A Day in Black and White (2001) - full transcript

- I'm telling you,
that's the kinda shit

that killed Hammer's career.

- The rapper?

- I'm not talking about Arm
and Hammer, motherfucker.

Bust shit.

Hammer was one of those Frisco
roughnecks first, right?

That was his image.

Then he put on them big
Sinbad the Sailor pants

and went bare chested,

calling himself an
entertainer, right?

That means pop.



Clearly a crossover move.

Can't fault the man for
reinventing himself as per the

market trends, shit, I
close this joint down

and trade in them spears
and masks for ninja outfits

and samurai swords in a
nanosecond if a bunch of

Koreans moved in around here.

- It's Japanese.

- Well fuck it, I'll
sell sushi, too.

[jazz music]

But back to my point, Hammer
fucked up when he tried

to go hard again.

Now let me digress, when
old Hammer went pop,

he lost hardcore brothers
and got Teddy in the country

mall, but when Teddy
heard from the streets



that Hammer was a sell-out,
Teddy stops listening.

It don't matter that Teddy
is the one that Hammer

sold out to, because young
Theodore just wants to be down.

So Hammer's now stuck
with supply but no demand

from either constituency,
pop or hardcore.

[jazz music]

- Do I have to give you a
drum roll to get to the point?

- What I'm saying is
black folk in general

wanna stay black, in
thought and spirit.

And in the hood, if you're
gonna be hardcore down,

you can not even smile.

That shit's a capital offense
in the street by laws.

[jazz music]

- What does this have
to do with my speech?

- I see I'm a hafta go
remedial on your ass.

[jazz music]

[alarm buzzing]

[alarm buzzing]

[alarm buzzing]

- Hey listen.

I need you

to

help me write a
speech for Nicole.

No.

It's a,

for the school
where she teaches.

She's not a counselor
there anymore.

No.

She teaches

math now.

Algebra, I think.

- Why does this have
to be a race speech?

- I don't know, I think
Nicole wants to impress

her principal, you know?

- Isn't it career day?

Aren't you supposed to
talk about your job?

That's what the guest speakers
did when I was in school.

- But there's all
this sensitivity

and multiculturalism, change,

you know, stuff,

diversity training in
schools and all that.

- So the principal wants
some sort of sensitivity

seminar or something?

- Yeah, yeah.

I guess so, I mean.

- What do you know
about sensitivity?

- You read the article on race
relations in the workplace

I did for Essence Magazine?

- Sorry, my
subscription ran out.

- Maybe you might renew, 'cause
you might learn something.

- So these three paragraphs
make you an expert?

- Richard, you gonna help
me write this thing or not?

[hip hop music]

- Nah, girl, you can't
tell me he is that shallow.

- He is, Labrega, I've
known him longer than you.

- But didn't he go to
that Million Man March?

I saw him with the T shirt!

- Girl, that don't mean nothing.

A brother can be as
Afro-centric as you want

and still be
skeezing on the side.

Now he's having his
party at the house,

but it was early, right?

So my brother's up there
with two of his boys,

watching the game,
folks coming in.

But they not gonna
get up off the sofa

and welcome nobody, right?

The game's on.

Like them sorry-ass Knicks
going anywhere anyway.

- Okay, everybody knows
they can't beat Mike.

- Beat Mike?

They gonna beat Mike when Mike
put his Nike's in his locker.

Hello.

So anyway, one of my girlfriends
comes over and she about

5' 10", statuesque,
size two, model.

- Oh, she's other.

- Oh yeah, now they just
go up and leave the game.

They kick their little
tired rap to acting all

suave bow-lay and what not
and do you know what the

first words our of my
little brother's mouth were?

- Go on.

- Oh, you got that good hair.

- We might not see eye to eye.

- That's okay, with
your help I figure,

I can write this thing fairly.

- I've got my biases, too.

- I never said you were Gandhi.

- Oh, by I enjoy
my peace my friend.

- Come on, man.

Told Nicole meet
me here at 8:30.

- Nicole's coming here?

- Yeah, she left something at
my apartment the other night.

- Does she know you
haven't written the speech?

- No, and I would appreciate it

if you didn't mention anything.

The last time she thought
I wasn't doing something

she wanted,

I didn't have sex for a week.

- No, he didn't.

- Yes, he did.

- No, he didn't.

- Yes, he did.

Later on, I charged
him up about it, too.

I said now you know if that
girl had had a little nap,

if her shit wasn't relaxed,
you'd have been sitting on

that sofa rooting
for John Starks.

- That's the truth.

- Of course that's the truth.

- Alright, no problem.

But just so you know, I
think race is something that

just doesn't get settled.

- I hear ya.

No, actually, I disagree.

But I think

it'll be good in terms
of a speech, you know?

I mean, the differences
in our thinking,

that's what's
gonna make it work.

- Don't be too sure.

- I appreciate your honesty.

But you're gonna help me, right?

- Yeah.

Mikey, one thing, though.

- What?

- No

O.J.

I'm tired of O.J.

- No problem.

No O.J.

[hip hop music]

- What the fuck is this?

Aw, for Christ's sake.

I knew I shoulda gotten
this thing tuned up.

God damn it.

Alright.

Okay, here we go.

God.

- So what do you think of O.J.?

[laughter]

- I know, I can't think
of anything, either.

Ssh.

Alright, what if we just
talk about some topics?

- We'll make a list.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- I'll write up
the script later.

[hip hop music]

- I was in a bar having lunch,

and they just cheered
for the verdict,

like thank, God, O.J.'s free.

- It wasn't the verdict.

It was the payback point
in the injustice column.

For once the system
fucked white people.

- You think that?

- Yeah.

- You really think that?

- Yeah.

- I don't feel guilty
about 200 years of slavery.

- 400.

- I mean, it was
before I was born.

What?

- 400, it was 400
years of slavery.

Jamestown, Virginia, 1609.

The first slaves
were brought there

and they were slaves on
the long ass boat ride

before they got there.

400 years.

- At the turn of the century,

W.E.B. DuBois

said that the greatest
problem facing America

was the question of the
color line, and it still is.

- What the fuck do you
know about W.E.B. DuBois?

- I took a Black Studies
elective to get out of

a statistics class.

Help me get together with
Sharon Williams, too.

- You got Sharon Williams?

Bro.

I tried to date her
for the longest time.

- You were too nice.

- What?

- You wouldn't make fun of her.

- Oh yeah, yeah,
that woulda worked.

- I think you were in your
proud Afro-centric phase

when you couldn't make
fun of your African Queen.

- Slow down.

Slow it down.

- I'm telling you,
Sharon Williams

was one of those rich
girls from Cherry Hill.

She didn't see
color, she saw class.

- What, I don't have class?

- Not with her.

I'm telling you.

You don't get to those
girls by being nice, man.

They grow up with
those prep school boys

hanging on their every whim.

- So did you do the old
wound and heal, is that?

- Oh yeah.

Cut them, praise.

Miss a date, bring flowers.

- How was she?

- What, why are you
looking at me like that?

With that, like,
look on your face?

- I don't know.

Alright.

Nothing special.

- You know, I was at the club,

you know, PePe's place?

And I'm sitting in there with
my little Tanqueray and tonic

like I like to do on occasion.

Now back then, I wasn't
getting much play,

my hair was about that short,

and even though I was looking
cute, nobody was paying me

no mind.

So I get this idea,

I'll go back to that
same club one week later,

weave down to here.

Let me tell you, they were
all in my business, girl.

Brothers just coming out
of the woodwork with drinks

and everything.

- See, they thinking,
ohh, she must be mixed,

she ain't all black.

- See, that's why I gotta
give props to Chico DeBarge.

You see that new video he have?

- No, is it on BET?

- BET bought
something, anyway girl,

he's got a regular brown
skinned sister as the star

of that video.

Mmhmm.

You know we never see that.

- You're not lying.

- Tupac?

Please.

He's gonna tell black
people what to do?

- He recites some history.

- Oh please, all these gangster
rappers telling black people

with college
educations what to do.

That doesn't strike you as odd?

- Okay, so you're saying
that lower class blacks

have the upper and
middle class in check?

- You know it.

You get called Uncle
Tom in a second

if you went against the
kind of agenda they set.

Right?

I mean, I'm not saying be white,

but this tough guy stuff
is not exactly your

Stanley Kaplan
formula for success.

Imagine if white people were
dictated to by white trash?

We'd all live in trailer
parks in West Virginia

and be the most populous state.

- These brothers are just hung
up on this European standard

of beauty.

- And there's so few
black men as it is.

- They either in jail, gay, or
else they're hung up on that

light, bright, better
than white perception.

- LSP.

- Or they jump across the
track to a white girl.

- Oh now, see, I don't
think that's LSP, though.

I think that's 'cause
them white girls give up

the orals right quick.

- Now see, I know that's right.

My room mate up at Rutger's,
she was always talking about

that shit with her friends.

They damn near think
they enjoy that mess.

- Do you know what
I can't stand?

Is when I see a brother with
a white chick and she ain't

even that cute.

- Okay!

- I mean they either
can't handle us

or they just aint' interested
in loving nobody, right?

They lost.

I'm telling you, slavery is
still messing with people.

- Oh, it ain't over.

It ain't over.

Drama ain't over for
the soldier just because

the war is over.

- You got that right.

Ooh, girl, we got to go.

- So, when's your
brother coming back?

- Next week, I will tell him
you were talking about him.

- No, don't say anything.

- I know how to set people
up, I'll hook it up.

- Alright.

What do I owe?

- Nothing, I can
put in for this.

- I was hoping you'd say that.

- Cheap.

- Excuse me, I couldn't
help but overhear,

what is L S P?

- Light Skin Presumption.

You know, like when a
black woman dresses up with

long, straight hair,
short, tight, skirt and.

- Heels.

- Yeah, like that,
like a white girl.

- Okay.

Well thanks.

- No problem.

Hey, you on duty?

- Sure, where ya headed?

- Houston and Broadway.

- Hop on in.

- What, 40 acres and a mule?

- Yeah, knowing Spike Lee,
that's a black thing, right?

- Leave Spike alone, man.

- Oh, it's Spike to you?

- Yeah, Spike.

Spike goddamn genius Lee.

- Oh, Spike Lee is no genius.

- What, you're crazy.

- His movies are like film
school level with that

floating actor crap.

I mean, they're not even
walking, what is that?

- Come, you ever notice
how black people always get

criticized like that?

- Ooh, you're not
getting away with that.

- What?

- White people never get
to criticize anybody black.

- Oh, really?

You coulda fooled me.

- It's so taboo to say

anything bad about
black people today.

- Stop, stop it, just stop it.

You wouldn't say
anything about, like that

about Coppola,
Scorsese, De Palma,

even a dude like
Cimino, you wouldn't?

- Oh, well, Deerhunter
was long as hell.

Shoulda been called The
Unbearable Length of Film.

- Yeah, well you wouldn't
be so critical, I mean,

you see Do The Right Thing?

A great movie, lost
the Academy Award to

Driving Miss Fucking Daisy.

Huh?

That shows you the
mindset of the Academy.

Subservient blacks.

- Don't even go there.

- What?

Fine, I'll let it
go, I'll let it go.

But you gotta deal with the
black quarterback issue.

- That I will do.

[marching band music]

- Why is that every
black quarterback
coming out of college

is too short to
play in the pros?

- I don't know,
hormones perhaps?

- Ha ha ha, right.

- Don't you think these
owners are business people?

I would think that they
would want the best product

out there, that's all the
players are to them anyway.

So why wouldn't
they let them play?

- They wouldn't let them play.

You ever hear of the
old boy network, hello?

And, hell, most of the
season ticket holders, white.

In fact, all those motherfuckers
all drunk up in the stands

are white.

- White with jobs
to pay for tickets.

- Yeah, well, hey,
that shit is documented

is all I'm saying.

Before the NBA learned how
to market Larry Bird and

Magic Johnson's smile, white
people weren't going to the

games because they couldn't
identify with the overly

black product.

Look that shit up, it's in
the newspapers in the 70s.

- The 70s?

This is the 90s, Michael
Jordan's jersey is probably on

more white kids'
backs than black kids.

I don't see any white kids
walking around wearing

Steve Kerr jerseys.

- Well you just need
to recognize that
times haven't changed

that much.

Steve Kerr?

Shit.

- I mean, that's all you
ever saw in all them old

black and white movies.

- I know, you never see any
white cab drivers anymore.

- Oh no, just people with
names you can't pronounce.

- Girl, the other day

I had this cab driver
with this name,

it was something.

Saddam Saddam Fuckman.

- I had him too,
the other day, girl.

It was a short Korean dude
with like 10 of them pine

air conditioners.

- Yes, that's him!

- [Driver] I just hate it
when they don't speak English.

- That's right.

- So tell me, what happened
to all the white cab drivers?

- [Driver] Third floor of the
Museum of Natural History,

right next to the dinosaurs.

[laughing]

- What does this mean?

- I don't know.

Haven't been hanging
around the kids lately.

You know the higher and
higher I go in my career,

the less and less
white guys I meet.

- White guys?

You mean blacks.

- What'd I say?

- You said white, you
meant black, right?

- That upset you or something?

- What?

- You were all indignant.

- You mean like I can't
believe you said white guys,

not black?

- Yeah, like that.

- I'm just saying you
said the wrong thing.

- Yeah.

- You gotta admit, it
sounds a little weird.

I mean there aren't
a lot of black people

as you go up the
corporate ladder.

That was what you meant, right?

- Yeah.

- See, this is what I
was talking about before.

White guys can't say
anything about black people.

- Excuse me?

- It's true.

- True what?

I wasn't the one getting
upset about it, you were.

This is your shit.

- You were getting a
little sarcastic there.

- Come on.

- Alright, you
don't agree with me

that a white, heterosexual
male can't catch a break?

- Oh, poor baby, they say bad
words and hurt your feelings.

- I'm serious, if you're
white you don't get cut

any slack.

- Try getting lynched.

Can we just move on?

- You think you just
aced me, or something?

- This is not about.

- No, see I wasn't really
satisfied about what we said

about this before.

- So what is it?

Too many stand-ups making fun
of white guys for your taste?

- Oh, fuck you, you don't
understand what this is like.

See, everything is geared

toward making blacks
look like the good guys.

Affirmative action,
the media, all that.

I think it may be
the greatest problem

facing white people today.

Is we're expected to feel
so guilty about everything.

It's bullshit.

It's bullshit, it is.

See,

I don't think blacks
should be able to get away

with hiding behind
the past anymore.

I, for one, am not
gonna stand for it.

- Must be white thing.

Guess I don't understand.

- No, I don't think you do.

- Why should you
like the black part?

You don't know shit
about being black.

- See, now that's ignorant.

- I'm ignorant?

- Yeah, that's like
saying I can't understand

what it's like to be

a French woman.

- Oh, you do?

- Well I can read.

- You don't bleed.

- Fuck you.

- Fuck you.

- No, fuck you.

This proprietary shit
is so outta line.

The other day I'm standing
right next to you,

and that friend of yours,
what's his face, Mustafa,

makes some reference
to white boys.

And he knows I'm your friend.

- How long you been
holding that back?

- Since it happened.

- Uh huh.

- Don't pretend you
don't know what I mean.

White boys is the equivalent
of saying niggers.

- Step off.

- It's like me
saying those niggers.

- Hey.

Just hold it with the N word.

- It's like someone
saying those niggers

while you're in my
presence and I say nothing,

expecting you to just go
along with some unsaid thought

like, I don't mean you,
you're one of the good ones.

- Lemme explain to you.

White boys is not the same,

at all,

as saying the N word.

- The way he said it, it was.

You say boy in that context,
it has a negative meaning,

just like it did
in slavery times.

- Oh, so you mean that when
a black man says white boys

is the same as when some

big, fat Louisiana cracker
sheriff calls a black man boy?

- Yup, it's like some kind of
boy reversal thing going on.

White people today can't
say boy in reference

to black people.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- You should take a driving tour

through the historic
South, my friend.

- Well, I think you're wrong.

- Hey, well, I
think you're wrong.

- Can you back that
up with anything?

- History?

- Revisionist history?

- Fuck you, man.

- No, fuck you, why do you
have to be such an asshole?

- Why do you have to
be such a white boy?

- Fuck you.

- Fuck you.

[buzzing]

- Hi, Nicole.

- Hi.

- Good morning.

- Morning.

Everything okay?

- Yeah, yeah, I'll
see you later.

- Okay.

- Hey.

- Hi.

- Then they asked me to gimme
a getting married thing,

you know, so I gave 'em my,

my copy of Huckleberry Finn.

- What?

- Well that's what I
was reading at the time.

- Shit.

- Yeah, right, that's exactly
the way they looked at

each other, like what
the fuck is this?

But they don't say
anything, you know.

I figure that was
their first time.

Then on top of that, I give
'em my keys, too, I mean,

goddamn, my parents were just
a few feet away in the house.

- Wait, there were two of 'em?

- Oh yeah.

- Well what'd you do?

- What'd I do?

I watched them walk off
with my keys, my Huck Finn

and my one dollar,
all that I had.

And then about 15 minutes
later, I come bolting out of

my house with a
baseball bat in my hand,

walking up and down
the park, you know,

I'm wanting my piece.

I'm pissed, you know?

Like pissed off, they
got 50 cents a piece.

And crazy, too, like the
bat's gonna do something

if they show up
with a gun, right?

- I bet you hated all black
people right at that moment,

didn't you?

- I didn't say they were black.

- You didn't?

- No.

- Then what were they?

- I don't know, they were
talking some kind of Spanish

or something.

- So you're not gonna
tell me what happened?

- Nicole, I told you, nothing.

- You're right, you
told me nothing.

Come on, you're being
exceptionally cranky

for a morning person.

- Here's your stuff.

- Thanks.

- Hey.

I can't believe this.

- Where you going?

- Your job is to take me
where I wanna go, man,

not ask me questions, okay?

- Lunch time, no
gas, go home, bye.

- Hey!

Damn bastard.

- Can I get the cab now?

- You shouldn't have to.

- And babies
shouldn't die of SIDS,

that's the way the world works.

Black people, men especially
have a different reality

in America and the sooner
the people understand that.

- Oh, the people?

What are you, Angela Davis
with a skin graft now?

- I think that as soon as
African Americans accept

the screwed up nature
of things American,

the sooner they can lose
the rage and move forward

as a people.

- Thank you, Doctor Freud.

- Don't dismiss me, Michael.

I'm not some white,
Liberal woman with a cause.

Okay, I'm a white, Liberal
woman with a cause,

but I've also got a point.

Every people on this
planet has been captured by

another at some point.

The Hapsburgs, Grecians,
Spanish, Egyptians, Chinese,

Aztec, Incas, Ottomans,
Muskove, the Celtics,

my early ancestors, the Vikings,
barbarians that they were.

- Look, Nicole, all I'm
saying is that turning the

other cheek mentality doesn't.

- Michael, that's not
what I'm getting at.

- No, listen Bernard
Shaw once said,

"The rational man adapts
himself to the world

"and the irrational man
adapts the world to himself.

"Therefore all
progress is contingent

"on the irrational man."

- The Desert Storm
announcer said that?

- No, the,

the playwright.

- Y'all need a cab?

- You know, it's in your
best interest to tell me

what you and Richard
were arguing about.

- Hmm?

- If you do, I won't get
passive aggressive on you.

Otherwise, six months from now,
you'll be watching some game

and I'll pick a fight with
you about how you fold your

towels or something and
make you miss your game.

Or at least lessen
you viewing pleasure.

- One less day of therapy a
week might not be a bad idea.

Okay.

I haven't written
the speech yet.

Richard was.

- Michael.

Okay, I'm not gonna get angry,
you were honest with me.

Go ahead.

- He was helping me out.

- I can't believe you.

Anyway.

What were you two?

- We got into it.

He thought white boys
is the same as saying

the N word.

- Nigger?

Richard?

- Yeah.

- Why?

- He just wanted to write
the black part of the speech.

- Boys.

- What boys?

This is not one of your little.

- It's okay, take it easy, baby.

- Don't trivialize this, Nicole.

- You know.

- This is a big thing I'm just.

- He didn't mean anything.

- Right, well he said that I.

- A child calls a friend
fat and stupid because

he won't share any,

any of his ice cream.

Why, because fat and
stupid are better cut downs

than selfish.

Greedy is pretty good,
but not as cutting,

so he reaches for fat and
stupid because it's the quickest

and the sharpest.

- Child had to be thinking
fat and stupid before.

- No, not necessarily, before
they went to get ice cream,

that child might have
been thinking this guy

is the greatest guy
in the whole world.

The phrase fat and stupid
may have never entered

that child's mind before.

- This is stupid.

- Fat and stupid?

- Stop it.

I can't believe
you're defending him.

- Richard is your friend.

You've known each other
since high school,

for crying out loud.

- Race is a serious thing.

- Only when you let it be.

- Can't believe this.

- I've heard lots
of African Americans

call each other nigger.

- Yeah, well that's different.

It's wrong.

- Why is that wrong?

You know, Frank Sinatra and
Dean Martin used to call each

other that other
dago all the time.

And you know how
close they were.

- But oppressed
races don't do that.

You don't hear
Woody Allen calling

Mel Brooks that other kike.

- Okay.

Just have your speech ready by.

- I'll be ready.

- I know.

You're a great writer.

- Saying that to a writer
is better than saying

you're a great lover.

- I know.

- Yeah.

- So you'll be there at 2:30?

- 1:45.

- Just come running up
the aisle by three, okay?

The principal's gonna be there.

- Hey, you know something.

You two would have some
beautiful looking kids,

you know that?

- I think I'll
get out here, too.

Go to Barnes and Noble's
and get some writing done.

Maybe I'll overhear
something good.

- Yeah, well stand by
the self-help aisle.

- Yeah, good conversation?

- Well, they're
the most talkative.

- Huh.

Hey, I'm gonna get out here too.

- Alright.

- And can I have the receipt?

- Sure.

There's your receipt
and your change.

- Uh, no.

- Thank you, sir.

[hip hop music]

[laughing]

- Hey, baby.

- How you doing?

- I'm here, I thought
you weren't coming.

- Oh, and miss my
session with you?

This is my therapy.

- You're so sweet.

- What you cooking today?

- I don't know.

I'm thinking gumbo or jambalaya.

- What's the difference?

- How much I charge people.

- How's Susan?

- She called in again today.

Me and Barnett are gonna
be running around that

restaurant like two fools.

- Oh, Rita, you ain't
never been anybody's fool.

- I should be pissed
off at her but I can't.

Those damn kids of hers.

They're always sick.

The only thing that
man of hers left her

was bad genes and
them two children.

- Tell me something,

what do you think about
interracial dating?

- No, he's white, too.

- No, no, this a hypothetical.

I just had this couple
in the cab today.

- And they were interracial?

- Yeah.

Yeah, you know, they seemed
nice and everything but

they just had so many
damn problems, you know?

- I know.

- Like when they
got out of the cab,

I tried to say
something nice to them,

they acted weird.

- Don't tell me you told
them they're gonna have

beautiful children together?

Oh God, please.

- So how'd you know?

- Every Liberal says that
to an interracial couple.

They must hear that
shit twenty four seven.

- I didn't mean anything by it.

I just wanted to give
them a vote of confidence.

- Yeah, they need your
vote of confidence

like they need a
bill on Capitol Hill.

- No, I just wanted to.

- What, let them know it was
okay for them to be together?

- No.

- I done that, too,
don't worry about it.

- Yeah?

- It's like, it's like
you're trying to justify

that you, to yourself, not
to anyone else but yourself,

that you are a civilized person.

So you let them know
that it is okay, by you,

for them to be together,
because you're civilized.

Hey, Barnett?

Do you need me right now?

- [Barnett] Nah, I'm cool.

- So what do you think
about interracial dating?

- This thing is really
bothering you, isn't it?

- It's not bothering me.

I'm just sort of
curious, you know?

- Well, what you wanna know?

Go ahead, talk to me.

- I'm talking.

- What you wanna know?

- Do you approve of it?

- For me?

For other people?

Who?

What you?

You have to be specific, what
do you mean do I approve?

Me, you, who?

- For us.

- William.

I only date black men.

And it's not
because of the myth,

'cause I done see me
some new dick white men

and some jerk dick black men.

- Whoa, wait a minute, I
thought you said you didn't date

white men.

- I don't, I like porno.

- Oh you.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

East coast or west?

- Get outta here.

- Come on.

- I'm not telling.

- I want you to tell me.

- West, west.

- West?

- They have better
production values,

and more storyline.

You?

- East, east all the way.

- Get outta here.

- Get outta here, you,
east is grittier and the

tits are real.

- Oh stop, William I
know you like fake.

- I don't like fake, I
wanna see 'em jiggling

and bouncing, come on.

That west coast shit don't
have no bounce to it at all.

Come on.

- You know what I like the best?

I like the faces they make.

Woo.

Big turn on, big time.

Mmmm.

♪ Living in the ghetto

♪ In the ghetto

- Alright, so where were we?

- The Affirmative Action hire.

- That you

want to veto.

- Not veto, just table until
we get more information.

- Are you expecting a
transmission from Mars?

- That's very funny.

I'm just saying we have a
little time before we need

to send in this brief.

- Yes, we do.

As a matter of fact,
we're gonna finish early

and this is the last
item on our agenda,

so I'm asking that we talk
about affirmative action.

Not as it pertains to the brief.

- I think I know
where this is going.

- I think so, too.

- You want to talk about
an internal program again,

don't you?

- I do not, I want to talk
about Affirmative Action.

If that intern program
should happen to come up.

- See?

- Really, I'm kidding.

I just wanna know
what you think.

[hip hop music]

- I think the white students
don't know what to think.

- And that's the fault of the
African American students?

- I didn't say that.

What I am trying to get across
is that black separatism

causes psychological
confusion in white students.

- Go on.

- When the African American
kids keep to themselves,

and in a lot of instances,
celebrate their blackness,

the white students,
they find it hostile.

They wonder what they've
done to make the blacks,

the African Americans
stay away from them.

- Okay, I understand
your definition,

but spin that thought around.

Black students being black,
talking black, dressing black,

joking, whatever, are just
black students being black.

Why should white students
be put off by that?

Especially because white
students are always together,

being white, joking white,
talking white, dressing white.

- Look, I'm not casting blame.

- Then what's your point?

- Just that,

Nicole please.

What I am trying to do is
just to point out a subtlety.

- What about the subtleties
African Americans encounter

every day?

Certain looks or off comments?

I was counseling this one
sophomore, a black student.

- Who?

- As a counselor, I
can't tell you that.

- Oh, I see.

But,

maybe as

Miss Thompson, the
math teacher, you can.

- Right now, I'm talking
to you as a counselor.

- But you know
what I've noticed?

White men, they fantasize

on this downward
attraction thing,

you know what I'm saying?

They're attracted to what
is considered dirtier,

dark and exotic.

And black men,

in their minds, they aspire up.

You know, they
attracted to things like

quote unquote the pure, the
white, the clean and ritzier.

- Now that sounds pretty
stereotypical to me.

- It's all generalizations,
William, but there is some

truth in there.

- So you don't think that
black men have bigger dicks?

- Not unless you've
been with more black men

than I have.

Oh, William, you
play too, come on.

- Nooo.

Highschool, showering
after practice.

The football team, please.

- I was about to say.

- I'm the last of the
Mohicans, you know that?

- You got any class
reunions coming up?

- I ain't inviting you.

- But you know what
it is, William?

When a black man used to
get his thing together,

would start making
a lot of money,

the first thing that
he would do was go out

and date a white woman,
'cause it was a status thing,

ya know?

And nowadays, I see
those same white women

paying for the brothers.

You got Leon, the
muffler repair man eating

sushi a la carte with
Megan, the dairy queen from

Pennsylvania
picking up the bill.

- Yeah, I seen that, too.

You know Megan is just
rebelling against her parents

because of some bullshit
hypocrisy the fed her,

because they couldn't put her
in a better station in life.

- And you know Megan's
parents told her to stay away

from the taboo black man.

- That's the wrong
thing to tell Megan.

- Oh, Megan don't
wanna hear that.

- So, it's reasons like that
that make you disapprove?

- I didn't say I disapprove,
it's just not for me.

Maybe for other people,
but it's not for me.

I'll tell you what I do
think is weird, though.

When people don't date
their own kind at all,

now that shit is weird.

That's some self hate.

- Well you know, maybe, maybe
it's just some kind of fetish.

I mean, maybe, you know,
there's people that just go

for parts.

Yeah, you know what
I mean by parts is

hair color, shoulders, legs,

hands.

- Skin is different.

- Skin is not different.

- It is so.

- Skin is an external
thing that people.

- Oh, come on.

Skin has different, it has
a deeper meaning than that.

Well, I think I better
get back to my job.

- Yeah, I gotta go, too.

I got a date.

With a white woman.

Whoa.

[hip hop music]

- Curtain's closed.

- Damn, we missed her, yo.

- And then there are other
blacks who are so angry

that they don't ever even
deal with Affirmative Action.

They know that they can just
work at McDonald's forever

and never get anywhere.

So they just wanna grab a
shotgun and strike out at

the first white guy who doesn't
have something good to say

about Mary and Barry's wardrobe.

- What do you think about it?

- Ta-shi-kis are okay, I
wore one on a kibbutz once

when I was dating this.

- No, no, no, I mean
what do you think about

Affirmative Action?

- Oh, well,

some applications bother me.

Like it's the last
chance in the world

that I'll ever get
something for free.

I mean there are support
groups for Latins, blacks,

gays, women, everybody.

Nothing for good old
fashioned white guys.

- I think it's called
the Republican Party.

- See, just because the
masters of the universe

are members of my group,
I'm thought of as someone

who doesn't warrant assistance.

- Don't you think
that warranting
assistance is just part

of the American way?

Take the special interests
groups that help get

presidents elected,
or the tax code,

capital gains, home interest.

You are getting assistance,
because it's not a God-given

right to deduct
interest on your homes.

- You know, we like to think
that we're the land of the free

and the home of the brave,

but that's not true.

Really, we're the land of the
chicken shit motherfuckers.

You know, we like to say
on the face of it how

pro-equal opportunity
we are, but we're not.

And God help us if we
could admit the truth.

- Those guys in Congress,
that put that stuff together?

They're going home and
they're fucking their wives

just a little bit better
'cause they think they done

something good for the world.

- Throw corporations
in there, too.

They support

some basketball player
or some rapper idiot

who sings all I need
is a nine and a bitch.

What the heck is that?

A nine and a bitch?

Yeah, that's insane that
they're rolled out there

as role models.

If corporate
sponsors had a clue,

there would not be 13 per
cent of the population

buying 60 per cent
of the sneakers.

- No, see, I disagree.

And you know why

you don't know what
nine and a bitch is?

'Cause you ain't never
lived in a ghetto.

I think the rappers are
the best thing that could

possibly have happened
for African Americans.

They have set us free, okay?

You know why?

'Cause they don't give
a fuck what white people

think about 'em.

They don't wanna be
white, act white,

they don't want white women,

they are young, black warriors,

they will die for
what they believe in.

I think it's refreshing.

And that's why you
don't like 'em.

'Cause you're scared
of 'em, basically,

'cause they're
not scared of you.

- Look, there was a
time in this great city

where there was a schism.

- A schism?

- A schism.

Unique to Brooklyn and Queens.

It was the phenomenon of rock
sucks versus disco sucks.

Now everybody who was
black, except for like the

taped up Elvis Costello
glasses brothers in the

chess club felt that rock sucks.

And on the other side, the
white boys, now I don't mean

white boys as a
derogatory phrase,

I mean boys of non-color,
who for the most part,

felt disco sucks.

See, a lot of
girls like to dance

and you can't hustle to
no Jethro Tull and shit.

I mean the rhythm
just don't work.

And the phenomenon here is
that the white boys started it.

- You were there
when it started?

- Like Crispicus Attucks,

the first man, a black man, to
die in the Revolutionary War.

Ironic shit, huh?

I mean, they kidnapped
the motherfucker,

bring him over on
some slave ship,

give him a fucked up
name like Crispicus

and he gotta be the first
motherfucker to die.

But I digress.

- Yes, you do.

- What I'm saying is that
the white boys made a comment

about disco, you know?

I mean they probably
didn't even mean the shit

as a personal front, 'cause
a lot of motherfuckers

hated disco back in the day.

I mean, I bet Don Cornelius
wanted that shit with

Soul Train-worthy for awhile.

But shoot, get down on
the subtext of this shit.

Now here's an oppressed
people who are, what,

ten years off the Civil Rights
struggle getting cut down

by their recent oppressors
in regards to their taste

in music.

Now how that's gonna go over?

A white boy breaking
on a brother's music.

- Peaches and Herbs shoulda
been off limits, huh.

- The one thing they
acknowledged over all those

slave years was taste in music.

Then suddenly they're
saying it sucks.

Like Stevie Winwood is the
motherfucking Amadeus and shit.

Of course, black folks gonna
get mad and say rock sucks

in righteous retribution.

- I'm running out of time here.

- Ken, you ever see
those Star Trek movies

where they fly around the sun?

- They did that in
three and five, right?

- Four, too, I think.

- Yeah that's when they
search for Spock's brain?

- I can't remember.

Yo, Vince?

- I ain't no Trekkie.

- It's Trekker.

- Trekker, tractor,
whatever, Solo.

- It's Sulu, man.

- I think the best
one was two, though.

- Oh yeah, the
General Khan ending?

- Yeah, Kirk.

I will get you, Kirk.

Vengeance is a dish
best served cold,

and it's very cold in space,

Kirk.

- Yeah, that was dope.

- Vince, I thought
you weren't a Trekker?

- No, I just like that cat
who played the villain.

You know the guy
I'm talking about,

he was best friends with
the midget on The Loveboat.

He was the fucking man.

- Nah, dude, that's
Fantasy Island, man.

- What the fuck
is Fantasy Island?

- Oh, man.

- You don't remember?

The midget, the
plane, the plane.

If it was The Loveboat, it
would be the boat, the boat.

Yo, what's wrong with you?

- Damn, I thought they
were the same show.

I thought the boat was
parked by the island.

- Yo, anyway, you seen the
one when they fight The Borg?

- Nah, dude, that's
the new cast.

I'm saying in one of them,
they fly around the sun

and go back in time.

- Yeah, right, right, right.

- Yo, man, that shit is so cool.

I mean I'd go back to
like, old west days.

Shoot my six guns,
chew some beef jerky,

roll with my sidekicks.

- Yeah, sure, you can have that.

- Aw, come on, Ken,
you wouldn't wanna have

a bar room brawl?

- Man do you ever
hear of black people

wanna go back in time?

Man, if I went back, I'd
introduce those racist

motherfuckers to some
modern technology.

- Word.

- See here, boy, maybe
you better get them

city slicker clothes off
and get out in that field

and pick my cotton.

- Hmm.

You know, I think I'm
taking the day off, boss.

What do you think?

- Oh, I think you
oughta have a day off.

- Oh.

Shit, you know how they do
on those fake history things,

when they be like,

well what if the Nazis
got the bomb first?

I'd be like what if
Chicken George had a tank

and all the ammo he needed
to kick some cracker ass?

- Maybe I can interest you
in another time period?

- Yo, ancient Egypt is about
the only time I can think of

when black people
weren't getting mugged.

- Egyptians were black?

- Just because?

- They're not now.

- Then what are they?

- Arabs?

- Dark skinned people.

Lou Gossett plays Sadat.

- Who, who's that?

- Anwar Sadat?

He's like their
best soccer player.

- That was a movie, man?

- I think it was an after
school special Oliver Stone did.

- I musta missed it.

- Word.

- Yeah.

- So this student was
very upset, he listed off

about ten things
that were bothering.

- Is it Alton Wheeler?

- Serious things, like
home life, his job,

his girlfriend, and he
includes a story about a white

student who used the word
man at the end of each

of his sentences.

- Man?

- Yeah, do you want to
go to the park, man?

- Interesting.

- Well he was offended, because
he felt like this student

wouldn't use the word man
at the end of each of his

sentences if the white
student was talking to

another white student.

- Interesting.

- I thought so.

- Malcolm James?

- I don't know what
Affirmative Action is.

I'll tell you what
Affirmative Action is,

it's some money making
motherfuckers that want more of

my tax money.

Why don't we just
lower the transit fare

if you're a minority?

Except if you're an
Asian, because we know

they work twice as
hard as any of us do.

But enough about me.

What do you think
Affirmative Action is?

- Politicians like
to shake the trees.

This way people don't
think, and they don't see

what's really going on.

Affirmative action is just
a way to lower the standards

for people who really
haven't worked hard

enough in their lives.

Now 120 years from now
the very same white people

who came up with
these beneficial ideas

are going to think of a
new affirmative system,

because they're gonna be poor.

And maybe they're gonna call
it WPA, like the new deal

after The Depression.

- Well now, see.

I liken Affirmative Action
to two women in a race

and you put a ball and chain
around one woman, alright?

Fire the gun, start the
race, then halfway through,

you call time out and you
take the ball and chain

off of the woman.

- And give her a motorcycle
she doesn't really know

how to use?

- Now how you know she
don't know how to use it?

- Isn't that what
Affirmative Action is?

The spoils don't go to
the better qualified.

Viv, I'll tell you, I won't
be held accountable for some

great,

great,

great plantation relative
with mutton chops

and a big hat.

- Mmhmm,

you would if he was rich.

You'd be talking about oh,
yes, that's my rich relative

and my family tree leads
straight back to him.

- You can't get back at dead
people through the living.

- What do you mean a
multiplex community center?

- I mean a multiplex
community center.

You know how the theaters are
set up on the 4th street row,

the different theaters
and everything?

- Yeah.

- Well, I'm gonna do that
in the community center tip,

with like a, a different
organization in each room.

Wait, I'm gonna do something
different, with like a focus

on different needs.

You get to decide
where you wanna go.

- First up, if it's
like a multiplex,

those rooms are way too
small to set up anything.

I mean, some of those rooms
only hold like, 30 seats.

- Who said I'm gonna
need that much?

- Hold on, hold on, and
the second thing is,

you wouldn't be near any hood
if you made it to the pros.

- First of all, I'm making it.

Second, I ain't gonna
switch after I make it.

- Oh, come on, kid, you'd
have mad girls, a condo,

a Benz.

- You see those Benzes?

They're making 'em
like fucking Fords.

Now you see a Lexus,
a Lexus, that's a car.

- True, yeah.

- But yo, man, you're
gonna get too comfortable.

I mean like endorsements,
business deals, family.

And you forget, I know
you, you cut people off

mad quick, so you're not
gonna care about fuck ups

in the hood.

- I changed, alright.

- Besides, say you got your
little money or what not.

You're not gonna go

save the world.

- Who says I'm trying
to save the world?

Brother's just trying
to make a little

community center, man.

- If it was that easy, a
bunch of pros would have made

some consortium and go
for it, did that already.

- Can I talk now?

- Go ahead, man, I wansn't.

- Yo, can I talk now?

- Go ahead, man.

- So, like,

the only reason it hasn't been
done is 'cause there hasn't

been any pros conscious
enough to lead them.

- Bullshit.

- I don't see any
cornrows in your head.

- Like I was saying, I'll
lead all the other pros,

like an Oprah or somebody
and we'll fight ignorance

and poverty with the multiplex.

- You been smelling way too
much comic book ink, man.

- What's this, oh shit,
it's Super Black Man

coming to a hood near you.

- Oh shit, that was funny.

- Besides, no one ever does
that after they make it.

I mean, even Doctor
Huxtable doesn't do that.

- Come on, man, Cosby
Show isn't representative.

- Why not?

- It's like, too perfect.

- Your family is like that.

- My family is not
like The Cosby Show.

- Besides, if you're
going back fight dealers,

crack heads and tech tens,
I mean you better get

some Kevlar hip hop gear.

- Yo, they make that shit?

- Yup, seen it in a magazine.

- Word?

They have like
bullet proof baggies?

- I don't know, probably.

- That's dope.

Like, rappers should
wear that shit.

- Straight up, maybe
Biggie still be alive.

- Okay, okay, one more time.

Keith Jarrett.

Bad motherfucker, right?

Own some of his albums myself.

But, yo, I never knew
he was a white man.

- I didn't know that either.

Didn't he have a big
afro back in the day?

- Fooled me, too.

I mean, I suppose it's
because in the time

Red born white boys
had afros, too.

Now don't you suppose
Keith cashed in on that?

- How?

- I bought this shit
because he's black.

- Yeah, but that's 'cause
you were Afro-centric

colored glass.

- Ray Ban was a black man, baby.

- Was he?

- I don't know,
sounds like it though.

- And how do you account for
white people like myself?

My ancestors didn't
come here until 40 years

after slavery.

And during slavery, they were
getting killed in Poland.

And it was only 40 years
after they got here

they were able to
afford a tv set.

They didn't own a plantation.

The plantation for them
was a two bedroom apartment

in Forrest Hills.

- But, white people are a race.

And yesterday and today,
being in that race

has its privileges.

- The White Card.

Don't leave the guard-gate
community without it.

- I mean, really,

even the subtle stuff like
you walk into a retail store,

you're above suspicion.

My black man with dreads
walks in, he's a thief.

You go to a bank to get
a loan, my black sisters

can't get one, and she might
be making more money than you.

Sorry, baby,

that white card you carry?

That has privileges.

My green card?

I got to pay back
on it every month.

And I don't care what you say,

no white person
wants to be black.

They don't want to
trade places with us.

Why would they?

Oh, they, they
wanna steal our shit

and play our music and all that,

act like us, them
little wiggers,

them little white kids
that wanna act black.

- Yeah, boy.

- They talk the talk but
they're not walking the walk.

They don't really
wanna be black.

And you know what,
they couldn't be.

'Cause it's not
their experience.

They just want to be Elvis.

- I agree, there's
still discrimination.

- Enough to endorse a
policy to that gives someone

preferential treatment on
the basis of skin color?

- No.

There's economic inequality
on a large scale.

'Cause see, you're
thinking Affirmative Action

is a black thing, and it's
not, it's a people thing.

And that's a racist thing.

- I'm a racist?

My son Ken is black.

- And I bet you say
he's your best friend.

- I've raised him to
feel that way, yes.

- You take these subtleties of

African American students
sitting together,

or the use of the word man,

they lead to these

intense feelings?

Now what about not
so subtle factors?

Like

quotas on Affirmative Action?

- Hmm.

- Well Shelby Steele said
that the blacks are paying

a heavy price for these

university letter
acceptances that are based on

lower academic achievement.

- I knew you didn't believe
in Affirmative Action.

- Now, I didn't say that.

- You believe that Affirmative
Action will make us

more competitive, I don't.

- And I want Ken to
succeed on his own.

I know it's not a black thing,

but if Affirmative Action
gets him into Harvard,

I wanna throw a party and
live vicariously through him

as if my shit smelled from ivy,

because I know if he's in
Harvard, his life is set.

- There's more responsibility
on the black athlete

to give something back.

- Man, that's that old
thought that athletes who move

out of the hood and
into a nice neighborhood

are selling out.

And that ain't right.

Did you know that when
Jews first moved here,

they lived in ghettos
and they were like

the best boxers around?

- Yo,

just don't even give me
that great white hope jazz

because there's plenty
of white boxers,

and if you dissolved hockey,
there'd be plenty of them

working for Don King.

- Nah, what I'm saying is that
Jews who own a bunch of shit

these days were poor and had
it rough when they came here.

That's what made
'em the best boxers.

- Because it was rough?

- Yeah, like the kids you
don't wanna fight now.

- Yo, like Cedric.

- Word.

- Word.

They're the ones who
don't give a fuck.

And if you look back on,
like, Jewish and Irish

immigration, you see
that everyone moved
out of their hoods

after they got a
little money together.

And I think it was
like same for everyone.

I mean, that's like
the dream, kid.

America is all about of moving
out of your neighborhood

and into a nicer one, so
like a future generation

can have it better
than the past.

- Black people ain't moving up.

George Jefferson was like
the last poverty class

black dude I seen moving on up.

- And you're saying it's
'cause blacks aren't sticking

together?

- Not like white people.

And definitely not like Koreans.

- I can't argue about Koreans,

but whites do not
always stick together.

- Come on, man, white people
got solidarity down cold.

- Yeah, whatever, let's bounce.

All those white people
are moving out of cities

and going out to suburbs.

And even suburbs
aren't suburb enough

for a lot of 'em right now.

- No they're not, rent's
like sky high here.

- New York isn't
everywhere, man.

It's a blip on the screen.

There's a whole fucking
country out there.

- Yeah I know, I visited
this town in Oklahoma.

- Yeah, I'd love to
listen to your story,

but I'm making a point here.

- Stop.

- What?

- Nah, go ahead,
man, it's your world.

- Any fucking way,
like I was saying,

all those white people
are headed for those

guard gate communities,
with their air horn

enhanced golf courses and pools.

- And it's to all to get
away from African Americans?

- Jews, Hasians, Japanese.

- Hasians!

- But mostly African Americans.

- So?

- So, dummy, whites
won't be hanging out with

African Americans.

- Oh, like they do now?

- Well, it's gonna be worse.

- I don't think so.

- Listen, you're not
seeing my point here.

All those white people
moving out to the suburbs,

it's gonna mess up context.

- Nah, they're just
gonna have bad football

and basketball teams like
they had back in the day.

- Alright, I think I'm
seeing you clearly now.

You think

I shouldn't deal with the white
point of view in my speech.

- Hallelujah.

The brother has reached
the mountain top.

I mean, it what program
or piece of literature

do they include
our perspectives?

TV?

We're mostly pimps
and prostitutes.

Film?

We never live through
the first act.

Next time you in the movies,
see if you finish your popcorn

before the costarring
brother gets offed.

Shit.

I'm surprised you're
here talking to me now.

♪ Amazing Grace

- It's gotta be both sides.

- Yeah, well you go forth
with that olive branch,

it might get stuck up your ass.

- What's up?

- [Male In Blue Shirt
Voiceover] Why does he say

what's up to every
black guy who walks by?

- What?

- Nothing, this is
the place, isn't it?

- Yeah, you're gonna love
the organic chitlins.

- I'm sorry, we're not
open yet, but please,

come back later.

- Okay.

- Come on.

- Gotta go.

- Hey, hey, hey.

Tell me that the NBA's
elimination of the slam-dunk

championship isn't a plan to
decentralize the street aspect

of the game?

- Brother, I love a good
conspiracy theory, too.

- Falling on their side again.

- I'm not, don't do that, man.

I'm a black man, too.

But listen, listen.

Couple years ago I'm
having Thanksgiving with my

girlfriend's parents, right,

and they almost start a
riot 'cause I tell them

back in the 40s black men
were injected with syphilis

as part of a
government experiment.

- Hasn't history taught you
not to have Thanksgiving

with the Pilgrims?

[banjo music]

- Thanks, Mustafa.

- Alright, but I'm telling you,

if you wanna do the best
good for both sides,

stay black, brother.

- Alright.

- Hey, yo, man, you want
some organic chitlins?

Take a second, I
just got 'em in.

I'm telling, you, Mike,
them shits is good.

- Hey, brother.

- Alright.

My, my.

Hey, Sharon, I'm
going out for awhile,

I'll be back soon.

- Salaam alaikum.

- Walaikum salam.

- Ever notice how the check
goes to the white guy?

- What?

- At a restaurant, the check
always goes to the white guy.

Know what I mean?

- Naw, man, I have no idea
what you talking about.

- You know, you remember when
we was at the restaurant,

and they gave the check to you,

even though I asked for it?

I mean, like, a cheque
never goes to a brother.

- What, man, they put the
check right in the middle

of the table, yo.

- But it was
pointed towards you.

- It was a piece of paper.

It wasn't pointing,
it was just chilling.

- And who did he ID,
thank you very much?

- Oh man, get outta here.

- It was a coincidence.

The check was in the middle
of the fucking table.

- You think a waiter
would risk a tip

just to insult you?

- Oh, racism isn't profitable.

- I don't know, there's a
lot of good money in cheese.

- That's so fucking
ignorant, yo.

- Where's your sense of humor?

- Y'all left it in Alabama.

- Yeah, everyone's
out to get you.

- I'll tell you what it is,

it's like a statement.

Man I can't pay
for my own check,

or I'm some white guy's charity.

- Oh man, whatever,
yo, you buggin'.

Ready to go back to school?

- Nah, I gotta go
to my dad's office,

get some money for
that class trip.

See you there later.

- Cool.

Think you could hit me off?

- Yo, don't you owe
me ten bucks, yo?

[guitar music]

- You know, I could deal
with it if it was like a

black white thing, but
this is a man woman thing.

Two guys from the, I'm
gonna have to call you back.

Hey, Kenny, how you doing?

- I'm fine, and you?

- I'm doing pretty good.

I'll get your father.

Let's see, I think he's
still in a meeting.

Yeah, hi, your son is here.

Okay.

He says he'll be
out in a second.

- So how's it going?

- You really wanna know?

- Go ahead.

- Do you know that I
doubled majored at?

- Excuse me, sweetie,

I think you can take a break
from your dating schedule here

and free my triathlon
application, please.

- Sure, excuse me.

Excuse me for a moment.

Here you go.

- Hi, son.

- Dad.

- Veronica doesn't think it's
uncool for you to hug me,

do you, Veronica?

- No, not half as uncool as
that outfit you're wearing.

It's not very GQ today, is it?

- It's not?

- No.

- Oh, my feelings are hurt.

What do you mean, I saw it
in the magazine right here.

- Well, if you let me
buy some new magazines,

you might get a
current wardrobe.

- Oh, touche.

- Ma let you go out of
the house like that?

- Yeah, ma let me come out
of the house like that.

What's, what's, alright?

What's going on, you alright?

- Can we go talk over there?

- You sure, everything alright?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Alright.

- Bye, Veronica.

- Bye, Kenny, it was
good to see you again.

- So what's up?

- I just need a buck fifty
for that class trip deal.

- Hundred fifty?

- Mmhmm.

- Hi, this is my son, Ken.

You remember Ken?

- Hey.

- That's Viv and Rich.

- Haven't seen y'all
in awhile, what's up?

- How you doing?

- I'm alright, going
to school, you know,

I have to get back soon.

- He's doing very well.

- Is he?

- Yes, he is.

- You're taller than
your father now.

- Well.

- That ain't hard.

- That's why I'm holding him.

See you, see you in a
little while, alright?

- Bye bye.

- Bye, Ken.

- So you wouldn't get
Sharisse a Barbie?

- Never.

- Because you don't want
her to grow up and idolize

Cindy Crawford or
anyone like that?

- No, because I,

I don't think you'd really
understand the issues.

- Believe it or not, I've been
understanding these issues

all morning and I think
I'm very qualified to go

wherever you want to on this.

- Really?

- What'd you do this morning.

- Don't ask.

Come on.

- What I know is that society
puts a lot of pressure

on little black girls
to look a certain way

that they can never look.

They're little black girls,
they're not little white girls.

- Sharisse is beautiful.

- Well I know that.

You know I know that.

But,

she doesn't have any icons
to look up to, really.

I mean, all the icons
are white Europeans.

And

if you really think about what
society considers beautiful,

it's not my people.

It's not her people.

It's my white ancestors
on my mother's side.

And little black girls
wanna be attractive.

- She discover boys yet?

- Well she has
discovered Plymouth Rock,

but I'm not letting
her get off the boat.

- So you're afraid that what,

when that time comes, she's
gonna wanna color her hair

blond or something?

- I don't know, I hope not.

It would hurt me if
she wanted to do that.

But it doesn't even
have to be that drastic.

Just straightening
has an effect.

- White women bleach
their hair all the time.

- White women bleach their
hair to look like white women.

Why should a black woman
bleach her hair to look

like a white woman?

Or straighten her hair to
look like a white woman?

I mean, why can't we be
beautiful as black women?

- There are Latina Barbies.

- Nah, they're just white
Barbies dipped in chocolate,

they got no hips, lips or nose.

- Sorry, guys.

- So how's Ken?

- Oh he's fine, it's just
a little money matter.

- Isn't it always?

- Yeah, I wish there was a
flat rate with kids, right?

- Tell me about it,
Sherisse is growing so fast

I think it'd be cost-effective
for me to have another one.

- Suppose it's a boy?

- Then I hope he don't
mind cross-dressing.

- So,

listen, what do you guys
think about my outfit?

- Not bad.

- Not bad if you're running
a casino in Connecticut.

[laughing]

- It's not that funny.

- Come on, now, don't you
think Affirmative Action

draws attention to race?

It elevates the myth of
the black stereotype?

- My.

No please.

- Kielbasa!

- White middle class
values should not determine

what black students
should learn.

- Oh, so,

then asking a black inner
city student a question like

what do you feed a baby
cow, that's unfair?

Oh, okay,

if that's so then

asking a white, suburban
student about sewer caps

is unfair?

- Can we table this now?

- Oh yeah, hey, I'm satisfied.

I asked for what you
felt, and you told me.

- Yeah, but I hope that
you weren't taping this to,

you know, bring some sort
of a racial class suit

against us.

- Would you like to
check me for wires?

- No.

- That's sexual harassment.

- You guys are just
uptight white boys.

- Just a sign of the times.

- I'm gonna step out for awhile.

Okay, I'll be back later.

- Okay.

- I'll be back later, Veronica.

- Oh, hold on a second.

Here you go.

- Thanks, I'll bring
you a cappuccino.

- Great, have a good day.

[romantic music]

[upbeat music]

- Hi, I'm here to
see Nicole Thompson.

It's not urgent, so if she
has a class or something?

- No, actually she's
talking to the Principal

down the hall in room 222.

Just through that corridor.

- Thank you.

- What are we gonna
do about the problem

we're going through right now?

You got any ideas?

- No, I mean I think it's
our job as administration

to try and work
it out, work out.

- I wonder

if we could just sort of

attack

these subtleties, you know?

Make them overt.

Bring them to light,
maybe that will

get rid of a lot of
this misunderstanding.

- I don't think we can
eliminate the problem

of subtlety itself.

Maybe certain instances,
like the use of the word man,

will be brought
out into the open,

but there's always
gonna be subtleties,

because of the murky
nature of the human mind.

- Well, that's interesting.

- Take, for example, you and me.

As I listen to you,
I'm scanning you,

and each time you
say interesting,

I make a silent assessment.

- Aren't they there?

- I think they're busy.

Can I just wait over here?

- Yeah.

- Do I say interesting a lot?

- Yes.

And each time you do,

I make a judgment.

Does he mean interesting as
in he thinks I'm full of shit?

Interesting as in interesting?

Interesting as in I never
thought of that before?

Interesting, I'll have
the seafood salad today.

- That's interesting.

- Good afternoon, look
at that beautiful sister

behind the desk.

I'm here to see
my friend Michael,

he's speaking this afternoon.

My name is Mustafa,
I'll just see my way in,

don't move.

- Excuse me, who?

- Michael, my friend
Michael is speaking

in the auditorium, I'll
just find my way in.

- I don't know
your friend Michael

and I don't know about a speech.

- Okay, my friend Michael,

he's speaking in the auditorium.

- Yeah, I heard that.

- I'll just find my
way in, it's fine.

- No, um, what's your name?

- Mustafa.

My name is Mustafa.

- Well, Mister Mustafa, I
don't have your name here

on my list, so can you
have a seat and wait

for your friend
Michael to come out,

if he's in there?

- Yeah, alright.

- Okay.

- Well, if you're right
about these subtleties,

then I guess there's
not much hope

for a continued understanding.

- Well let's not walk away
from hope too quickly.

[bell ringing]

- Hey man.

Hey, Michael Gray, I'm here
speaking for the assembly with

Miss Thompson.

[hip hop music]

- So today's guest
speaker is Michael Gray.

He's a freelance writer
for several major magazines

and he'll be addressing
the topic of race.

Let's welcome him.

[applause]

- Honkeys.

Niggers.

Spics.

Kikes.

Wops.

Wetbacks.

Frogs.

Krauts.

Chinks.

Dotheads.

Gooks, Polacks and mixed.

Greetings.

Now.

Don't sit back or
get comfortable.

Move to the edge of
your seat and get ready,

'cause this isn't
gonna be any speech.

No.

Not letting you off that easy.

If we're gonna deal with race,

we're gonna deal with it
the best way I know how.

We're gonna talk about it.

So instead of 80 per cent
speech and 20 per cent

question and answer, it's
gonna be the other way around.

And first, I'm gonna
tell you a little story.

Once upon a time,
there was a young man

driving his horse and
carriage down a narrow road,

barely wide enough for a Yugo.

Now the young man was an
orphan, never knew his father.

But that didn't deter him

from being a good man.

So he's driving down
this road, right?

And then comes this old man.

The old man

had no son, or so he thought.

But not having a
son didn't stop him

from being a good man.

So what do you think happened

when these two good men meet

on this old, narrow road barely
wide enough to fit a Yugo?

The good men get
into an argument

about which good man should
back up and let the other

good man get by.

Then the young good man,
being young and in a rush

to make a booty call, picks
up a stone from the side

of the old, narrow road

barely wide enough to
fit a Yugo and bop!

Hits the old good man on
his vulnerable, old head,

killing the old man.

- That's messed up.

- Word.

- Now some of you may think
that's just another story

about road rage,
and you'd be right.

But some of you may also see
it as the beginning of the

Greek myth Oedipus Rex,
where the young man

unknowingly kills his dad.

Tell me,

do you think the good young
man would have killed,

hit or even raised a
rock to the good old man

if he knew it was his
good old missing dad?

Of course not.

My point.

Get to know the man.

Let's talk.

["Right Here" by Loris Holland]

[upbeat music]