For the use of your facilities.

Alvin, what possessed you
to do such a fool thing?

-Well, l didn't want to do it.
-l told you exactly what to do.

l told you...

...if you needed money
for growing season...

...you could get it from
the federal office in Tuskegee.

That way, you wouldn't have to be
obligated to the senator.

Well, l couldn't help it.
He come down himself this time.

He wouldn't hear of me
getting it from nowheres else.

l don't know what you expect me
to do. You got me hamstrung.

You borrowed the money
from the man.

You don't pay him, of course
he's got a right to take your land.

But what about
the subsidy, Mr. Lyle?

Now, the senator told me about some
new kind of subsidies or something.

lt's too soon to be
thinking about that.

Now, Mr. Roosevelt has promised
to subsidize poor farmers like yourself...

...but you got a problem with that.
He ain't president yet.

This fellow is telling the same thing
to the colored farmers.

They're gonna give the subsidy
to the nigger farmers too?

Yeah, l believe they are.

Damn it!

Boy, the senator sure told me true.
That ain't right.

That ain't right.

What senator?

State Senator Griffin.

Him and F.R. Lewis
own most of this land around here.

Well, sounds like
they mean to own it all.

Push poor folks into debt, foreclose...

...set them right out on the road
without batting an eye.

l got a whole book full of federal rules
and regulations l'm supposed to enforce...

...but the two of them
got such a hold on this county...

...l might as well give back my paycheck.
Damn their hides!

Got no right to treat
a white man like a nigger.

The truth is...

...they've got no right
to treat any man like a nigger.

Come on, son, let's go home.

All right, you two, let's go.
There ain't nothing to see here.

Dad, those folks aren't
any better off than Mr. Decker.

Well, you don't have
to be black to be poor, son.

Boll weevil doesn't care
whose cotton it eats.

But why won't they listen to you?

Well, sometimes--

Sometimes people are afraid
of the things that can help the most.

-You mean like those farm subsidies?
-No, l'm talking about education, son.

There's one thing poor people have
in common, no matter who they are.

They have no education.
Education is the key. lt's the--

lt's the way up, the way out.

That's why you must
do well in school, Alex...

...not only for yourself,
but to help others as well.

l know, Dad. l'm doing my best.

Two C's out of five subjects
is not your best.

Any son of mine is A material.
Now, you work at it...

...you'll get those A's.

How l got talked into this
is a mystery to me.

You were the one said
we could work together.

Working together is one thing.

Paying a social call on F.R. Lewis
is something else altogether.

lt's not my idea of a good time, either...

...but there's just no point in trying
to convince the farmers...

...to change their methods when Lewis
controls every spade of dirt they turn.

Man's an agricultural apeman.

Left to his own, he'd be
planting seeds with his toe.

Then it's our job to ease him
into the 20th century.

No, it's not our job. lt's my job.
You listen to me, Haley.

When we get in there, you lay back
and let me do the talking. You hear me?

l may not have a college degree,
but l know how to handle these old boys.

How's that? With a snake stick?

Yeah. Well, that's the kind
of smart remark...

...that's gonna get us both
dropped into a baling machine.

l wouldn't be surprised.

Every piece of research we got
says if you rotate your cotton crop...

...with a season of legumes,
soybeans, alfalfa...

...you not only put the nitrogen
back in the soil...

...you also reduce any
infestation of nematodes.

And suppose nobody wants
to buy no legumes?

Now, what's Mr. Lewis supposed to do?
Use them to stuff his mattress?

l didn't know you were a
agricultural authority, George.

-You here on official business too?
-Sheriff Duffy just stopped by as a friend.

You see, l place a very high priority
on friendship.

-Don't you, Lyle?
-Yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, l surely do.

And as a friend, you know
l'm in the cotton business...

...and l intend to stay in cotton
because l like things just the way they are.

ls this whole thing
your idea, Mr. Pettijohn...

...or his?

l do know a thing or two
about rotation farming, Mr. Lewis.

And you also know you draw
a paycheck every week...

...come hell or boll weevil, huh?

Now, l understand you two fellows,
you mean well...

...but, after all, my family's been
farming this land for 1 00 years or more...

...and our Negroes, our tenant farmers...

...have always derived a fairly good living
off of it the way things are.

What Mr. Pettijohn is saying, sir....

What Mr. Pettijohn...

...is asking you to do, Mr. Lewis,
is look to the future.

Another five, six years, this land
won't be fit to raise dust, let alone cotton.

Lyle, do you realize there's
a full-bore depression going on out there?

Couple of seasons
of my not having cotton to sell...

...l might as well close this place down,
join everybody else...

...on that bread line out there.
No, l can't do it.

Well, sir, if you won't do it,
l'm afraid someone is going to do it for you.

You talking about
that New York Bolshevik...

...thinks he's gonna ride his wheelchair
into Washington and tell me my business?

Yes, sir. l'm talking about Mr. Roosevelt.

Let me tell you something,
Professor Haley.

There's not enough niggers and Jews
in this country to vote that man into office.

And even if there was,
this is still America...

...and no Congress gonna pass any law
that's gonna tell a citizen...

...what he can plant and what
he can't plant on his own God-given land.

Now, Mr. Lewis, that's not what
Mr. Haley's trying to say...

...not what he meant to say.

Look, it's very clear to me
what he's trying to say.

lt's also very clear to me
that you best not going around...

...spreading ideas like that
to my sharecroppers.

l can't stop that, Mr. Lewis.

And why is that, Mr. Pettijohn?

That's my job...

...and Mr. Haley is right.

l'm sorry to hear that, Lyle.

l'm very sorry.

You know, it's getting so the only way
you can tell a white man...

...is by the way he votes and the kind
of friends he goes around with.

And l'm worried about her.

l haven't heard from Mama
in a month.

ls something wrong with Grandma?

No, l don't think so, son.

lf anything was seriously wrong,
l'm sure we would have heard.

-We need more sugar, Mama.
-Now, in national news...

...President Roosevelt,s legislation
proposing sweeping agricultural reform...

...was passed by an overwhelming majority
in the Senate.

-The bill provided...
-Daddy?

...for the formation of the
Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

The new administration, under the direction
of Secretary of Agriculture Wallace...

...is expected to bolster
sagging farm prices.

The bill,s most controversial article
calls for a federal subsidy to farmers...

...who reduce production of cotton,
wheat and dairy products.

The House passed its version
of the measure last week...

...and members of both houses will discuss
compromises in the different versions.

-He did it.
-In the world of sports--

That's it. That's it.
That's exactly what l've been waiting for.

They've passed the subsidy payments
for small farmers.

Wait till l tell Ab Decker.
Every farmer will get a check.

Not one in this district
is going to go under.

Bertha, are you getting sick?

You don't look right.

Well, l just can't stop
thinking about Mama.

Well, maybe you ought
to give her a call, long-distance.

Well, l was thinking different.
Couldn't we go see her?

You-- You was just there
just a few months ago.

Simon, the school term
ends in a few weeks.

Mama will be rattling around
in that big old house.

You know how much it would mean to her
to see the boys for a while.

-Honey, it'll be your vacation.
-l don't know.

lf this had come up before l heard
the news, l might have said yes...

...but now with the subsidy coming in--

Please.

Sure. l can start telling
the farmers right away.

l can't wait to see Grandma.

Shoot, l knew it. l knew you
couldn't have learned all that up North.

True. l got my early
education in farming...

...on the acres my daddy
sharecropped in Savannah, Tennessee.

Tennessee? My daddy sharecropped
his acres in Greene County.

Morning.

-Well, if it ain't the college professor.
-Morning, Mr. Decker.

-l have some good news for you.
-Good news, huh?

Well, that's mighty fine. You're gonna
have to bring it on around back.

l can't get my wagon rolling...

...and l done missed too much
of the morning already.

Well, sir, things are different
in the government now.

Mr. Roosevelt is running the country,
and he cares about the poor farmer.

Do he, now?

Leave go, boy. You ain't
that much of a man yet.

Mr. Decker, just yesterday
the government passed a law.

They're going to pay a subsidy to you.

Well, they will pay you money
if you plant less cotton this year...

...grow other things instead.

Well, that ain't what Mr. F.R. Lewis say.

-Mr. Lewis told you about the subsidy?
-Yesterday afternoon.

Said there was some crazy talk
out of someplace...

...about us poor farmers
getting some money.

He just want to remind me
that any money coming in off this land...

...go directly to him.

Now, when l lift, you just slide
it on in there, you hear?

Mr. Decker, he lied to you.
Mr. F.R. Lewis was lying.

That money goes to the farmers,
not the owner.

Now, look here.

Soon as me and the boy
get this wagon rolling...

...we going back out in the fields,
like we always do.

And we gonna be all right.

Mr. Decker...

...all you've got to do
is file for the subsidy yourself...

...and that check will come to you.
lt will have your name on it...

...and nobody can get cash
for it except you, not even Mr. F.R. Lewis.

lt's in.

ls that money really coming to me?

l give you my word.

What in the world is the matter with you?
Telling that boy about subsidies.

Why shouldn't l? You're telling
the white farmers about it.

Mr. Pettijohn, you are
telling them, aren't you?

Yes, l'm telling them...

...but what l'm not doing is promising
that money, come hell or high water.

But that's your job. Who's going to get
them that money if you don't? lt's the law.

You've got a lot of gall, telling me my job.

There's laws on the books,
and then there's laws that folks live by...

...and l'm sitting over here
betwixt and between.

Mr. Pettijohn, if you don't make sure
the farmers get that subsidy...

...the law says is theirs, then you're just
playing into the hands of the landowners.

-Whose side are you on?
-You got your way of handling this...

...and l got mine. Go off and have yourself
a dandy fine visit with your kinfolk.

When you get back, you will see what
kind of trouble you started around here.

So the men that been cropping for me
and for Senator Griffin...

...just naturally been signing over
these subsidy checks...

...to help us all out during this
very difficult time.

Now, that's the way we think this law
was meant to work to help us all.

Begging your pardon, sir,
but l don't think so.

You don't think what, Ab?

l believe Mr. Roosevelt meant
for me to have them $1 28.

Who been telling you that,
that Haley fellow...

...or was it that other one, Pettijohn?

Now, come on, Ab, l know you
didn't read it in the newspaper...

...because l know you don't read
a diddly-damn.

Well, there's different ways
for a man to be ignorant, Mr. Lewis, sir.

l expect giving up money
that would feed my family...

...is a sight dumber than
not knowing how to read.

What about me, Ab?
How am l supposed to pay the taxes...

...on the land that supports you
and your family?

Now, you've got to have a sense
of fairness about this whole thing.

Well, l guess fairness...

...all come down to
whose belly is growling, sir.

And what do you suppose is gonna
keep me from making your mark...

...and cashing this check in anyway?

Because l know you,
Mr. Lewis, 1 7 years.

You ain't a easy man...

...but you ain't no crook, neither.

That's right, Ab.

l'm not a crook.

But l'm not a damn fool, either.

Now, you get over here
and you make your mark.

l say, get over here
and make your mark.

Well, like l said, l'm not a damn fool, either.
So l tell you what l'm gonna do.

l'm gonna keep this check for you
until you're ready to make your mark.

Now, get the hell out of here.

On the one hand, l've been
teaching farmers new scientific methods...

...that have improved their yields.

And on the other, President Roosevelt
has provided the money...

...to see them through the hard times.

Between the two of us,
l believe we can keep the farmers...

...in that county on their feet.

lt sound to me
like from here on in...

...l'm gonna have to refer
to you as Professor Haley.

Of course not, Cousin Georgia.
You can keep right on calling me Simon...

...just so long as there's
no students around.

Oh, well, l think l'd better be getting in.
l've got a lot of reading to do.

-Good night, Grandma Cynthia.
-Good night.

-Night, Aunt Liz.
-Night, Simon.

Cousin Georgia.

Good night, son.

That man ain't been a professor
for six months and already it seem...

...like he too big a muckety-muck
to sit with his kinfolks.

Now, you know he wouldn't be
thinking nothing like that.

lt take a whole lot of work
being a professor of agriculture.

How much it take
to teach somebody about dirt?

Now, you just hush.

We ain't got no cause to feel
nothing but proud of that man.

There was a time,
wasn't too long ago, neither...

...colored folks wasn't allowed
no reading nor writing, like the African.

l remembers a whole lot
of words by that African...

...like he called the river "Kambi Bolongo."

And the word for guitar was "ko."

And his word for head was "kungo."

And his word for hair was....

What was that word for hair?

Don't tell me l done lost
one of them words.

What was the word for hair?

"Kuntinyo."

That's my grandson.

You sure listen good, Alex.

Hey.

You should never put a nigger
ahead of a white man, Mr. Pettijohn.

You should never do that.

-Hey, Simon.
-Simon Haley, you come on out here.

-Yeah, come on out.
-Hey, professor.

We're gonna rotate your crops, boy.

Car's gone, Mr. Duffy.
He don't be home.

Hey, maybe they're upstairs
hiding under the bed.

Well, maybe we ought to go
right on in anyway.

We don't have no key.

Now, just what do you think you got
laced on that left foot of yours?

A boot?

Now, let's see if we can't
fit that in the lock.

Yeah.

Haley?

-Here, l'll take that. Come on.
-Get the light, Percy.

Well, look at the way this fella lives.

Yep.

You got a house this nice, Mr. Duffy?

No, l don't reckon.

Me, l got a tin roof so rusted out
it leaks when dew settles on it.

Yep.

My boys ain't got what
to wear on their back.

And this old boy's living better
than a firehouse dog.

Ain't nobody upstairs.

You know what they've got
upstairs, Mr. Duffy?

Beds with two sheets, Mr. Duffy,
for under and on top.

Really?

Where do you reckon he got
the money to live this good?

Well, l don't reckon it was
from chopping cotton.

Well, you just take what
you want there, Mr. Peacock--

-l ain't no thief!
-Well, now, l didn't mean to--

l don't take what l don't work for...

...even from them that don't deserve it.

Well, now, l can respect
that, Mr. Peacock.

We'll just come back and pay...

...Professor Haley another visit
when he's home.

Now, y'all coming?

We'll come back again
when Haley's here.

Morning, Mama.

Child, you practically scared me
half to death.

l ain't been the second person in this
kitchen since long as l can remember.

l thought l'd come down to help
this morning since l was up.

You was up?

Child, you'd sleep through a fire
if somebody didn't shake you.

l couldn't sleep, that's all.

Vacation time, you supposed to be
sleeping in, not rising with the birds.

Bertha?

What is it, child?

Nothing, Mama.

Well, that nothing looks like
a whole lot of something to me.

l've been bleeding, Mama.

lt won't stop, and it pains.

-Doctor says there ain't nothing he can do.
-Oh, my baby.

My poor baby.

Don't tell Simon, please.

He don't know anything.

l just don't know how to tell him.

l'm afraid.

Oh, that's all right, child.

lt's all right. Everybody's afraid.

Next Sunday, after church...

...when you see Sister Will Ada Curry,
you give her a dollar.

You ask her to pray.

All right, l'll do that.

Don't you worry.
Don't you worry, honey.

Don't you worry.

Don't worry.

Alex is reading them a story.

l think they'll settle down now.

lt's only things they've broken, Simon.

We got to be thankful
the children weren't here.

l know. l know.

That's why...

...l'm sending you and the boys
back to Henning.

-And you? You'll be coming with us.
-No, l can't go now.

l can't just cut and run...

...because some yahoos think
they can frighten me off.

Them yahoos have done
a pretty good job...

...because l'm frightened,
aren't you?

Of course l am.

There's nothing l'd rather do this minute
than pack and leave...

...but what about Ab Decker?

l promised him pie in the sky
if he would go against F.R. Lewis.

-What about all the rest of them?
-What about Simon Haley?

Who the hell is Simon Haley?

Some kind of...?

Some kind of oracle? Some five-and-dime
Solomon telling people:

"When ye shall sow" and
"When ye shall reap."

-You're a teacher, that's why you're here.
-What l am, Bertha, is Aleck Haley's son.

lf l hadn't been wasted, been sent
to school, l'd be Ab Decker today.

l'm nothing but a sharecropper's son
with a three-piece suit.

And if l needed something to remind me
of that, well, just look around you.

A master's degree
from a white man's college...

...didn't stop them from violating my home,
terrorizing my family.

And God knows it won't stop them
from doing the same thing...

...to any farmer who fights back.

l know your sound when you done
made up your mind.

l don't have a choice.

l got Ab Decker in. l've got
to see him through, and all the others.

-Fine. Then we'll all stay.
-No, l'll stay.

l'll stay.
You and the boys are going back.

Well, l won't do it. l won't go.

Damn it, woman,
you'll do what l tell you!

Bertha.

Bertha, l'm sorry. Bertha, l'm....

Well, it's just, l don't--

l mean, l don't know.

God, would you look
what they've done to us?

Got me snapping at you
like some kind of animal.

Last time l let you out of my sight,
you were gone a year.

l worried so about you.

Sometimes l thought
l'd just shrivel up and die.

-l know.
-You don't know.

You don't know the half.

And l swore then if the Lord brought
you back to me, broken or whole...

...that no war or nothing would ever
separate you from me again.

l love you.

Don't send me away, please,
not even for a minute.

Honey.

Honey, we've got the rest
of our lives together.

Oh, please.

Okay. Okay.

Dr. Huguley, they broke into my home.

And you're making it sound
as if somehow it was my fault.

When Senator Griffin and Mr. Lewis
first came in here...

-...they were howling for blood.
-l know about that.

They told me that if you were not fired...

...they could cut this school's
appropriations down to nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Oh, for God's sake, Haley...

...what on earth could have
possessed you...

...to tell that man to file for that
government subsidy in his own name?

Sir, that's the way the law
is supposed to work.

Not in this county!

l had to apply...

...a lifetime supply of soft soap...

...just to calm those two men down.

And did you sing your favorite spiritual?

No, but l would have.

Oh, l would have.

l would do anything
to keep this school open.

You see, because l believe...

...that the only way blacks are going
to be able to move up in this country...

...is through education.

So, yes, l would sing.

Yes, l would do the buck-and-wing...

...wearing blackface with oversized white
lips on the steps of the state capitol...

...in order to keep this institution alive.

You know, the one essential principle...

...you do not seem to be able to grasp...

...that all of your wonderful programs
and ideas...

...all of your wonderful pioneering methods
for farming instruction...

...well, they don't mean a damn...

...unless the doors of this institution
are kept open.

-l realize that, sir.
-Do you?

But the college cannot close its eyes
to what's going on outside its walls.

For the first time in history, we've got
a chance to help the Ab Deckers--

Ab Deckers? Ab Decker.
The man is not on this faculty.

The man is not even a student...

...and yet this man has the future
of this college...

...hanging by a thread.

Sir, there's a clear issue
of right and wrong here.

l'm fighting for a principle.

Well, then, let me give you
something else to think about.

lf it comes down to Ab Decker
or this college...

...professor, l expect you
to make the proper choice.

l'm sorry to bust in on you at this hour
of the morning, but something's come up.

lt's your friend Ab Decker.

What happened?

Lewis went to the sheriff...

...to get him to seize Decker's property.

Wagons, mules, everything.

But Lewis doesn't hold the mortgage
on Ab's property.

-He can't take a thing.
-He's gonna take it all.

He's going out there with deputies
first thing this morning.

-Does Ab know about this?
-l'd say that he does, yeah.

He went into Swickert's Hardware Store
yesterday...

...come out with two boxes
of shotgun shells.

Oh, my God. They'll kill him.

Wait for me.

-Will you come with me?
-l can't do that.

Last time l got tied up with you,
l near got myself drowned.

My job is these rednecks
right here in this county.

lf l'm gonna help them, l can't stick
my neck out any further with you.

l already broke most every rule
l was raised with.

Now, you go or don't go...

...but l can't go, and that's flat.

Good luck.

You better go.

Honey, if there's something you can do
to stop this trouble, then you have to go.

l'll get dressed.

Alex, what you doing up?

But, Mama, you're sick.

How can you let him go?

He can't stay here, baby.

He's got to help that farmer.

The man's in trouble.

But so are you, Mama.

Alex...

...l know this is hard for you
to understand now.

Most people live their whole lives...

...without ever having
anything important to do.

So when you've got something that's
important like your daddy has...

...you can't let anything stand
in your way. Not anything.

You just gotta see it through.

That's all anybody can do.

Just-- Just see it through.

Ab, we're waiting.

Ab!

Ab!

Sheriff?

You're the one
that got all this trouble rolling.

Now, if l was you, l'd just move along.

Perhaps if l can go in
and talk to Ab alone...

...l might be able to convince him
to come out.

Now, look, Mr. F.R. Lewis wants
them mules that are legally his.

And he wants them alive and kicking.

You ready, boys?

Sheriff, please! Let me talk to him.

All right. You got a couple minutes.

First one come through that door
a dead man.

Ab, it's me. lt's Professor Haley.
l wanna talk to you.

-ls you alone?
-Yes.

Look, come around the side.

What you want?

Ab, they only gave me
a couple of minutes.

l want you to come out with me.

No, sir. l ain't doing that.

Ab, you don't have a chance.

There are six deputies out there
that l know of.

Well, they ain't coming in here.

Ain't no mortgage on my mule.

They got no right to take my property.

Don't matter if the sheriff himself come.

Ain't nobody taking my mule.

Haley, you're running out of time.

What about your family, Ab?

Oh, l think they be safe enough.

l took them to my sister
over to DeKalb County.

l don't care where they are. You--

What good are you to them dead?

You see this here mule?

This is Captain.

Now, you can kick him,
and you can whup him...

...and you can push him real hard,
and he can take it...

...but if you pushes him too much...

...he just set himself and kick out
at the next person who try to push him.

Haley, you coming out or not?

l wouldn't do that.

This ain't your fight, professor.

Ab, please...

...come outside with me.

Now, professor...

...you didn't come here to shoot me.

Come on.

He coming out?

No.

Sheriff, please...

...there's no need to use guns.

l believe that was his choice.

Now, you just get clear of that shack.

Now, l ain't gonna tell you again.

Haley, get the hell out of there!

-Mr. Pettijohn, what--?
-There ain't nothing you can do now.

Clear out, like he says.

Help me!

l got him. Hey, l got him.

Ab, you all right?

Oh, mercy.

Okay, boys.

Let's load up.

-Thank God he's alive.
-Yes, and you too.

l got halfway home before it come to me
you'd walk right into the middle of it.

That's a damn pretty stunt, Haley.

Thanks for coming in, for everything.

But l know sharecroppers' sons
from Tennessee ought to stick together.

That's the straight of it.

First the doctor, now you.

lt don't make sense.

A darky shoots up a deputy,
gets the whole world on a silver platter.

Next they'll be sending one of them
red lawyers down from the North.

Seems like we ought to just hang that boy
and save the state a lot of money.

Here's somebody else to see you, Ab.

Professor.

This here the government check?

Well, go to war, Miss Annie.

Mr. Pettijohn leaked word
to the federal office in Tuskegee.

That's when Lewis had to surrender it.

Let me see.

$1 28.53.

That's sure gonna be a help, yes, sir.

Now that l got my family all nice and
settled with kinfolk over in Coffee Springs...

...this here money gonna see them
to past a year.

And in two years, my oldest,
he gonna be able to take on a farm himself.

All this time....

All this time, you never told Lewis
l put you up to this.

Now look what l've done to you.

Professor.

You and me, we won.

l got my check.

There's--

Well, there's just no way
l can ever apologize adequately--

Professor...

...can you do me a favor?

Take this to my family?

The one man l trust see it get done.

l'd be honored, Ab.

Just....

Just sign it on the back.

Oh, l think you gotta help me there too.

l figure you're pretty good at teaching.

Just right there. Yeah.

Thank you.

Professor Haley.

Dr. Crawford.

l'm glad you're here.

Mrs. Haley has had a relapse.

A relapse?

Oh, my God.

How serious is it?

Well, she was bleeding again,
but l managed to control it.

-Well, is she in pain?
-No, not right now.

Why don't you go on up and see her.

-l'll be outside for a minute.
-Thank you, doctor.

l'm so glad you're here.

l never should have left.

Bertha, why didn't you tell me?

There wasn't nothing you can do for me.

But, Bertha--

Simon...

...we decided you had to go on.

Honey...

...he got his check.

We won.

l'm so glad.

l know you worked hard for it.

Don't it seem like there was always
something trying to keep us apart?

Too often.

Much, much too often.

l missed you so
when you were in the Army.

That's why l traveled to Chicago
before you went overseas.

Well, you know l--

l just had to send for you.

Remember that party in Chicago
at your friend Doxey's?

We only had that one night together.

Simon?

Simon, it's so crowded.
Can't we go out on the fire escape?

Alex?

Promise me--

Promise me they'll visit Mama.

You know how she loves the boys.

l promise.

Bertha?

Oh, Bertha.

What are we ever gonna do without you?

-My God, just look at you.
-Grandma. Grandma.

Well, bless my soul.

We gonna stay all summer.

Julius, of course you is.

You've come home where you belong.

For the whole summer.

What about you? You're not staying
with us past the summer, are you?

No, l can't, Aunt Liz.

l've got some work to finish...

...with a friend of mine,
a man named Pettijohn.

l understand.

You started something.
You got to see it through.

Alex, come to Grandma.

What's troubling you?

You bothered, boy?

Alex?

Boy, what you doing out here
kicking up a ruckus at this hour?

You knows Liz and me got to rise early.

l remembered this.

l was thinking about it,
and l couldn't sleep.

Look what done become of it.

And your grandpa was so proud.

They all dead.

Oh, well, now.

Child, there's some of us still alive.

There's me and your daddy...

...and your auntie Liz
and cousin Georgia.

But you're all gonna die.

Well...

...that be true.

We's all gonna die sometime.

Everybody leads a mortal life.

Like your grandpa used to say:

"One life ain't nothing but a tiny span...

...in the life of the tree.

And the tree...

...ain't nothing but a tiny span
in the mind of God."

Everything looks small alongside time.

Everything but the family.

Now, look what you got here.

All these people,
all from the same family.

As far back as we can go...

...it started with the African,
Kunta Kinte.

Then come Kizzy and Chicken George...

...and Tom Harvey and me.

And your mama and now you.

The family goes on...

...in the flesh...

...and in the remembering.

And you got to remember...

...and go on.

And then one day...

...you'll tell the story...

...of this family...

...to your family.

Oh, Grandma.

Next on Roots:

-The Army?
-Alex, two, three years...

...you'll come out a grown man.

We start with shining shoes...

...move on to bed-making,
polishing silver...

...and if you turn out to be
smarter than you look...

...maybe in nine or 1 0 years,
you'll be up to waiting tables.

Girl wears herself out battling these sailor
pants with the 1 3 buttons in front.

The buttons represent
the 1 3 original states of the Union.

Honey, l know that.

Let's start with Delaware,
move on to Pennsylvania...

...and work our way right down
to little Rhode lsland.

You had no right to speak
to my commanding officer...

...without consulting me first.

l'm a grown man. l'm not a wet-nosed kid.

l was just smoothing the path.
You had to get out.

Dad, l don't want out.

-You have to enroll in school.
-l'm not going back to school.

l am staying in the Coast Guard.

Alex, you're soaking me.

Will you marry me?

My medals were here,
the United States eagle was here.

And you know what l saw?
Not a war hero, no, sir.

Not a veteran, not a serviceman.

l saw what they saw.

A nigger in a fancy monkey suit.

Must be many stories like that.

You have something very special to say.
Why not say it?

Please, don't go. Nan, you can't leave.

You left me a long time ago.

Maybe you were never with me.
Maybe it was a mistake from the start.

-Maybe l was just a small-town girl--
-Don't say that. No.

You shut up!