Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story (1992) - full transcript
Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story (TV) Edmund Perry appears to have things all going his way when he graduates from Phillips Exeter Academy with a scholarship to Stanford U. ...
- We live in an age of
boundless expectations.
An age where nothing
seems beyond our grasp,
and yet, this is an age
of great responsibility.
Yours is a generation to whom the torch
of leadership will soon be passed,
the next century will belong to you.
You have a chance to make it a century
of justice, hope and opportunity.
The time to prepare for
that responsibility is now.
It is appropriate that
this ceremony is designated
a commencement, not a graduation.
This day marks the beginning
of the next chapter in your lives.
For well over two centuries, the graduates
of Phillips Exeter Academy
have left the campus
and gone on to great achievements.
But, do not let your diploma
give you a false sense
of security, it is not so much
a guarantee as a challenge.
The knowledge you have acquired
here at Exeter will gain
in value as you apply it to your lives.
You have the foundation upon
which to build a worthy life,
may your actions from
this day forward make
each and every one of you a credit,
not just to yourselves,
but to your family,
your academy and your nation.
- I am so proud of you!
- Thanks, Ma.
- Well, Eddie, you made it, Son.
- Yeah, a lot of people
didn't think I would.
- Yeah, but we didn't
listen to them, did we?
- Didn't want to let you down, Ma.
- You never let me down, not my boy.
No, no.
- Be right back.
- Look at my baby.
- I wanted to apologize to you, Sean.
I owe you a lot, man.
- So where you gonna go?
- Stanford, you know, I
figure I could get use
to the California sunshine.
- Junior, you gonna have
to watch yourself up there
at Cornell, your brother pushin' you.
- I'll be fine, Mom.
- We faced some crazy times, man.
- Yeah, a little too
crazy some of the time.
Yeah.
- Will ya write?
Stay in touch?
- You bet.
- I just wanted to say--
- It's over now, another
time, another place,
maybe things could have been different?
- Maybe.
- Hey, ain't no two days alike.
- We oughta be gettin' ready
to go, it's a long drive.
- You're next, girl, I got
some plans for you, too.
Sean, I thought
the three of us might take
a picture together.
- Great, will ya take it for us?
Testing, testing, one, two, three.
Testing, testing, one, two, three.
- It work all right?
- Yeah, fine Sarg.
- NYPD undercover, state of the art.
- Hey, whatever works, right?
And Louie?
- What?
- Try not to eat all the
bagels this time, all right?
- Sue me, I was hungry.
Yeah!
- You may think you're a
hot shot of New Hampshire,
but your home now and I
own this court, come on!
Come on, come on, show me.
Don't try to bring
that shot in here, man!
Baby, bringin' it!
Give it up, twice!
What up, boy?
Okay.
Let's go.
- Hey, just mind your own business.
You back off!
Let's get outta here!
Police officer, help!
- It's Hooten.
Move, move!
How is he?
Look at him,
what the hell do ya think?
It the perp breathin'?
- Barely.
- Hey, he's clean, cuff him.
I gotta get him in the
car, give me a hand.
- What about him?
- Regulations say he's gotta
go in an ambulance, he stays.
Come on!
There were, two black
males both young.
They jumped me and,
I shot one of 'em.
- Come on, people, let's go, let's go.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
I don't believe this,
you guys wanna take the cuffs off of him?
Okay, I want 200 milligrams of narcan,
get the EKG started and call
Dr. Moore, get ER 3 prep, stat.
- How'd it go down?
- One punk tried to mug the
wrong guy in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
- Van Hooten said there were
two guys that jumped him.
- The kid was the only one we saw, Sir.
Here's his wallet.
- Says his name's Perry, he goes to some,
some kind of academy or somethin'.
- Let me see.
What the hell?
- What's the matter?
- I gotta call the commissioner.
Well?
- Kid's got a clean
record, nothin' on him.
- Nothing except the
fact he just graduated
from the best prep school in the country.
Are you sure he's the
one that jumped our man?
- Officer Van Hooten ID'd him, Sir.
The press is gonna get ugly,
Perry was supposed to start
a summer job this week
for a Wall Street firm.
He just received a scholarship
to Stanford University.
- Look, a policeman got
attacked and beaten,
he fired his weapon in
defense of his life.
Now if young Perry got hit by mistake,
yes, that's a tragedy,
but if he was there,
in the commission of a crime,
now scholarship or no scholarship...
Let's just take it easy, pray
it doesn't get any worse.
- I'm sorry, we did everything we could,
your son never regained consciousness.
I'm really very sorry.
All right, here he comes.
A statement Mr. Commissioner?
Is this another example
of unnecessary, deadly force at minorities
in this city often complained about?
- We believe Officer Van
Hooten acted properly.
A full-scale investigation
is taking place.
- Many people don't trust
the police investigation
to be completely even-handed.
Perry had no weapon, why
did your officer fire?
- We don't know all the circumstances yet,
we'll let you know when
we have more answers.
- A boy is dead, Commissioner,
a model kid with a clean
record, an excellent reputation.
He was shot down like
a common criminal, why?
- Hi, Dad, sorry I missed
breakfast with you guys.
- I remember a kid from
Harlem you introduced me to
at your graduation,
what was his name?
- Eddie Perry, what's up?
I'm sorry.
My God.
- It says he was trying
to mug a police officer.
This can't have happened?
- It doesn't make sense?
Here's a boy who had every opportunity,
a kid from the inner-city could wish for,
every opportunity any kid could wish for.
So how do the police
expect people to believe
that he would risk it all
for some petty street crime?
It doesn't make sense?
- Yeah.
It's time to stop the killing
of our talented young men!
Yes!
The police that kill first
and ask questions later.
Yes!
It's the new form of militia.
They don't value black life!
- Yes!
- Eddie was one of our shining stars,
I hope he's gonna help change things.
- Yes!
- Make this community better!
- Yes!
- Give us self-respect.
Yes!
But, they
want to kill our hope.
Run down our self-respect.
Officers of the New York
City Police Department,
your arms and hands are
dripping with blood!
- It doesn't make any sense?
- It's some crazy times, man.
It doesn't make any sense?
- Hey, yo, hey!
I'm lookin' for your boy, Tyree.
- So?
Have you seen him?
- No.
- Well, when you see him,
tell him I'm lookin' for him.
- Do I look like Western Union to you?
Man, get your hands off me
before I kick your big butt
up and down 114th Street.
So you bad now?
- Eddie?
- You and me, for real, one day.
- Who was that?
- Nobody.
- Didn't I tell you about
fightin' with these fools
around here, they'll kill
you without a second thought.
- Mom, chumps like Pedro
are out here all the time,
if I want to walk the streets,
I have to deal with
them one way or another.
- Well, maybe what I better
do is get your behind
off these streets like I did your brother.
Ma.
- How come you're not in school already?
- I'm waitin' for Tyree and them.
- I'm goin' in, I'm goin'.
- There he go!
- Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!
- See, man, waitin' for
you guys made me late.
- Chill, Eddie, nothin' goin'
on in the building no ways.
- Hey, yo, man, you watch out for Pedro
'cause he's after you.
I'm not waitin' on
Pedro, man, he mess with me,
I got somethin' for him.
- Hold it right there.
Okay, Tyree, let's see
what you got in your hand.
- Nothin', Mr. Lee.
- Let's have it.
Leave us alone,
we ain't done nothin'.
- Not yet, you ain't.
Tyree, I've known your
folks since we was kids,
I don't want to get into a thang with you.
- You don't understand,
Mr. Lee, I need this.
- Yeah, man, somebody's after him.
- Who?
Okay, Ty, when you got
somethin' real to say to me,
you know where you can find me.
All right, y'all get to class.
Move.
- Watch your back, bro.
- See y'all.
- Hey, wait, forget it, Tyree man,
look stay away from Pedro, Pedro's a punk.
He ain't gonna do nothin'
if there's a crowd.
So, I'll meet you in the
cafeteria at lunchtime,
you meet me in the hall afterschool,
we'll leave together,
all of us, all right?
- Yeah.
- Check y'all later.
She's just
gonna ignore me now.
- Okay, settle down.
Settle down, you people are
gonna have to do better.
You need to moan and groan
after all the time I spent going
over current events with you,
most of you still managed
to mess things up.
- Lighten up, Mr. Tolliver.
- Cynthia, the Middle East
encompasses part of North Africa,
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,
Lebanon, Israel and Jordan,
among other places.
Have you ever heard of
any of those countries?
- Yeah.
- Then why did you
identify the Middle East
with being next door to Vietnam,
which is in the Far East?
What's the difference?
- I don't see what's so funny, Hassan?
You could not place
the Middle East either,
and you have a Muslim name.
- Man, I ain't no Muslim,
I ain't no Muslim.
- Ain't?
- I mean, I'm not a Muslim.
I'm a Baptist, my mom just named me Hassan
because she likes it.
- Stand up.
All of you!
Look out those windows.
Now you think that your jokes
and your lazy mistakes
is gonna get you over?
Well, you can rot in
those streets down there
or you can thrive in the
world beyond Central Park.
You can be a deadbeat,
or you can make something
out of your lives, it's up to you!
But you give me those jokes
and those lazy mistakes,
don't blame me if you
find yourself a dead beat.
Eddie!
Can you wait a moment?
- Yes, Mr. Tolliver?
- You obviously did your reading.
- Yeah, my mom, my mom keeps on top of me.
- Have a seat.
I gotta meet
somebody in the cafeteria.
- It'll only take a minute.
- I really have to go.
- This won't be long, it's important.
How is your brother doing
up at Westminster Academy?
- Okay, I guess.
- You're doing real well
here, all A's and B's,
you work hard, you're
just the kind of student
that A Better Chance
program is looking for.
- You want me to go to a
prep school like my brother?
- Eddie, those are the
schools that take the best
and brightest, and turn them
into leaders of tomorrow.
- But, but, my friends, my
mom and pops, I like it here.
This is where I belong.
- Where you belong is with the
best, don't ever forget it.
- I gotta go, Mr. Tolliver.
- You think about it, this
is a chance of a lifetime.
Don't throw it away.
Eddie, you can be a credit to your people.
- Get off me!
You hurt, get on up, get on up!
Boy, you hurt, get up, get up!
Get up, boy, get up!
Get up!
Get off me, man, get off!
- Get back to your homeroom.
All right, get back, he
needs some room to breathe!
Go get the nurse for me, please!
I want all of you to go
back to your homeroom.
- You're gonna be all right, Ty, okay?
Be strong, man.
Come on, man!
Come on.
Hang in there.
They say he might die!
- Only God knows that for sure, honey.
Eddie, I think you should take
Mr. Tolliver up on his offer.
- If I hadn't have been
talkin' to Mr. Tolliver,
I could have helped my friend!
- Baby, what you need is some new friends.
I always knew that you had the smarts
to get into that ABC program.
I always said that if
Jonah could go, so can you.
'Cause as smart as Jonah
is, you even smarter.
- Just ain't gonna give up, are ya?
- Don't start with me, man, okay?
- You got Jonah's head filled
up with all that preppy mess
and now you workin' on Ed.
- You damn right I am,
our boys' lives are gonna
be better than ours.
- Better?
I work my fingers to the bone,
and you took all those
courses in night school,
what's it gotten us?
- You quit on life, I
gotta live with that,
but I'm no quitter,
neither are my children!
- They my children, too!
- Well, then why don't you
start actin' like a father?
Teach the boys how to be
a man and not a quitter!
I'm a man!
Workin' for 20 years to
be Assistant Manager!
Watchin' all the white boys come in
and take the promotions that were mine!
- Please!
- I know what it's like to be a black man
in a white man's world!
Now the more you make this boy expect,
the more disappointed he's
gonna be, and you know that!
- I know that my children deserve a dream
and I ain't gonna let nobody
stop me from givin' it to 'em!
Not those punks who cut
up on Eddie's friends,
not no white people, and
not even their own daddy!
Eddie, if Tyree was able
to go to private school,
you think he'd be lyin' up
in that hospital bed now?
- This is the beginning of your new lives.
You'll study harder than
you've ever studied before.
You'll be on the line all the time.
You drop the ball, you're out of the game.
But if you push, and you push hard,
you'll make something of yourselves.
Go out into the world,
make your community proud.
Goodnight!
You represent the
best Harlem has to offer,
that's why you're here.
If you don't agree with that
assessment of yourselves,
then you don't belong.
You'll be here everyday after school
and three hours each
weekend until you're ready
to take your SSATs.
It's not just the knowledge
you'll gain in prep school,
it's the contacts, you'll be meeting some
of the future leaders of this country.
The people you meet will be your friends,
your study partners, and one
day, your business partners.
You will be one of them.
- Nobody dances like this,
not even white people.
- Years from now you may find
yourself attending a formal
at the White House, wining and dining
with heads of great
nations, and when you take
to the dance floor, I'll
be smiling down on each
and every one of you from Heaven.
Keep dancing.
All right!
All right, Exeter, can you believe that?
He's the first boy from this
neighborhood ever to go.
The first!
I knew you could do
great things like this!
The best school in the
country is gettin' my best!
All right, all right!
Yeah!
They better be ready for me,
'cause I'm goin' in there smokin'!
- No, prep is not like Wilding, man,
everybody's smart there.
Sometimes it can blow your
mind, they're so rich.
- Am I gonna have to deal
with a lot of them calling
me Nigga and all that?
- No, they'll never come at
you like ordinary white people,
they come out of the side of their mouths
with corny little sayin's
and play mind games with you.
Trying to make you take low to them.
- Well, they won't make me take low.
- Just last week, I had
to deal with a bunch
of rich white boys in the
locker room at Westminster.
They were sayin' things about
black people in a nasty way.
I know I can't hit, if I
do, I just get expelled
as one more crazy Nigger,
so I swing my fist against the wall.
Cracked the cinder block, man,
they ain't bothered me since.
- Well, you know, none of
that's gonna happen to me,
Exeter's a better school
than the one you go to.
I expect my white people
to be better than yours.
- You just watch yourself up
there, Ma's countin' on you.
- She's countin' on you, too.
- No, Ma, and every one
else, they're watchin' me,
they're countin' on you.
- Eddie, to you, baby.
- Congratulations!
- Cheers.
- Way to go, Eddie.
How we doing?
- What do you mean, we, white boy?
- Hey.
So, you're gonna take off?
Up to one of them preppers.
I don't know.
- It's worth it, man,
you don't need this crap.
- Gonna miss you, though.
- No you won't, you gonna
come back here talkin' all
that white stuff, I know you.
- Nah, man, I'm never gonna
forget where I come from.
- Maybe I get my grades together
and come up with you next year?
That good?
You bet.
Well, number on the card
matches the number on the door.
- Well, you get the bed by the bathroom,
it's, last one here, it's a bummer.
I'm Barry Harrison.
Upper Darby, I'm your
Sophomore guide, and you're?
- I'm Eddie Perry from New York City.
- Well, Eddie Perry from New York City,
this is Kyle and, I'm
sorry, what was your name?
- Sean, Sean Putnam.
- Yeah, he's from New York just like you.
- Yeah, what part?
- Long Island.
- That's New York State,
that's not the City.
Get him, an elitist.
Look, curfew's at 10 p.m.
unless otherwise posted,
no visitors, no excuses.
Also, like your handbook says,
ties and jackets should
be worn at all classes,
dinner, lunch and assemblies.
Of course, these rules
are meant to be broken,
so stick with me, I'll show you how.
- I stand before you today
to offer a unique privilege,
an Exeter education.
It is up to you to take
advantage of that privilege,
and to use it for your own betterment.
Your membership in this
class is a testament
to your intelligence
and to your character.
We build leadership at
Exeter, and we expect the best
out of you because you are
the best America has to offer.
- Hi, hi, I'm Eddie Perry.
- How you doin', Eddie Perry,
I'm Lamar and this is Rachel.
- Hi.
- Hi, Rachel.
- Welcome, welcome to Exeter.
We are so glad to have you here, really.
Well, thanks.
- I think this is gonna be
a good experience for you,
well, for all of our
students it's important
to get to know people you
wouldn't otherwise meet.
- Think it'll be a good
experience for us, too.
- It's going to be challenging at times,
but then, that's what
this school is all about.
Now, if any one of you needs any tutoring,
or any special help, I want you
to feel free to come see me.
I know what pressures you're under
and I just want you to know
that my door's always open.
I'm on your side.
- Thank you.
- Believe me, if there are sides here,
there ain't no way he's on ours.
- Come on, let's get outta here.
- Hey, Eddie.
Wanna get some lunch?
- Sure, I'll see you guys later, okay?
- Later, no problem.
- You comin'?
- I'm comin', I'm comin'.
So, where do we sit?
- It's the worst question of the year.
- How is that?
- Well, all school cafeteria's
are broken down into clicks,
you know, the climbers with the climbers,
the grinds with the grinds.
- Climbers?
- Yeah, the social climbers on campus,
you know, the students
who are really caught up
on being with the in-crowd.
Then, of course, you've got your jocks,
which are the athletes,
and grinds are the guys
who get straight-A's on everything.
- Back home we call them brainiacs.
- Jocks, climbers, grinds,
nerds and burn-outs,
everybody falls into a
category sooner or later.
Pick the wrong table on your first day,
you could blow your whole academic career.
- Didn't think there was
that much to rich kids.
I always thought they was
just, you know, like rich.
- So, you're here on scholarship?
- Hey, yo, are you tryin' to crack on me
on the sly, or what?
- I just asked a question.
- Do you think scholarships
are the only way
a black kid can get to a prep school?
- You think all white
kids don't have problems
because they're just, you know, like rich?
- How come they never play music we like?
- No beat, man, rhythm's all off.
- It was the same thing
at the private school
my cousin went to, nothin'
but rock all night long.
- See what's up in this place.
- Where you goin'?
- What's up, Sean?
- Bored, man.
Man, you should join
my friends over there,
y'all got a lot in common.
Who's that?
- Who knows, a prep?
- Hang back, hang back.
Hello.
- Hi.
- Punch?
- Thanks.
- My name is Eddie Perry.
- Hi, Allison Conners.
- So, you seen much of the school yet?
- Yeah, I visited here last year.
I didn't
have a chance to visit,
I just kind of came.
- Um, it gets cold early in New Hampshire.
Yeah, I like
the brisk weather here.
Me, too, I like it, too.
- You want some more punch?
- No, I'm fine.
- So, you wanna dance?
- Sure.
- Okay, okay, um, all right.
I'll be right back,
okay, don't go anywhere.
Lamar, give me that tape.
- What?
- Come on, lend me the tape.
They won't let you play it.
Baby, they're gonna play somethin'.
Hope y'all enjoyed that one,
and now we have a special request
from one of our new preps.
So wave your hands in the air!
We don't care.
I said wave your hands in the air!
Wave like we don't care.
Now, everybody, scream.
- I said wave your hands in the air.
Wave 'em
like I just don't care.
- I said wave your hands in the air.
Wave like I just don't care.
Now everybody scream.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
Yeah!
- And as King Sisyphus spent
his lifetime outwitting the gods,
only to spend an eternity
pushing a boulder up a hill.
Now this poor king has
implications for us in modern life.
Anyone care to venture an analogy?
Don't everyone raise their hands at once.
- Well, I think it's kinda like building
up the arms race, right?
Explain
further, Miss Conners.
- Well, the weapons
these Super Powers have
they can destroy the world,
so everyone's afraid to use them.
- You're point being?
- They're like the boulder,
they serve no useful purpose.
- No, wrong, nuclear
weapons are a deterrent,
Sisyphus' boulder was a punishment.
Anyone else?
Mr. Perry.
- Well, um, I come from Harlem.
And down there, you got lots of people
that can remind you of Sisyphus.
They all got their dreams and schemes,
but nothin's ever gonna
come of them, you know?
It's like they keep pushin'
these dreams up a hill
but all they ever do is go
crashin' back down to the bottom.
- Very interesting analogy, Mr. Perry.
Go ahead, I'll catch you later.
- Hey, Allison.
- Hey.
What you said in there
really made me think.
Thanks, thanks.
So, do you wanna get somethin' to eat?
I'm gonna meet
some girlfriends of mine.
- Okay, all right, well, maybe next time?
- That'd be nice.
- Okay.
Nice.
- Yo, Eddie.
Need to talk to you, man.
What is it, homeboy?
- You need to chill on
that white girl, man.
- What?
- Look, these people may act liberal,
but they ain't gonna be so liberal
if you start messin' with their girls.
- Hey, man, what's
between me and Allison is
between me and Allison.
We're just friends, me and her, okay,
so don't come out of no
racial bag on me here.
- It's just what they
expect us to do, man,
chase after these white girls!
They think that's all we got on our minds!
- I'm not in to what other
people think, all right,
I'm in to what Eddie knows.
- All of us who come over
here have got to think
about what's important, Eddie, priorities!
You need to ask yourself if
that white girl represents
any kind of priority?
- Do yourself a favor,
Lamar, don't push this.
- Ain't nobody here
gonna stand up for you,
not these white bread teachers,
not these white bread students.
You better start hanging out
with the people from back home
or you're gonna find you
don't hang out with nobody.
- Hey, Eddie, Eddie, gotta talk to ya.
Our basketball team last year was 2-12,
that's the third worst
record in the division.
- Humiliation time.
- Yeah, no kidding.
I think we need some
new talent on the court.
What do I have to do to talk you into it?
- What are you, the team
recruiter or somethin'?
- No, I mean, I just figured,
well, he's from New York
so he must be a player.
Yeah, yeah,
I'm a player all right.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- Great, so I mean you'll show us some
of those slick city moves, I
mean, turn the team around?
Well, um, I, yeah.
Come on, a little
hustle here, come on.
Man, this place is big!
- Yeah, you should see the hockey rink.
Man, man,
it's like being on the floor
at Madison Square Gardens.
Listen, never say
Madison Square Gardens,
you wanna say Boston Garden.
- Let's go guys, a
little hustle out there.
Come on, drive the ball, come on.
- Hey, Coach, it's the guy
I was tellin' you about,
it's Eddie Perry.
- Thanks for comin' out, Mr. Perry,
it's good to have you here.
It's very good.
- Thanks.
- I look forward to watchin' you play.
Okay, let's do it.
Okay, gentlemen, let's see some action.
- You okay?
- No problem.
- Yeah, Barry told me
you didn't make the team.
- I said, it's no problem.
- It's only basketball, Eddie.
- I know!
I just gotta be on top of things.
Basketball or studies.
- Okay, all right, you wanna be on top?
Let's play some one-on-one.
No, come on, I'm serious, let's go.
Give me the ball, let's play!
- Get outta my face, I'm shootin' baskets.
- You get outta my face, come on.
Let's go, gimme the ball,
give me one shot, one shot.
Putnam gets the rebound,
dribbles down the court,
tryin' to shake his man!
But rookie sensation,
Eddie Perry's all over him!
The shot's up!
And the shot is down.
- Yeah, play with me and
you'll always be number one.
- Yeah.
You're lucky this time.
- You were lucky.
- Yeah, okay.
It'll be a miracle
if I don't fail this exam.
- Come on, you'll ace it no sweat.
Kyle's in the class, too, and
he hasn't even opened a book.
- Typical.
- No, I don't get it.
You know, you come to a school like this,
you don't expect to see people who say,
"So what," to everything?
- Hey, don't make the kids out here
to be somethin' they're not, okay.
I mean, being smart or
rich doesn't really change
that much, you know, just kids.
Hey, come on, will you guys
just give me the book back?
- Hey, take it back, yourself.
- This is really stupid!
What's this, you his
boyfriend?
I'm his roomie.
You mess with him, you mess with me.
- Why don't we leave you alone
and you can mess with
each other?
Eddie, stop it, please!
- Hey, hey, hey!
- Eddie!
- Hey, hey, come on!
Break it up!
That's it, break it up!
Stop it!
Brinkman, what the hell's goin' on here?
What, so why were you punching him?
- Me, they were the ones.
- Hey, these guys jumped me!
- You know, you shouldn't
be such a hot head, pal.
I mean, preps are always
gettin' ragged on.
- You're actin' like I started this!
- And you're actin' like
this campus is some sort
of ghetto street corner.
- What's that supposed to mean?
Hey, Eddie, come on, let's go.
- No, no, no, no, I try
to stick up for my friend
and this guy cracks-wise
with some okey-doke
remark about Black people?
- Hey, I didn't say anything about Blacks.
- The hell you didn't.
- I was commenting on your
behavior, buddy, not your race.
Go back to your dorm.
- Come on, let's go.
Come on.
- I don't understand, Sir, I
was only trying to help Sean?
- No one faults you for that,
it's how you went about it.
- Well, he was tryin' to get on my race.
Eddie, the
rules are, people can speak
their minds as long as they
do so in a civil manner.
- So, I gotta stand there
like a chump and take this
because he's speakin' to me civilized?
- You can reply, but only in
an equally civilized fashion.
That's a rule, Eddie, doesn't matter
if you understand it or not.
- I understand it when
somebody's crackin' on me.
- Intemperance is
frowned upon here, Eddie.
You punch somebody out,
for whatever reason,
and you will find yourself an outcast.
- I'm telling you, I won't let people walk
all over me, I won't.
- And I'm telling you,
as someone who cares
about you and about the
Better Chance program,
watch your step.
- Sir, I'm just used to
standin' up for my friends.
I'm just--
- Just nothing!
You listen to me, Eddie, you
get Harlem out of your mind
because if you don't,
you're not gonna make it here at Exeter.
You understand?
- Great meal, Ma.
- Yeah, it was smokin'.
- Good meal after church
is always in order.
Like my mother used to
say, "Food for the body."
"And food for
the soul."
It's true!
Junior, your brother made
honor roll up at Exeter,
isn't that somehtin'?
- Way to go, Eddie.
- I'm expecting you to do the same thing.
- I'm doin' all right, Ma.
- All right?
You're too satisfied,
Junior, you're a smart boy
but you're too content on coastin' by.
- Ma, it ain't that easy
for guys like us up there.
- I didn't say it was
always gonna be easy,
but you gotta rise above that,
keep your eye on the prize.
- You ain't havin' no kind of
racial problem are you, Son?
- Well--
- What kind of trouble
could he be havin' up there,
everything is just fine.
- Let the boy talk, Veronica.
- I don't wanna hear that kinda talk.
Now you can find prejudiced
people wherever you go,
his job is to rise above
it and ignore them.
You hear me, Eddie, you ignore them.
Now you hear me, too, Junior?
Prejudice didn't stop Martin Luther King
from doin' what he had to do,
and it damn sure ain't gonna stop us
from doin' what we have
to do at prep school.
You hear me?
- I never put that gleam
in her eye, but you do it.
- She don't mean to hurt you, man,
it's just she pushes so hard.
- Seems like I can
never do enough for her.
- Where we headed, Jonah?
I mean, Ma's got all these plans for us
and Dad, he just sits and watches.
But, where we headed?
You and me.
- I know it ain't easy up there, Eddie.
Ma don't see it but I do,
I could ace out too, but why bother?
- I try my best up there.
- And that's their game.
Good grades, good schools,
they just turn us into little white boys.
They ain't never gonna let us get ahead.
- It's just, it's just I'm scared, Jonah.
Come on, let's go shoot some hoops.
I'll wipe your butt all over the court.
All right, come on.
- So, I think if I can keep
my head in the books enough,
I can become a doctor some day.
Maybe a lawyer, maybe both.
Ambitious.
- Yep, I think I'll
always be that way, too.
- What are you lookin' at?
- Well, I was just thinkin'
how nice it is to see you.
I thought about you a lot over the summer.
You think about me, too?
Yeah.
Well, here we are.
- Yeah.
- Thanks for walking me.
My pleasure, really.
- Well, I'll see ya later.
- Allison.
- Yeah?
- Um, good night.
Good night.
- So, Allison, we can't believe
you're still seeing that guy.
- I'm sure you can't.
- Are your parents freaking
out like you're having
this total rebellion or something?
- It's not exactly a crime.
It's not?
- Hey, I'm jealous, my parent
would totally disown me
if I was seeing anyone like that.
- Allison, tell us the
truth, what's he like?
Is it true what they say?
- You'll just have to see for yourselves,
won't you, girls?
Hey, loverboy.
- Quit that loverboy stuff,
Barry, what are you doin'
in the hall anyway, you
forget your keys again?
- No, come on, somethin's
happenin' over at McConnell
I want you to check out.
- Sean there?
- Forget Sean, this
isn't for him, come on!
Guys, this is the guy me and
Kyle were telling you about.
Eddie, this is Bobby, that's Joe, Sam
and you already know Kyle over there.
- Well, you know, it was
nice meetin' you guys,
but it's almost after curfew and I--
No, no, don't
worry about the proctors,
they're on our side,
and we didn't just bring
you here to say hello.
- We got, kind of a lose aggregation here.
Club, McConnell Club.
- Yeah, thought you could be one of us.
- I gotta go, see you guys later.
- Hey, Eddie, what's up, thought
you'd be glad to join us?
- Look, you keep that junk outta my face.
- Whoa, wait a minute, man.
- Get off me, Barry.
- What the hell's your problem?
- Look, I'm on scholarship
and I'm not blowin' it, you understand?
- Look, you better relax, man, all right?
There's no need to get so uptight.
- Next time you push that junk in my face
I'll show you just how uptight I can get.
- Eddie, I want to be friends,
I'm just not sure about, you know?
- I don't get it, not
sure, not sure about what?
I'm scared, all right?
- I think if two people
care about each other,
they, you know, can handle anything.
- I don't know what I can handle?
I mean, your friends, my
friends, it's not that simple.
- What are you sayin', Allison?
- We need to think about
this, be realistic.
I don't know that this is right, okay?
I just don't know?
- Okay, fine, let's just
break it off right now,
let's just forget the whole thing!
- I didn't say I wanted
to break anything off!
Eddie, I care about you, all
I said is that I'm scared
and I don't know what to do.
- No, I do think you
know what you want to do,
so fine, we'll break it off right now!
Eddie!
- You okay?
- Yeah, great.
- Eddie, what's up?
- This room is a mess.
- Eddie, come on--
- Just back off, okay!
- Okay.
- I'm sorry, okay, I'm sorry.
I just can't
take this place any more.
Yeah, yeah, the pressure
can really get to you?
Yeah, I know what it's like.
Come on, Sean, being the
only black kid in the class,
you know what that's like?
Every time somebody's got a question,
I gotta answer for the whole Black race.
You know what that's like?
Watchin' people watch me all the time.
Listenin' to people ask stupid questions
about what it's like to be
Black, you know what it's like?
- No one means anything like that.
No one means it, but
they say it, they think it!
- Eddie, I--
- They're always so careful
about how they say things
around me, they always
talk to me different.
Nothin' straight, nothin'
racist, but always different!
I can't even get a
haircut in this town!
When I first realized
that, we laughed, remember?
Remember?
- Yeah.
- It ain't funny anymore, Sean.
It ain't funny.
- Listen, next year we go
abroad, Spain'll be better.
It'll be great.
- Maybe.
Maybe I'm just homesick.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, maybe.
- Como, estas, Amigo?
- Hey, deja vu!
- Is that Spanish?
- No, that's how you
two first met, remember?
Freshman Dance?
- What?
- What, Eddie, you've been
starin' at her all night,
why don't you go say hi?
- Not a good idea, man.
- Eddie, you look like a sick puppy.
Come on, what have you got to lose?
- Just my ego.
Leave that here with me.
I'll give it back when you're done.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I was--
- It's--
- Go ahead.
- No, I'm sorry, you.
- I was hopin' I might
get a chance to see you,
talk with you.
- So, you settled in yet?
I mean, do you like the
family they put you with?
- I'm fine.
- Good.
So, you wanna dance?
- Sure.
Wave your hands in the air.
Come on, like you just don't care.
Come on.
- I say, wave your hands in the air.
And wave 'em
like you just don't care.
Said somebody scream.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
- I said, wave your hands in the air.
Wave 'em like
you just don't care.
Now somebody scream.
It's so beautiful here.
- Real beautiful.
- Everything's gonna be different here,
maybe we'll be okay?
- Things can be whatever we
want them to be, Allison,
it's up to us.
- Yeah, it's up to us.
- Well, good night.
- I could arrange to have
someone drive you home.
It's okay, I can get home from here.
- See you tomorrow.
- Okay.
We'll have two of those, Senor.
- You will be paying for this, yes?
- He can pay for himself,
what's your problem?
- I have the money, do
you want me to pay first?
- No, forget that!
Does anybody else pay first here?
There is no need.
- What did you say?
- Forget it, Sean he's an idiot.
- You don't like what I say you can leave!
- Yeah, we don't like what you
say and we want an apology.
- Look, you can get out, too!
- Not until we get an apology from you!
- Get out!
- Come on, Sean, let's just leave, okay?
- I want to see your boss right now!
Right now, you little--
I don't believe you!
- You okay?
- I'm callin' the cops!
- Come on, man, you can't call the cops,
you just started a bar room brawl.
I need some ice.
- I hope the guy knocked
some sense into your head.
- Hey, I was standin' up for you.
Hey, weren't you the one that taught me
that the only way to get by
in the Hood was to hang together?
You know, mess with him, mess with me?
- I forgot to tell ya about the exception.
- What's that?
- It the other guy's bigger than you.
- I gotta letter from my
parents, they're in Paris,
they're comin' to visit.
- Cool.
Don't worry, I'll behave myself.
- Eddie, maybe it'd be a good idea
if you didn't meet 'em this trip.
- What?
- You don't know my parents and
I don't think you'd want to.
- No, no, no, no, they don't
want to meet me, right?
- Eddie.
- What is it with you?
Back and forth, back and forth,
it's like you got me on a yo-yo.
- All I'm asking is that you
not meet my parents this trip.
- You're askin' me to be a fool.
- You think I want it to be this way?
It's easy for you to be
the injured party here.
- I'm the Nigger, I'm
the one who gets told
he ain't good enough for
nothin' white, especially you.
I'm the one who's on the
outside of everything.
- Eddie, I can't be strong.
- I can be strong for
the both of us, Allison,
I just gotta know you're with me?
- Eddie, I can't.
Eddie?
Eddie, wait!
Eddie!
- Man, this place is nice.
- Yeah, we lookin' for a
place on Long Island, now.
- We're gonna split right
after the baby comes.
- Hey, y'all got a family and everything,
this is deep!
- Well, anything's possible
when you got money.
Excuse me.
Eddie, you remember Cynthia, right?
- What's up, Eddie, I ain't
seen you in a long time.
Um, so,
you want a girl or a boy?
- I don't know, girl?
So, how's Hassan?
- He's upstate, he got busted
on an armed robbery rap.
- 10 years, man, first offense
and they give a brother 10 years.
- 10 years?
Wow.
- Wow, that's all you can say?
Why you got to come back to Harlem anyway?
Don't nobody here want
to see your Oreo ass!
Hell, I was just as smart as
you, I got good grades, too.
You was lucky, Eddie, it's all it was.
You was lucky!
- Forget her, man, that's
that crack talkin'.
- You're givin' it to her!
- Hey, man, I'm her friend!
I look out for her, she know that!
- Ty, I'm gonna go get some dinner.
Okay.
- See you, Eddie, if you
ain't here when I get back.
- I'm headed out, too.
- Hey, Eddie, you go by Russell's place
on the way home, right?
- Yeah?
- You wanna drop off a package for me?
- Package of what?
- Maybe I'm askin' you for a favor?
- You know I can't do that.
- Hey, don't be eye-ballin' me, man!
- Why not?
- I'm pullin' in $1200 a week!
I'm makin' money!
See, takin' care of my family!
- This ain't right!
- Man, you get by your
way, I get by mine, okay?
- No, not okay.
- Don't get me mad, man.
- Look, Ty, this is wrong,
there's no way you can make this right.
- Times have changed,
homie, and so have you!
Cynthia might be a crack head,
but she sure peeped you, brother.
You don't belong to Harlem anymore.
You a white boy now.
You might look Black, you
might even talk Black,
but you a white boy now.
Don't make no moves you can't back up.
- I don't know if I want to go back?
I don't know if I can hold out?
- You can hold out, your
grades are terrific.
- I know about my grades, Mr. Tolliver.
- Listen to me, you
have to think of Exeter
as a bridge you have to cross,
not a cross you have to bear.
- It's hard, I mean, it
gets so confusing up there.
- You can't allow yourself to be confused.
You must apply yourself
if you want to rise above.
- But why me?
Why do I rise above?
- 'Cause you keep trying,
you never give up.
- Like Tyree and Cynthia gave up.
I don't know anymore, Harlem, Exeter,
everywhere I go I get hurt.
- Look, I know that the
last few years haven't
been easy for you.
- Then why'd you send me there?
- To see to it that you didn't
end up like Tyree or Cynthia!
To give you a chance to be somebody!
- But I was somebody,
I was Eddie Perry of
265 West 114th Street!
All I am at Exeter is a smart, black kid!
I smart, black kid.
All I am here is a credit to my race.
Gotta do good for my family,
do good for my people,
do good for my school!
Where's Eddie?
What about Eddie?
- Eddie, it is the same
everywhere, Harlem or Exeter,
it doesn't matter.
- Yes, it does!
This was my home!
I don't have a home anymore,
I don't fit in anywhere now!
- Listen to me, the Tyrees
of this world are not Harlem,
you are Harlem!
And you will go back up to Exeter,
and you will fit in because
other black kids have!
- I'm not other black kids, I'm Eddie!
- Then act like it, dammit!
Be the Eddie who showed us
all that energy and promise.
Don't come home with your tail
between your legs like a whipped dog!
Eddie, you've got to pay the cost
if you're going to be the boss!
Now you can make it!
- What the hell do you
know about makin' it
in that White world?
I'm the one who's gotta be up
there and deal with that mess
so you can sit back
and have your fantasy
future of Black America!
Don't tell me anymore what I gotta do,
tell me what I am, tell me who I am!
'Cause I don't know anymore, I don't know?
Forget it.
- Mr. Perry, you're five
minutes past curfew.
I'm sorry, I won't
let it happen again.
- Where were you?
- At the library.
In the reading room.
- Well, you'd better
get back to your room,
you're late enough as it is.
- Okay.
- Hello, Anna, yeah this is
Lewis Porter, how are you?
Listen, was Edmund Perry
at the library tonight?
No, no problem, just checking.
Yeah, thanks, good night.
- Why'd you call the library?
- Don't let it bother you,
Eddie, it's part of my job.
- But I told you the truth.
- Look, a lot of people
say a lot of things
to keep from getting in trouble.
Eddie, what's going on?
Why wouldn't you believe me?
Eddie, come on, let's go.
- What do I gotta do,
man, ain't the scholarship
and the honor roll enough for you?
What do I gotta do, man?
- Eddie, Eddie, let's go, man, let's go.
Fine, let's go.
Eddie, what are you doing?
- I'm transferring to another dorm.
- What, what, move to McConnell,
join the McConnell Club?
Maybe?
- The school burnouts, the losers?
That the best you can do?
- Come on, man.
All my mother ever talked about was
how different Exeter was from Harlem.
This place was paradise to her, you know?
Well, Exeter ain't different.
Maybe the kids are white and rich
instead of black and poor,
but ain't nothin' changed.
So, all I'm gonna do is hang back,
kick loose with some friends and chill.
- Friends, what friends,
Kyle and the guys from the McConnell Club?
- Man, everybody else here's
two-faced, why not me, too?
This is about Allison, isn't it?
This isn't about Exeter?
- Sean, you don't know.
- Well, fine then, keep it bottled up.
- Leave me alone, Sean.
- Eddie, why don't you get mad
at the people you're
supposed to get mad at
instead of your friends all the time?
I wanna help.
Yeah, you wanna help me, Sean?
- Yes, dammit!
- You wanna help me out?
- Yes!
- Help Mr. Porter trust me
when I tell him the truth.
Help Allison see past my black skin!
- Race, race, race, everything's
race with you, Eddie!
See people, why can't you see people?
- 'Cause they can't see me!
- Well, give them a chance, you know,
not all white kids are alike?
You know, it's not like
we all sit around thinkin'
up ways to screw up Eddie Perry's life.
We've got lives of our own to screw up.
Sean, this has got
nothin' to do with you, okay?
It's on me this time, it's on me.
- I'm gonna get a single
room in McConnell.
I gotta learn to look out
for myself from now on.
- Well, that's just great, Eddie.
You look out for yourself
and I'll look out for myself.
We'll be great friends.
- I don't need you to
judge me on this, Sean.
- Right, you don't need
anybody for anything.
Sorry.
- Gentlemen, we spent our
Junior year studying abroad,
and she was fine!
But now we're Seniors,
and there's only one way
a McConnell Club Senior knows
how to battle senior-itis,
and that's party.
So let's party!
Eddie, glad you finally joined.
- Well, hell, that's what
everybody expected, isn't it?
- Yeah, so Eddie, think
you can do us a favor?
- What's the favor?
- Well, next time you go back to Harlem,
you think you could score
some serious drugs for us?
- That's why you wanted
me to join your club?
To score you drugs?
Come on,
you're one of us, now.
Hey, we got the money.
Excuse me.
- Hey, yo, my man.
- Your man?
I need to talk to you.
- Hey, Eddie, your fly's open.
I can't believe you fell for that one.
That's just a joke.
- I'm sorry, Barry.
Get the hell away from me!
Just stay the hell away
from us, we don't know you
and you don't know us!
- Help me!
Help me!
- Eddie, congratulations,
I just spoke with the admissions
counselor at Stanford,
full scholarship, have a seat.
Would you like a sip of sherry?
I keep a bottle here and this
does merit a celebration.
I won't tell anyone if you don't?
- Thanks.
- We're very proud of you here.
And we're not the only ones.
You're a credit to your community.
Stanford represents a
major accomplishment.
- Well, call Eddie Perry, he delivers.
- Yes, you have delivered here, Eddie.
You've done a fine job at this school
and you'll do well at Stanford, too.
You're part of the Exeter tradition.
- What's Stanford like?
I mean, should I be preparing?
We'll get you a good
internship for the summer,
something in the business
community, probably.
Don't worry about
preparing for Stanford,
you've had the best preparation
anyone could want right here.
I'm sure you'll find it's not
all that different from Exeter.
Thanks for the drink.
- You have the foundations
upon which a worthy
life can be constructed.
The knowledge you have acquired
here at Exeter will gain
in value as you apply it to your lives.
May your actions from
this day forward make each
and every one of you a credit,
not just to yourselves,
but to your family, your
academy and your nation.
- Really had to push hard
for that affirmative action
on the Stanford scholarship
situation, 'Eddie?
- I'm not gonna get into a
thing with you, not today.
Baby, I'm so
proud of you!
- I'll be right back.
- All right.
- I wanted to apologize to you, Sean.
I owe you a lot, man.
- You don't owe me anything.
- You were a friend, I didn't
realize how much that meant.
We had some crazy times, man.
- Yeah, a little too
crazy some of the time.
Yeah.
- Will you write?
Stay in touch?
You bet.
- I just wanted to say--
- It's over now.
Another time, another place,
maybe things could have been different.
- Maybe?
- Hey, ain't no two days alike.
Wouldn't want them
to get the wrong idea.
- Eddie!
- Bad joke.
- Sean, I thought the three of us
might take a picture together.
- Great, would you take it for us?
- Sure.
Hey, everybody, get together, smile.
So, how's the job?
Wall Street's
gonna be a trip, man.
Private schools'
take care of their own,
I'll say that.
- They do, all right.
You know, the only thing harder than going
to prep school is coming
home from prep school,
then you gotta fit in.
- Yeah, I know that.
And when's it gonna stop, Jonah?
This summer on Wall Street,
four more years at Stanford,
and what about graduate school?
It's like it won't go
away, it doesn't stop?
- It is what it is, you know.
The thing is, you're
gonna make do with it,
take what their offering
and walk by the rest.
- I can't just walk by the rest, though.
- Don't take it so personal, Eddie.
Come on, bro, let's play some hoops.
- Man, get off me.
- You need to blow off a little steam.
I need to make me a little money.
- It just gets to me sometimes, Jonah.
- Get you out.
- Come on.
- Man, you think you're the
hot shot of New Hampshire
but you're home now and I
own this court, come on!
Come on!
Yeah!
- Hold up, Jonah.
You see the way he looked at us?
- What way?
- Like we was gonna mug him or somethin'.
- Come on, Eddie, we gotta go.
- You see, that's how they do.
- Hey, chill, you're makin'
somethin' outta nothin'.
- Nothin'?
He looks at us and sees two black guys
and he figures he's gonna get rolled.
Don't ya see, it's just
more of the same, man.
- Eddie, forget it!
- Same suspicious look, same attitude,
like I'm gonna do something wrong.
- What's your problem?
- Eddie, wait.
- No, you wait.
Ain't nobody gonna make me
feel like that in Harlem.
They may make me feel like
somethin' else at Exeter,
but not here.
- You're a white boy now.
- Hey, yo, what's your problem?
- Hey, just mind your own business.
- You're in my neighborhood,
this is my business.
- You get Harlem out of your mind.
- What, you come up to our
turf, boost whatever you want
and who takes the blame, black kids!
- Hey, just, just back off.
- Back off, you back
off you son of a bitch!
Eddie, relax, man.
- Stop, police officer!
- Eddie, he's a cop, he's
a PD, let's get outta here!
- Help me!
Help me!
No, no!
My baby!
Goodbye, Exeter, you taught
and showed me many things.
Some things I saw I did not like,
and some things I learned,
I'd rather not know.
Nevertheless, it had to be done
because I can never learn not to learn.
It's a pity we part on less
than friendly basis, but we do.
Work to adjust yourself in
a changing world as will I,
signed, Me, Eddie Perry.
- Hi, Sean,
you okay?
- I guess so,
you?
- I don't know?
- I can't get it out of my head.
I keep going over and over all
the time we spent together,
wonderin' what I could have done?
- You were his friend,
Sean, you were a good friend.
- I don't know?
All I ever wanted,
all anybody ever wanted was
what was best for Eddie.
- But no one ever asked him
what he wanted, did they?
I never asked him, Eddie.
- It's okay, it's okay.
- I just keep thinking
that we all could have done
something different, something better.
- I know.
I keep thinkin' that, too.
boundless expectations.
An age where nothing
seems beyond our grasp,
and yet, this is an age
of great responsibility.
Yours is a generation to whom the torch
of leadership will soon be passed,
the next century will belong to you.
You have a chance to make it a century
of justice, hope and opportunity.
The time to prepare for
that responsibility is now.
It is appropriate that
this ceremony is designated
a commencement, not a graduation.
This day marks the beginning
of the next chapter in your lives.
For well over two centuries, the graduates
of Phillips Exeter Academy
have left the campus
and gone on to great achievements.
But, do not let your diploma
give you a false sense
of security, it is not so much
a guarantee as a challenge.
The knowledge you have acquired
here at Exeter will gain
in value as you apply it to your lives.
You have the foundation upon
which to build a worthy life,
may your actions from
this day forward make
each and every one of you a credit,
not just to yourselves,
but to your family,
your academy and your nation.
- I am so proud of you!
- Thanks, Ma.
- Well, Eddie, you made it, Son.
- Yeah, a lot of people
didn't think I would.
- Yeah, but we didn't
listen to them, did we?
- Didn't want to let you down, Ma.
- You never let me down, not my boy.
No, no.
- Be right back.
- Look at my baby.
- I wanted to apologize to you, Sean.
I owe you a lot, man.
- So where you gonna go?
- Stanford, you know, I
figure I could get use
to the California sunshine.
- Junior, you gonna have
to watch yourself up there
at Cornell, your brother pushin' you.
- I'll be fine, Mom.
- We faced some crazy times, man.
- Yeah, a little too
crazy some of the time.
Yeah.
- Will ya write?
Stay in touch?
- You bet.
- I just wanted to say--
- It's over now, another
time, another place,
maybe things could have been different?
- Maybe.
- Hey, ain't no two days alike.
- We oughta be gettin' ready
to go, it's a long drive.
- You're next, girl, I got
some plans for you, too.
Sean, I thought
the three of us might take
a picture together.
- Great, will ya take it for us?
Testing, testing, one, two, three.
Testing, testing, one, two, three.
- It work all right?
- Yeah, fine Sarg.
- NYPD undercover, state of the art.
- Hey, whatever works, right?
And Louie?
- What?
- Try not to eat all the
bagels this time, all right?
- Sue me, I was hungry.
Yeah!
- You may think you're a
hot shot of New Hampshire,
but your home now and I
own this court, come on!
Come on, come on, show me.
Don't try to bring
that shot in here, man!
Baby, bringin' it!
Give it up, twice!
What up, boy?
Okay.
Let's go.
- Hey, just mind your own business.
You back off!
Let's get outta here!
Police officer, help!
- It's Hooten.
Move, move!
How is he?
Look at him,
what the hell do ya think?
It the perp breathin'?
- Barely.
- Hey, he's clean, cuff him.
I gotta get him in the
car, give me a hand.
- What about him?
- Regulations say he's gotta
go in an ambulance, he stays.
Come on!
There were, two black
males both young.
They jumped me and,
I shot one of 'em.
- Come on, people, let's go, let's go.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
I don't believe this,
you guys wanna take the cuffs off of him?
Okay, I want 200 milligrams of narcan,
get the EKG started and call
Dr. Moore, get ER 3 prep, stat.
- How'd it go down?
- One punk tried to mug the
wrong guy in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
- Van Hooten said there were
two guys that jumped him.
- The kid was the only one we saw, Sir.
Here's his wallet.
- Says his name's Perry, he goes to some,
some kind of academy or somethin'.
- Let me see.
What the hell?
- What's the matter?
- I gotta call the commissioner.
Well?
- Kid's got a clean
record, nothin' on him.
- Nothing except the
fact he just graduated
from the best prep school in the country.
Are you sure he's the
one that jumped our man?
- Officer Van Hooten ID'd him, Sir.
The press is gonna get ugly,
Perry was supposed to start
a summer job this week
for a Wall Street firm.
He just received a scholarship
to Stanford University.
- Look, a policeman got
attacked and beaten,
he fired his weapon in
defense of his life.
Now if young Perry got hit by mistake,
yes, that's a tragedy,
but if he was there,
in the commission of a crime,
now scholarship or no scholarship...
Let's just take it easy, pray
it doesn't get any worse.
- I'm sorry, we did everything we could,
your son never regained consciousness.
I'm really very sorry.
All right, here he comes.
A statement Mr. Commissioner?
Is this another example
of unnecessary, deadly force at minorities
in this city often complained about?
- We believe Officer Van
Hooten acted properly.
A full-scale investigation
is taking place.
- Many people don't trust
the police investigation
to be completely even-handed.
Perry had no weapon, why
did your officer fire?
- We don't know all the circumstances yet,
we'll let you know when
we have more answers.
- A boy is dead, Commissioner,
a model kid with a clean
record, an excellent reputation.
He was shot down like
a common criminal, why?
- Hi, Dad, sorry I missed
breakfast with you guys.
- I remember a kid from
Harlem you introduced me to
at your graduation,
what was his name?
- Eddie Perry, what's up?
I'm sorry.
My God.
- It says he was trying
to mug a police officer.
This can't have happened?
- It doesn't make sense?
Here's a boy who had every opportunity,
a kid from the inner-city could wish for,
every opportunity any kid could wish for.
So how do the police
expect people to believe
that he would risk it all
for some petty street crime?
It doesn't make sense?
- Yeah.
It's time to stop the killing
of our talented young men!
Yes!
The police that kill first
and ask questions later.
Yes!
It's the new form of militia.
They don't value black life!
- Yes!
- Eddie was one of our shining stars,
I hope he's gonna help change things.
- Yes!
- Make this community better!
- Yes!
- Give us self-respect.
Yes!
But, they
want to kill our hope.
Run down our self-respect.
Officers of the New York
City Police Department,
your arms and hands are
dripping with blood!
- It doesn't make any sense?
- It's some crazy times, man.
It doesn't make any sense?
- Hey, yo, hey!
I'm lookin' for your boy, Tyree.
- So?
Have you seen him?
- No.
- Well, when you see him,
tell him I'm lookin' for him.
- Do I look like Western Union to you?
Man, get your hands off me
before I kick your big butt
up and down 114th Street.
So you bad now?
- Eddie?
- You and me, for real, one day.
- Who was that?
- Nobody.
- Didn't I tell you about
fightin' with these fools
around here, they'll kill
you without a second thought.
- Mom, chumps like Pedro
are out here all the time,
if I want to walk the streets,
I have to deal with
them one way or another.
- Well, maybe what I better
do is get your behind
off these streets like I did your brother.
Ma.
- How come you're not in school already?
- I'm waitin' for Tyree and them.
- I'm goin' in, I'm goin'.
- There he go!
- Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!
- See, man, waitin' for
you guys made me late.
- Chill, Eddie, nothin' goin'
on in the building no ways.
- Hey, yo, man, you watch out for Pedro
'cause he's after you.
I'm not waitin' on
Pedro, man, he mess with me,
I got somethin' for him.
- Hold it right there.
Okay, Tyree, let's see
what you got in your hand.
- Nothin', Mr. Lee.
- Let's have it.
Leave us alone,
we ain't done nothin'.
- Not yet, you ain't.
Tyree, I've known your
folks since we was kids,
I don't want to get into a thang with you.
- You don't understand,
Mr. Lee, I need this.
- Yeah, man, somebody's after him.
- Who?
Okay, Ty, when you got
somethin' real to say to me,
you know where you can find me.
All right, y'all get to class.
Move.
- Watch your back, bro.
- See y'all.
- Hey, wait, forget it, Tyree man,
look stay away from Pedro, Pedro's a punk.
He ain't gonna do nothin'
if there's a crowd.
So, I'll meet you in the
cafeteria at lunchtime,
you meet me in the hall afterschool,
we'll leave together,
all of us, all right?
- Yeah.
- Check y'all later.
She's just
gonna ignore me now.
- Okay, settle down.
Settle down, you people are
gonna have to do better.
You need to moan and groan
after all the time I spent going
over current events with you,
most of you still managed
to mess things up.
- Lighten up, Mr. Tolliver.
- Cynthia, the Middle East
encompasses part of North Africa,
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,
Lebanon, Israel and Jordan,
among other places.
Have you ever heard of
any of those countries?
- Yeah.
- Then why did you
identify the Middle East
with being next door to Vietnam,
which is in the Far East?
What's the difference?
- I don't see what's so funny, Hassan?
You could not place
the Middle East either,
and you have a Muslim name.
- Man, I ain't no Muslim,
I ain't no Muslim.
- Ain't?
- I mean, I'm not a Muslim.
I'm a Baptist, my mom just named me Hassan
because she likes it.
- Stand up.
All of you!
Look out those windows.
Now you think that your jokes
and your lazy mistakes
is gonna get you over?
Well, you can rot in
those streets down there
or you can thrive in the
world beyond Central Park.
You can be a deadbeat,
or you can make something
out of your lives, it's up to you!
But you give me those jokes
and those lazy mistakes,
don't blame me if you
find yourself a dead beat.
Eddie!
Can you wait a moment?
- Yes, Mr. Tolliver?
- You obviously did your reading.
- Yeah, my mom, my mom keeps on top of me.
- Have a seat.
I gotta meet
somebody in the cafeteria.
- It'll only take a minute.
- I really have to go.
- This won't be long, it's important.
How is your brother doing
up at Westminster Academy?
- Okay, I guess.
- You're doing real well
here, all A's and B's,
you work hard, you're
just the kind of student
that A Better Chance
program is looking for.
- You want me to go to a
prep school like my brother?
- Eddie, those are the
schools that take the best
and brightest, and turn them
into leaders of tomorrow.
- But, but, my friends, my
mom and pops, I like it here.
This is where I belong.
- Where you belong is with the
best, don't ever forget it.
- I gotta go, Mr. Tolliver.
- You think about it, this
is a chance of a lifetime.
Don't throw it away.
Eddie, you can be a credit to your people.
- Get off me!
You hurt, get on up, get on up!
Boy, you hurt, get up, get up!
Get up, boy, get up!
Get up!
Get off me, man, get off!
- Get back to your homeroom.
All right, get back, he
needs some room to breathe!
Go get the nurse for me, please!
I want all of you to go
back to your homeroom.
- You're gonna be all right, Ty, okay?
Be strong, man.
Come on, man!
Come on.
Hang in there.
They say he might die!
- Only God knows that for sure, honey.
Eddie, I think you should take
Mr. Tolliver up on his offer.
- If I hadn't have been
talkin' to Mr. Tolliver,
I could have helped my friend!
- Baby, what you need is some new friends.
I always knew that you had the smarts
to get into that ABC program.
I always said that if
Jonah could go, so can you.
'Cause as smart as Jonah
is, you even smarter.
- Just ain't gonna give up, are ya?
- Don't start with me, man, okay?
- You got Jonah's head filled
up with all that preppy mess
and now you workin' on Ed.
- You damn right I am,
our boys' lives are gonna
be better than ours.
- Better?
I work my fingers to the bone,
and you took all those
courses in night school,
what's it gotten us?
- You quit on life, I
gotta live with that,
but I'm no quitter,
neither are my children!
- They my children, too!
- Well, then why don't you
start actin' like a father?
Teach the boys how to be
a man and not a quitter!
I'm a man!
Workin' for 20 years to
be Assistant Manager!
Watchin' all the white boys come in
and take the promotions that were mine!
- Please!
- I know what it's like to be a black man
in a white man's world!
Now the more you make this boy expect,
the more disappointed he's
gonna be, and you know that!
- I know that my children deserve a dream
and I ain't gonna let nobody
stop me from givin' it to 'em!
Not those punks who cut
up on Eddie's friends,
not no white people, and
not even their own daddy!
Eddie, if Tyree was able
to go to private school,
you think he'd be lyin' up
in that hospital bed now?
- This is the beginning of your new lives.
You'll study harder than
you've ever studied before.
You'll be on the line all the time.
You drop the ball, you're out of the game.
But if you push, and you push hard,
you'll make something of yourselves.
Go out into the world,
make your community proud.
Goodnight!
You represent the
best Harlem has to offer,
that's why you're here.
If you don't agree with that
assessment of yourselves,
then you don't belong.
You'll be here everyday after school
and three hours each
weekend until you're ready
to take your SSATs.
It's not just the knowledge
you'll gain in prep school,
it's the contacts, you'll be meeting some
of the future leaders of this country.
The people you meet will be your friends,
your study partners, and one
day, your business partners.
You will be one of them.
- Nobody dances like this,
not even white people.
- Years from now you may find
yourself attending a formal
at the White House, wining and dining
with heads of great
nations, and when you take
to the dance floor, I'll
be smiling down on each
and every one of you from Heaven.
Keep dancing.
All right!
All right, Exeter, can you believe that?
He's the first boy from this
neighborhood ever to go.
The first!
I knew you could do
great things like this!
The best school in the
country is gettin' my best!
All right, all right!
Yeah!
They better be ready for me,
'cause I'm goin' in there smokin'!
- No, prep is not like Wilding, man,
everybody's smart there.
Sometimes it can blow your
mind, they're so rich.
- Am I gonna have to deal
with a lot of them calling
me Nigga and all that?
- No, they'll never come at
you like ordinary white people,
they come out of the side of their mouths
with corny little sayin's
and play mind games with you.
Trying to make you take low to them.
- Well, they won't make me take low.
- Just last week, I had
to deal with a bunch
of rich white boys in the
locker room at Westminster.
They were sayin' things about
black people in a nasty way.
I know I can't hit, if I
do, I just get expelled
as one more crazy Nigger,
so I swing my fist against the wall.
Cracked the cinder block, man,
they ain't bothered me since.
- Well, you know, none of
that's gonna happen to me,
Exeter's a better school
than the one you go to.
I expect my white people
to be better than yours.
- You just watch yourself up
there, Ma's countin' on you.
- She's countin' on you, too.
- No, Ma, and every one
else, they're watchin' me,
they're countin' on you.
- Eddie, to you, baby.
- Congratulations!
- Cheers.
- Way to go, Eddie.
How we doing?
- What do you mean, we, white boy?
- Hey.
So, you're gonna take off?
Up to one of them preppers.
I don't know.
- It's worth it, man,
you don't need this crap.
- Gonna miss you, though.
- No you won't, you gonna
come back here talkin' all
that white stuff, I know you.
- Nah, man, I'm never gonna
forget where I come from.
- Maybe I get my grades together
and come up with you next year?
That good?
You bet.
Well, number on the card
matches the number on the door.
- Well, you get the bed by the bathroom,
it's, last one here, it's a bummer.
I'm Barry Harrison.
Upper Darby, I'm your
Sophomore guide, and you're?
- I'm Eddie Perry from New York City.
- Well, Eddie Perry from New York City,
this is Kyle and, I'm
sorry, what was your name?
- Sean, Sean Putnam.
- Yeah, he's from New York just like you.
- Yeah, what part?
- Long Island.
- That's New York State,
that's not the City.
Get him, an elitist.
Look, curfew's at 10 p.m.
unless otherwise posted,
no visitors, no excuses.
Also, like your handbook says,
ties and jackets should
be worn at all classes,
dinner, lunch and assemblies.
Of course, these rules
are meant to be broken,
so stick with me, I'll show you how.
- I stand before you today
to offer a unique privilege,
an Exeter education.
It is up to you to take
advantage of that privilege,
and to use it for your own betterment.
Your membership in this
class is a testament
to your intelligence
and to your character.
We build leadership at
Exeter, and we expect the best
out of you because you are
the best America has to offer.
- Hi, hi, I'm Eddie Perry.
- How you doin', Eddie Perry,
I'm Lamar and this is Rachel.
- Hi.
- Hi, Rachel.
- Welcome, welcome to Exeter.
We are so glad to have you here, really.
Well, thanks.
- I think this is gonna be
a good experience for you,
well, for all of our
students it's important
to get to know people you
wouldn't otherwise meet.
- Think it'll be a good
experience for us, too.
- It's going to be challenging at times,
but then, that's what
this school is all about.
Now, if any one of you needs any tutoring,
or any special help, I want you
to feel free to come see me.
I know what pressures you're under
and I just want you to know
that my door's always open.
I'm on your side.
- Thank you.
- Believe me, if there are sides here,
there ain't no way he's on ours.
- Come on, let's get outta here.
- Hey, Eddie.
Wanna get some lunch?
- Sure, I'll see you guys later, okay?
- Later, no problem.
- You comin'?
- I'm comin', I'm comin'.
So, where do we sit?
- It's the worst question of the year.
- How is that?
- Well, all school cafeteria's
are broken down into clicks,
you know, the climbers with the climbers,
the grinds with the grinds.
- Climbers?
- Yeah, the social climbers on campus,
you know, the students
who are really caught up
on being with the in-crowd.
Then, of course, you've got your jocks,
which are the athletes,
and grinds are the guys
who get straight-A's on everything.
- Back home we call them brainiacs.
- Jocks, climbers, grinds,
nerds and burn-outs,
everybody falls into a
category sooner or later.
Pick the wrong table on your first day,
you could blow your whole academic career.
- Didn't think there was
that much to rich kids.
I always thought they was
just, you know, like rich.
- So, you're here on scholarship?
- Hey, yo, are you tryin' to crack on me
on the sly, or what?
- I just asked a question.
- Do you think scholarships
are the only way
a black kid can get to a prep school?
- You think all white
kids don't have problems
because they're just, you know, like rich?
- How come they never play music we like?
- No beat, man, rhythm's all off.
- It was the same thing
at the private school
my cousin went to, nothin'
but rock all night long.
- See what's up in this place.
- Where you goin'?
- What's up, Sean?
- Bored, man.
Man, you should join
my friends over there,
y'all got a lot in common.
Who's that?
- Who knows, a prep?
- Hang back, hang back.
Hello.
- Hi.
- Punch?
- Thanks.
- My name is Eddie Perry.
- Hi, Allison Conners.
- So, you seen much of the school yet?
- Yeah, I visited here last year.
I didn't
have a chance to visit,
I just kind of came.
- Um, it gets cold early in New Hampshire.
Yeah, I like
the brisk weather here.
Me, too, I like it, too.
- You want some more punch?
- No, I'm fine.
- So, you wanna dance?
- Sure.
- Okay, okay, um, all right.
I'll be right back,
okay, don't go anywhere.
Lamar, give me that tape.
- What?
- Come on, lend me the tape.
They won't let you play it.
Baby, they're gonna play somethin'.
Hope y'all enjoyed that one,
and now we have a special request
from one of our new preps.
So wave your hands in the air!
We don't care.
I said wave your hands in the air!
Wave like we don't care.
Now, everybody, scream.
- I said wave your hands in the air.
Wave 'em
like I just don't care.
- I said wave your hands in the air.
Wave like I just don't care.
Now everybody scream.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
Yeah!
- And as King Sisyphus spent
his lifetime outwitting the gods,
only to spend an eternity
pushing a boulder up a hill.
Now this poor king has
implications for us in modern life.
Anyone care to venture an analogy?
Don't everyone raise their hands at once.
- Well, I think it's kinda like building
up the arms race, right?
Explain
further, Miss Conners.
- Well, the weapons
these Super Powers have
they can destroy the world,
so everyone's afraid to use them.
- You're point being?
- They're like the boulder,
they serve no useful purpose.
- No, wrong, nuclear
weapons are a deterrent,
Sisyphus' boulder was a punishment.
Anyone else?
Mr. Perry.
- Well, um, I come from Harlem.
And down there, you got lots of people
that can remind you of Sisyphus.
They all got their dreams and schemes,
but nothin's ever gonna
come of them, you know?
It's like they keep pushin'
these dreams up a hill
but all they ever do is go
crashin' back down to the bottom.
- Very interesting analogy, Mr. Perry.
Go ahead, I'll catch you later.
- Hey, Allison.
- Hey.
What you said in there
really made me think.
Thanks, thanks.
So, do you wanna get somethin' to eat?
I'm gonna meet
some girlfriends of mine.
- Okay, all right, well, maybe next time?
- That'd be nice.
- Okay.
Nice.
- Yo, Eddie.
Need to talk to you, man.
What is it, homeboy?
- You need to chill on
that white girl, man.
- What?
- Look, these people may act liberal,
but they ain't gonna be so liberal
if you start messin' with their girls.
- Hey, man, what's
between me and Allison is
between me and Allison.
We're just friends, me and her, okay,
so don't come out of no
racial bag on me here.
- It's just what they
expect us to do, man,
chase after these white girls!
They think that's all we got on our minds!
- I'm not in to what other
people think, all right,
I'm in to what Eddie knows.
- All of us who come over
here have got to think
about what's important, Eddie, priorities!
You need to ask yourself if
that white girl represents
any kind of priority?
- Do yourself a favor,
Lamar, don't push this.
- Ain't nobody here
gonna stand up for you,
not these white bread teachers,
not these white bread students.
You better start hanging out
with the people from back home
or you're gonna find you
don't hang out with nobody.
- Hey, Eddie, Eddie, gotta talk to ya.
Our basketball team last year was 2-12,
that's the third worst
record in the division.
- Humiliation time.
- Yeah, no kidding.
I think we need some
new talent on the court.
What do I have to do to talk you into it?
- What are you, the team
recruiter or somethin'?
- No, I mean, I just figured,
well, he's from New York
so he must be a player.
Yeah, yeah,
I'm a player all right.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- Great, so I mean you'll show us some
of those slick city moves, I
mean, turn the team around?
Well, um, I, yeah.
Come on, a little
hustle here, come on.
Man, this place is big!
- Yeah, you should see the hockey rink.
Man, man,
it's like being on the floor
at Madison Square Gardens.
Listen, never say
Madison Square Gardens,
you wanna say Boston Garden.
- Let's go guys, a
little hustle out there.
Come on, drive the ball, come on.
- Hey, Coach, it's the guy
I was tellin' you about,
it's Eddie Perry.
- Thanks for comin' out, Mr. Perry,
it's good to have you here.
It's very good.
- Thanks.
- I look forward to watchin' you play.
Okay, let's do it.
Okay, gentlemen, let's see some action.
- You okay?
- No problem.
- Yeah, Barry told me
you didn't make the team.
- I said, it's no problem.
- It's only basketball, Eddie.
- I know!
I just gotta be on top of things.
Basketball or studies.
- Okay, all right, you wanna be on top?
Let's play some one-on-one.
No, come on, I'm serious, let's go.
Give me the ball, let's play!
- Get outta my face, I'm shootin' baskets.
- You get outta my face, come on.
Let's go, gimme the ball,
give me one shot, one shot.
Putnam gets the rebound,
dribbles down the court,
tryin' to shake his man!
But rookie sensation,
Eddie Perry's all over him!
The shot's up!
And the shot is down.
- Yeah, play with me and
you'll always be number one.
- Yeah.
You're lucky this time.
- You were lucky.
- Yeah, okay.
It'll be a miracle
if I don't fail this exam.
- Come on, you'll ace it no sweat.
Kyle's in the class, too, and
he hasn't even opened a book.
- Typical.
- No, I don't get it.
You know, you come to a school like this,
you don't expect to see people who say,
"So what," to everything?
- Hey, don't make the kids out here
to be somethin' they're not, okay.
I mean, being smart or
rich doesn't really change
that much, you know, just kids.
Hey, come on, will you guys
just give me the book back?
- Hey, take it back, yourself.
- This is really stupid!
What's this, you his
boyfriend?
I'm his roomie.
You mess with him, you mess with me.
- Why don't we leave you alone
and you can mess with
each other?
Eddie, stop it, please!
- Hey, hey, hey!
- Eddie!
- Hey, hey, come on!
Break it up!
That's it, break it up!
Stop it!
Brinkman, what the hell's goin' on here?
What, so why were you punching him?
- Me, they were the ones.
- Hey, these guys jumped me!
- You know, you shouldn't
be such a hot head, pal.
I mean, preps are always
gettin' ragged on.
- You're actin' like I started this!
- And you're actin' like
this campus is some sort
of ghetto street corner.
- What's that supposed to mean?
Hey, Eddie, come on, let's go.
- No, no, no, no, I try
to stick up for my friend
and this guy cracks-wise
with some okey-doke
remark about Black people?
- Hey, I didn't say anything about Blacks.
- The hell you didn't.
- I was commenting on your
behavior, buddy, not your race.
Go back to your dorm.
- Come on, let's go.
Come on.
- I don't understand, Sir, I
was only trying to help Sean?
- No one faults you for that,
it's how you went about it.
- Well, he was tryin' to get on my race.
Eddie, the
rules are, people can speak
their minds as long as they
do so in a civil manner.
- So, I gotta stand there
like a chump and take this
because he's speakin' to me civilized?
- You can reply, but only in
an equally civilized fashion.
That's a rule, Eddie, doesn't matter
if you understand it or not.
- I understand it when
somebody's crackin' on me.
- Intemperance is
frowned upon here, Eddie.
You punch somebody out,
for whatever reason,
and you will find yourself an outcast.
- I'm telling you, I won't let people walk
all over me, I won't.
- And I'm telling you,
as someone who cares
about you and about the
Better Chance program,
watch your step.
- Sir, I'm just used to
standin' up for my friends.
I'm just--
- Just nothing!
You listen to me, Eddie, you
get Harlem out of your mind
because if you don't,
you're not gonna make it here at Exeter.
You understand?
- Great meal, Ma.
- Yeah, it was smokin'.
- Good meal after church
is always in order.
Like my mother used to
say, "Food for the body."
"And food for
the soul."
It's true!
Junior, your brother made
honor roll up at Exeter,
isn't that somehtin'?
- Way to go, Eddie.
- I'm expecting you to do the same thing.
- I'm doin' all right, Ma.
- All right?
You're too satisfied,
Junior, you're a smart boy
but you're too content on coastin' by.
- Ma, it ain't that easy
for guys like us up there.
- I didn't say it was
always gonna be easy,
but you gotta rise above that,
keep your eye on the prize.
- You ain't havin' no kind of
racial problem are you, Son?
- Well--
- What kind of trouble
could he be havin' up there,
everything is just fine.
- Let the boy talk, Veronica.
- I don't wanna hear that kinda talk.
Now you can find prejudiced
people wherever you go,
his job is to rise above
it and ignore them.
You hear me, Eddie, you ignore them.
Now you hear me, too, Junior?
Prejudice didn't stop Martin Luther King
from doin' what he had to do,
and it damn sure ain't gonna stop us
from doin' what we have
to do at prep school.
You hear me?
- I never put that gleam
in her eye, but you do it.
- She don't mean to hurt you, man,
it's just she pushes so hard.
- Seems like I can
never do enough for her.
- Where we headed, Jonah?
I mean, Ma's got all these plans for us
and Dad, he just sits and watches.
But, where we headed?
You and me.
- I know it ain't easy up there, Eddie.
Ma don't see it but I do,
I could ace out too, but why bother?
- I try my best up there.
- And that's their game.
Good grades, good schools,
they just turn us into little white boys.
They ain't never gonna let us get ahead.
- It's just, it's just I'm scared, Jonah.
Come on, let's go shoot some hoops.
I'll wipe your butt all over the court.
All right, come on.
- So, I think if I can keep
my head in the books enough,
I can become a doctor some day.
Maybe a lawyer, maybe both.
Ambitious.
- Yep, I think I'll
always be that way, too.
- What are you lookin' at?
- Well, I was just thinkin'
how nice it is to see you.
I thought about you a lot over the summer.
You think about me, too?
Yeah.
Well, here we are.
- Yeah.
- Thanks for walking me.
My pleasure, really.
- Well, I'll see ya later.
- Allison.
- Yeah?
- Um, good night.
Good night.
- So, Allison, we can't believe
you're still seeing that guy.
- I'm sure you can't.
- Are your parents freaking
out like you're having
this total rebellion or something?
- It's not exactly a crime.
It's not?
- Hey, I'm jealous, my parent
would totally disown me
if I was seeing anyone like that.
- Allison, tell us the
truth, what's he like?
Is it true what they say?
- You'll just have to see for yourselves,
won't you, girls?
Hey, loverboy.
- Quit that loverboy stuff,
Barry, what are you doin'
in the hall anyway, you
forget your keys again?
- No, come on, somethin's
happenin' over at McConnell
I want you to check out.
- Sean there?
- Forget Sean, this
isn't for him, come on!
Guys, this is the guy me and
Kyle were telling you about.
Eddie, this is Bobby, that's Joe, Sam
and you already know Kyle over there.
- Well, you know, it was
nice meetin' you guys,
but it's almost after curfew and I--
No, no, don't
worry about the proctors,
they're on our side,
and we didn't just bring
you here to say hello.
- We got, kind of a lose aggregation here.
Club, McConnell Club.
- Yeah, thought you could be one of us.
- I gotta go, see you guys later.
- Hey, Eddie, what's up, thought
you'd be glad to join us?
- Look, you keep that junk outta my face.
- Whoa, wait a minute, man.
- Get off me, Barry.
- What the hell's your problem?
- Look, I'm on scholarship
and I'm not blowin' it, you understand?
- Look, you better relax, man, all right?
There's no need to get so uptight.
- Next time you push that junk in my face
I'll show you just how uptight I can get.
- Eddie, I want to be friends,
I'm just not sure about, you know?
- I don't get it, not
sure, not sure about what?
I'm scared, all right?
- I think if two people
care about each other,
they, you know, can handle anything.
- I don't know what I can handle?
I mean, your friends, my
friends, it's not that simple.
- What are you sayin', Allison?
- We need to think about
this, be realistic.
I don't know that this is right, okay?
I just don't know?
- Okay, fine, let's just
break it off right now,
let's just forget the whole thing!
- I didn't say I wanted
to break anything off!
Eddie, I care about you, all
I said is that I'm scared
and I don't know what to do.
- No, I do think you
know what you want to do,
so fine, we'll break it off right now!
Eddie!
- You okay?
- Yeah, great.
- Eddie, what's up?
- This room is a mess.
- Eddie, come on--
- Just back off, okay!
- Okay.
- I'm sorry, okay, I'm sorry.
I just can't
take this place any more.
Yeah, yeah, the pressure
can really get to you?
Yeah, I know what it's like.
Come on, Sean, being the
only black kid in the class,
you know what that's like?
Every time somebody's got a question,
I gotta answer for the whole Black race.
You know what that's like?
Watchin' people watch me all the time.
Listenin' to people ask stupid questions
about what it's like to be
Black, you know what it's like?
- No one means anything like that.
No one means it, but
they say it, they think it!
- Eddie, I--
- They're always so careful
about how they say things
around me, they always
talk to me different.
Nothin' straight, nothin'
racist, but always different!
I can't even get a
haircut in this town!
When I first realized
that, we laughed, remember?
Remember?
- Yeah.
- It ain't funny anymore, Sean.
It ain't funny.
- Listen, next year we go
abroad, Spain'll be better.
It'll be great.
- Maybe.
Maybe I'm just homesick.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, maybe.
- Como, estas, Amigo?
- Hey, deja vu!
- Is that Spanish?
- No, that's how you
two first met, remember?
Freshman Dance?
- What?
- What, Eddie, you've been
starin' at her all night,
why don't you go say hi?
- Not a good idea, man.
- Eddie, you look like a sick puppy.
Come on, what have you got to lose?
- Just my ego.
Leave that here with me.
I'll give it back when you're done.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I was--
- It's--
- Go ahead.
- No, I'm sorry, you.
- I was hopin' I might
get a chance to see you,
talk with you.
- So, you settled in yet?
I mean, do you like the
family they put you with?
- I'm fine.
- Good.
So, you wanna dance?
- Sure.
Wave your hands in the air.
Come on, like you just don't care.
Come on.
- I say, wave your hands in the air.
And wave 'em
like you just don't care.
Said somebody scream.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
- I said, wave your hands in the air.
Wave 'em like
you just don't care.
Now somebody scream.
It's so beautiful here.
- Real beautiful.
- Everything's gonna be different here,
maybe we'll be okay?
- Things can be whatever we
want them to be, Allison,
it's up to us.
- Yeah, it's up to us.
- Well, good night.
- I could arrange to have
someone drive you home.
It's okay, I can get home from here.
- See you tomorrow.
- Okay.
We'll have two of those, Senor.
- You will be paying for this, yes?
- He can pay for himself,
what's your problem?
- I have the money, do
you want me to pay first?
- No, forget that!
Does anybody else pay first here?
There is no need.
- What did you say?
- Forget it, Sean he's an idiot.
- You don't like what I say you can leave!
- Yeah, we don't like what you
say and we want an apology.
- Look, you can get out, too!
- Not until we get an apology from you!
- Get out!
- Come on, Sean, let's just leave, okay?
- I want to see your boss right now!
Right now, you little--
I don't believe you!
- You okay?
- I'm callin' the cops!
- Come on, man, you can't call the cops,
you just started a bar room brawl.
I need some ice.
- I hope the guy knocked
some sense into your head.
- Hey, I was standin' up for you.
Hey, weren't you the one that taught me
that the only way to get by
in the Hood was to hang together?
You know, mess with him, mess with me?
- I forgot to tell ya about the exception.
- What's that?
- It the other guy's bigger than you.
- I gotta letter from my
parents, they're in Paris,
they're comin' to visit.
- Cool.
Don't worry, I'll behave myself.
- Eddie, maybe it'd be a good idea
if you didn't meet 'em this trip.
- What?
- You don't know my parents and
I don't think you'd want to.
- No, no, no, no, they don't
want to meet me, right?
- Eddie.
- What is it with you?
Back and forth, back and forth,
it's like you got me on a yo-yo.
- All I'm asking is that you
not meet my parents this trip.
- You're askin' me to be a fool.
- You think I want it to be this way?
It's easy for you to be
the injured party here.
- I'm the Nigger, I'm
the one who gets told
he ain't good enough for
nothin' white, especially you.
I'm the one who's on the
outside of everything.
- Eddie, I can't be strong.
- I can be strong for
the both of us, Allison,
I just gotta know you're with me?
- Eddie, I can't.
Eddie?
Eddie, wait!
Eddie!
- Man, this place is nice.
- Yeah, we lookin' for a
place on Long Island, now.
- We're gonna split right
after the baby comes.
- Hey, y'all got a family and everything,
this is deep!
- Well, anything's possible
when you got money.
Excuse me.
Eddie, you remember Cynthia, right?
- What's up, Eddie, I ain't
seen you in a long time.
Um, so,
you want a girl or a boy?
- I don't know, girl?
So, how's Hassan?
- He's upstate, he got busted
on an armed robbery rap.
- 10 years, man, first offense
and they give a brother 10 years.
- 10 years?
Wow.
- Wow, that's all you can say?
Why you got to come back to Harlem anyway?
Don't nobody here want
to see your Oreo ass!
Hell, I was just as smart as
you, I got good grades, too.
You was lucky, Eddie, it's all it was.
You was lucky!
- Forget her, man, that's
that crack talkin'.
- You're givin' it to her!
- Hey, man, I'm her friend!
I look out for her, she know that!
- Ty, I'm gonna go get some dinner.
Okay.
- See you, Eddie, if you
ain't here when I get back.
- I'm headed out, too.
- Hey, Eddie, you go by Russell's place
on the way home, right?
- Yeah?
- You wanna drop off a package for me?
- Package of what?
- Maybe I'm askin' you for a favor?
- You know I can't do that.
- Hey, don't be eye-ballin' me, man!
- Why not?
- I'm pullin' in $1200 a week!
I'm makin' money!
See, takin' care of my family!
- This ain't right!
- Man, you get by your
way, I get by mine, okay?
- No, not okay.
- Don't get me mad, man.
- Look, Ty, this is wrong,
there's no way you can make this right.
- Times have changed,
homie, and so have you!
Cynthia might be a crack head,
but she sure peeped you, brother.
You don't belong to Harlem anymore.
You a white boy now.
You might look Black, you
might even talk Black,
but you a white boy now.
Don't make no moves you can't back up.
- I don't know if I want to go back?
I don't know if I can hold out?
- You can hold out, your
grades are terrific.
- I know about my grades, Mr. Tolliver.
- Listen to me, you
have to think of Exeter
as a bridge you have to cross,
not a cross you have to bear.
- It's hard, I mean, it
gets so confusing up there.
- You can't allow yourself to be confused.
You must apply yourself
if you want to rise above.
- But why me?
Why do I rise above?
- 'Cause you keep trying,
you never give up.
- Like Tyree and Cynthia gave up.
I don't know anymore, Harlem, Exeter,
everywhere I go I get hurt.
- Look, I know that the
last few years haven't
been easy for you.
- Then why'd you send me there?
- To see to it that you didn't
end up like Tyree or Cynthia!
To give you a chance to be somebody!
- But I was somebody,
I was Eddie Perry of
265 West 114th Street!
All I am at Exeter is a smart, black kid!
I smart, black kid.
All I am here is a credit to my race.
Gotta do good for my family,
do good for my people,
do good for my school!
Where's Eddie?
What about Eddie?
- Eddie, it is the same
everywhere, Harlem or Exeter,
it doesn't matter.
- Yes, it does!
This was my home!
I don't have a home anymore,
I don't fit in anywhere now!
- Listen to me, the Tyrees
of this world are not Harlem,
you are Harlem!
And you will go back up to Exeter,
and you will fit in because
other black kids have!
- I'm not other black kids, I'm Eddie!
- Then act like it, dammit!
Be the Eddie who showed us
all that energy and promise.
Don't come home with your tail
between your legs like a whipped dog!
Eddie, you've got to pay the cost
if you're going to be the boss!
Now you can make it!
- What the hell do you
know about makin' it
in that White world?
I'm the one who's gotta be up
there and deal with that mess
so you can sit back
and have your fantasy
future of Black America!
Don't tell me anymore what I gotta do,
tell me what I am, tell me who I am!
'Cause I don't know anymore, I don't know?
Forget it.
- Mr. Perry, you're five
minutes past curfew.
I'm sorry, I won't
let it happen again.
- Where were you?
- At the library.
In the reading room.
- Well, you'd better
get back to your room,
you're late enough as it is.
- Okay.
- Hello, Anna, yeah this is
Lewis Porter, how are you?
Listen, was Edmund Perry
at the library tonight?
No, no problem, just checking.
Yeah, thanks, good night.
- Why'd you call the library?
- Don't let it bother you,
Eddie, it's part of my job.
- But I told you the truth.
- Look, a lot of people
say a lot of things
to keep from getting in trouble.
Eddie, what's going on?
Why wouldn't you believe me?
Eddie, come on, let's go.
- What do I gotta do,
man, ain't the scholarship
and the honor roll enough for you?
What do I gotta do, man?
- Eddie, Eddie, let's go, man, let's go.
Fine, let's go.
Eddie, what are you doing?
- I'm transferring to another dorm.
- What, what, move to McConnell,
join the McConnell Club?
Maybe?
- The school burnouts, the losers?
That the best you can do?
- Come on, man.
All my mother ever talked about was
how different Exeter was from Harlem.
This place was paradise to her, you know?
Well, Exeter ain't different.
Maybe the kids are white and rich
instead of black and poor,
but ain't nothin' changed.
So, all I'm gonna do is hang back,
kick loose with some friends and chill.
- Friends, what friends,
Kyle and the guys from the McConnell Club?
- Man, everybody else here's
two-faced, why not me, too?
This is about Allison, isn't it?
This isn't about Exeter?
- Sean, you don't know.
- Well, fine then, keep it bottled up.
- Leave me alone, Sean.
- Eddie, why don't you get mad
at the people you're
supposed to get mad at
instead of your friends all the time?
I wanna help.
Yeah, you wanna help me, Sean?
- Yes, dammit!
- You wanna help me out?
- Yes!
- Help Mr. Porter trust me
when I tell him the truth.
Help Allison see past my black skin!
- Race, race, race, everything's
race with you, Eddie!
See people, why can't you see people?
- 'Cause they can't see me!
- Well, give them a chance, you know,
not all white kids are alike?
You know, it's not like
we all sit around thinkin'
up ways to screw up Eddie Perry's life.
We've got lives of our own to screw up.
Sean, this has got
nothin' to do with you, okay?
It's on me this time, it's on me.
- I'm gonna get a single
room in McConnell.
I gotta learn to look out
for myself from now on.
- Well, that's just great, Eddie.
You look out for yourself
and I'll look out for myself.
We'll be great friends.
- I don't need you to
judge me on this, Sean.
- Right, you don't need
anybody for anything.
Sorry.
- Gentlemen, we spent our
Junior year studying abroad,
and she was fine!
But now we're Seniors,
and there's only one way
a McConnell Club Senior knows
how to battle senior-itis,
and that's party.
So let's party!
Eddie, glad you finally joined.
- Well, hell, that's what
everybody expected, isn't it?
- Yeah, so Eddie, think
you can do us a favor?
- What's the favor?
- Well, next time you go back to Harlem,
you think you could score
some serious drugs for us?
- That's why you wanted
me to join your club?
To score you drugs?
Come on,
you're one of us, now.
Hey, we got the money.
Excuse me.
- Hey, yo, my man.
- Your man?
I need to talk to you.
- Hey, Eddie, your fly's open.
I can't believe you fell for that one.
That's just a joke.
- I'm sorry, Barry.
Get the hell away from me!
Just stay the hell away
from us, we don't know you
and you don't know us!
- Help me!
Help me!
- Eddie, congratulations,
I just spoke with the admissions
counselor at Stanford,
full scholarship, have a seat.
Would you like a sip of sherry?
I keep a bottle here and this
does merit a celebration.
I won't tell anyone if you don't?
- Thanks.
- We're very proud of you here.
And we're not the only ones.
You're a credit to your community.
Stanford represents a
major accomplishment.
- Well, call Eddie Perry, he delivers.
- Yes, you have delivered here, Eddie.
You've done a fine job at this school
and you'll do well at Stanford, too.
You're part of the Exeter tradition.
- What's Stanford like?
I mean, should I be preparing?
We'll get you a good
internship for the summer,
something in the business
community, probably.
Don't worry about
preparing for Stanford,
you've had the best preparation
anyone could want right here.
I'm sure you'll find it's not
all that different from Exeter.
Thanks for the drink.
- You have the foundations
upon which a worthy
life can be constructed.
The knowledge you have acquired
here at Exeter will gain
in value as you apply it to your lives.
May your actions from
this day forward make each
and every one of you a credit,
not just to yourselves,
but to your family, your
academy and your nation.
- Really had to push hard
for that affirmative action
on the Stanford scholarship
situation, 'Eddie?
- I'm not gonna get into a
thing with you, not today.
Baby, I'm so
proud of you!
- I'll be right back.
- All right.
- I wanted to apologize to you, Sean.
I owe you a lot, man.
- You don't owe me anything.
- You were a friend, I didn't
realize how much that meant.
We had some crazy times, man.
- Yeah, a little too
crazy some of the time.
Yeah.
- Will you write?
Stay in touch?
You bet.
- I just wanted to say--
- It's over now.
Another time, another place,
maybe things could have been different.
- Maybe?
- Hey, ain't no two days alike.
Wouldn't want them
to get the wrong idea.
- Eddie!
- Bad joke.
- Sean, I thought the three of us
might take a picture together.
- Great, would you take it for us?
- Sure.
Hey, everybody, get together, smile.
So, how's the job?
Wall Street's
gonna be a trip, man.
Private schools'
take care of their own,
I'll say that.
- They do, all right.
You know, the only thing harder than going
to prep school is coming
home from prep school,
then you gotta fit in.
- Yeah, I know that.
And when's it gonna stop, Jonah?
This summer on Wall Street,
four more years at Stanford,
and what about graduate school?
It's like it won't go
away, it doesn't stop?
- It is what it is, you know.
The thing is, you're
gonna make do with it,
take what their offering
and walk by the rest.
- I can't just walk by the rest, though.
- Don't take it so personal, Eddie.
Come on, bro, let's play some hoops.
- Man, get off me.
- You need to blow off a little steam.
I need to make me a little money.
- It just gets to me sometimes, Jonah.
- Get you out.
- Come on.
- Man, you think you're the
hot shot of New Hampshire
but you're home now and I
own this court, come on!
Come on!
Yeah!
- Hold up, Jonah.
You see the way he looked at us?
- What way?
- Like we was gonna mug him or somethin'.
- Come on, Eddie, we gotta go.
- You see, that's how they do.
- Hey, chill, you're makin'
somethin' outta nothin'.
- Nothin'?
He looks at us and sees two black guys
and he figures he's gonna get rolled.
Don't ya see, it's just
more of the same, man.
- Eddie, forget it!
- Same suspicious look, same attitude,
like I'm gonna do something wrong.
- What's your problem?
- Eddie, wait.
- No, you wait.
Ain't nobody gonna make me
feel like that in Harlem.
They may make me feel like
somethin' else at Exeter,
but not here.
- You're a white boy now.
- Hey, yo, what's your problem?
- Hey, just mind your own business.
- You're in my neighborhood,
this is my business.
- You get Harlem out of your mind.
- What, you come up to our
turf, boost whatever you want
and who takes the blame, black kids!
- Hey, just, just back off.
- Back off, you back
off you son of a bitch!
Eddie, relax, man.
- Stop, police officer!
- Eddie, he's a cop, he's
a PD, let's get outta here!
- Help me!
Help me!
No, no!
My baby!
Goodbye, Exeter, you taught
and showed me many things.
Some things I saw I did not like,
and some things I learned,
I'd rather not know.
Nevertheless, it had to be done
because I can never learn not to learn.
It's a pity we part on less
than friendly basis, but we do.
Work to adjust yourself in
a changing world as will I,
signed, Me, Eddie Perry.
- Hi, Sean,
you okay?
- I guess so,
you?
- I don't know?
- I can't get it out of my head.
I keep going over and over all
the time we spent together,
wonderin' what I could have done?
- You were his friend,
Sean, you were a good friend.
- I don't know?
All I ever wanted,
all anybody ever wanted was
what was best for Eddie.
- But no one ever asked him
what he wanted, did they?
I never asked him, Eddie.
- It's okay, it's okay.
- I just keep thinking
that we all could have done
something different, something better.
- I know.
I keep thinkin' that, too.