All language subtitles for Butterfly.Effect.S01E03_English

- [Man] Our history is no more

than a series of
incredible events.

Each one of us can
influence its course.

(instrumental music)

The tiniest of our decisions

can influence the
future of mankind.

To know the past is to
anticipate the future.

December 1965, Tennessee.

Former Confederate
officers meet in secret

and found the Ku Klux Klan.

December 1, 1955.

Rosa Parks, a
42-year-old black woman,

refuses to give up her
seat to a white person

and is arrested.

August 29, 1963.

Before 250,000 people the
Reverend Martin Luther King

delivers his famous I
Have a Dream speech.

These three intimately
connected
events are the key moments

in the history of
the emancipation of
African Americans

and will lead to the
end of segregation.

Let's see how.

(uplifting music)

In today's world, after
centuries of struggle,

human slavery is
officially illegal.

Of course, that has not
always been the case.

Mid-19th century,
State of Mississippi

in the South of the
United States of America.

Imported as merchandise from
Africa dozens of years before,

the black slave community
consists of four million
persons

out of the total
population of 31 million.

Their status is clear.

They are goods, in the same
way as objects or animals.

The slave trade
is banned in 1808

but slavery is still
very much present.

And it divides the country.

In the North, the states
are highly industrialized

with a population of 20 million.

New ideas from Europe
spread rapidly and very soon

there are those who
seek to ban slavery.

They are called abolitionists.

In the South, cotton and
tobacco are the main sources

of wealth and vast plantations
use millions of slaves.

With a population of nine
million, the southern states

are more traditionalist,
defend their way of life,

and are fiercely opposed
to the end of slavery,

which would destroy
their economy.

Industrial abolitionists
in the North

versus slave-owning
planters in the South.

And into this turbulent
context steps a man

who will be capital in the
building of the United
States,

Abraham Lincoln.

A supporter of the
abolitionist cause,

Lincoln is immediately seen as
a threat to the slave owners.

The southern states declare
that if Lincoln is elected,

they will secede.

In other words, they
will leave the union.

Abraham Lincoln becomes

the 16th President
of the United States

and the first to have to
do with a crisis as serious

as a sedition of seven states.

(people yelling indistinctly)

This is the beginning
of a war of secession.

- [Woman] Welcome to
the memory of humanity.

Here we can control time,

analyze and compare
billions of events,

and order them to rewrite
history endlessly.

For example, let us
imagine that for awhile

we would become a slave.

We would be considered
as merchandise

in the same way as cattle
or a television set.

People could buy us
and then sell us.

This status would be for life.

There is no possible way
out unless by some miracle

our owner should one day agree
to release us, to free us.

We would pass nothing onto our
children other than slavery.

Those very children could
even be sold to other owners,

separating our families forever.

In the 18th century a
veritable trading machine

is established, the
triangular trade.

Captured by enemy
tribes, African slaves

are exchanged for
goods from Europe,

then cross the Atlantic
in subhuman conditions

to be exchanged a second time
with the American colonists.

The ships finally return to
Europe loaded with merchandise

to continue the cycle.

Slavery is an ancient phenomenon

but is far from being
eradicated in our modern age.

From Christian slaves
traded by the Arabs

into the Roman economy,
slavery has blighted every
age,

every continent,
and every people.

In our day, it is
officially banned,

but modern slavery
is very much alive.

(soft music)

- [Man] The Civil War.

With 600,000 dead, it is
still the bloodiest conflict

ever fought on
United States soil.

Of more than two
million soldiers

enlisted in the Northern armies,

180,000 blacks will
fight in 163 units.

While representing barely 1%
of the population of the
North,

blacks make up around 10%
of the armies' numbers.

On January 31, 1865, congress
adopts the 13th Amendment,

which abolishes slavery.

A few months later, after
four years of struggle,

the last southern
army surrenders.

The War is over.

The South is ruined.

Humiliated by its defeat,
ravaged by unemployment,

and traumatized at the
sight of former slaves

becoming equal to whites,

a heavy deep resentment
against the northern states

sets in and lasts for decades.

From this hatred the
Ku Klux Klan is born.

In December 1865,

a mere few days after the
total abolition of slavery,

former Confederate
officers gathered to form

what is to become the most
infamous and the bloodiest

of American terrorist
organizations.

The Ku Klux Klan
recognizes two enemies,

blacks and federal power.

In the beginning it is
about creating fear,

disguising themselves
in large white sheets

to bring terror to the
black population at night.

But things escalate rapidly.

Insults give way to
threats, to harassment,

to torching schools and
homes, and then to murder.

The Klan grows from day to day

until it forms a
veritable secret army.

Between 1866 and 1914 a
total of 4,600 people,

mostly blacks, fall
victim to nighttime raids.

- [Woman] A certain sort of
peace can be a prelude to war.

The heart of victory
is to achieve

the more you want to
make the vanquished pay.

Why show clemency when
you've just been fighting?

If you forgave too easily,
the
struggle and the sacrifices

demanded of the people
would lose their meaning.

So we impose war
reparations on the defeated.

We confiscate their territories.

We act like masters,

enough to heighten the
resentment of an enemy

already humiliated, enough
to compromise the peace.

In 1918 the armistice signed
between France and Germany

was extremely harsh
on the latter.

While just having lost
more than two million

of its citizens for nothing,

Germany is saddled with very
heavy financial compensation.

The country is thus plunged
into a deep economic crisis.

Unemployment and resentment
provide fertile ground

for hatred and extremism.

The 1918 armistice

carries the seeds of
the Second World War.

In the United States the
defeat of the South in 1865

sets the stage for the
racial conflicts to come.

- [Man] After the Civil
War federal laws imposed

black/white equality
throughout the country.

However each state retained
some room for maneuver.

Local laws, which can be in
addition to the federal laws,

provide more.

The southern states
will use this system

to get around the
principle of equality

that is imposed
upon them legally.

This is the emergence
of the Black Codes.

A ban on interracial marriages,

strict separation of black
and white on transport

and in public places,
schools, and hospitals,

more seriously the addition
of compulsory literacy,

or hereditary tests,
reduced the number of blacks

allowed to vote by 90%.

Because they had no choice,

the whites accept treating
the blacks as equals,

but no law says that they
have to live together.

Equal but separate.

At the end of the 19th century

segregation splits
the country in two.

The principle is this.

Each state is allowed by law

to impose racial
segregation measures.

The only requirement,
offer the same conditions

to the various racial groups.

For example, the same
number of seats reserved

for blacks and whites on a bus.

These laws vary
according to the states

and an action that is
authorized in one county

may be totally illegal
in the next county.

This situation lasts
for more than 50 years.

In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled

such laws are unconstitutional.

Officially segregation
no longer exists.

In theory, therefore, black
students can attend schools

previously reserved for whites.

Dorthy Counts is 15.

She advances amidst
shouts and insults.

People spit on her.

They throw stones at her.

She is one of the
first black students

to try to attend a white school.

No teacher accepts to teach her.

(people yelling indistinctly)

It's a confrontation
between the federal state

and local mindsets.

Black students are escorted
by the National Guard

or the Federal Police
simply to be able to study.

- [Woman] The United
States has a history

that is both short and complex.

The pace of their development

piling one layer of
nationality upon another

in a very short time
makes them a country

that is unique in the
world by its diversity.

Communities both numerous
and of different cultures

find themselves living
together
for better or for worse.

Segregation is the
fruit of its history.

Other countries have
experienced the same sort

of racial separation.

In 1948 in South Africa
a regime of separation

between original black and
white European populations

slowly appears.

The whites, holding
power, impose apartheid.

Once again these laws
originate
from a minority population

that fears it will disappear.

In a reflex reaction of
survival, it started to

oppress and marginalize 80%
of the country's inhabitants,

creating a climate of
social instability.

After 40 years, apartheid
finally disappears

with the combined action of
the President of South Africa

and especially of
Nelson Mandela,

an opposition politician
having spend 27 years in
prison

for his essentially
peaceful action.

A minority regime has only one
method of staying in power,

the use of force.

(soft music)

- [Man] Baptist minister
Martin Luther King

experiences segregation
as an injustice

because although the
separation is certainly
there,

the equality is
still a long way off.

At the age of six it had
to be explained to him

that two of his
former classmates

could no longer play with him.

They were white

and had just started at a
school
that did not accept blacks.

A little later, after falling
in love with a white girl,

the couple had to give
up all hope of marrying,

knowing perfectly well
that in this society

their lives would become hell.

His struggle?

The right to vote,
the right to work,

wage equality, and the
end of segregation.

His method?

Faced with an unjust law, you
must disobey without violence.

This is civil disobedience.

1955, the City of
Montgomery, Alabama.

An event will allow
Martin Luther King

to test his method
on a life-size scale.

Ever since 1900
Montgomery buses have had

some sections reserved for
whites and others for blacks.

Blacks had to buy their
ticket, get off the bus,

and reboard from the rear.

On December 1, 1955,
Rosa Louise Parks,

a 42-year-old black woman,

gets on the bus and sits in
a seat reserved for blacks.

As the bus fills up,
the driver tells her

to give her seat up to
whites who are standing.

She refuses.

The driver calls the
police, who arrest her.

Immediately Martin Luther
King seizes on the occasion.

He leads what is to become
a veritable boycott.

From now on blacks
do not take the bus.

They choose to carpool
or walk long distances.

The idea is to stifle
the company financially,

to force it to change
its regulations.

Martin Luther King is
arrested, imprisoned.

His house is set on on fire.

But in 1956 comes victory.

Segregation on the buses
is declared illegal.

The same method will be
used again and again,

always without violence,

sometimes by a simple
occupation of premises.

Throughout his life

the minister applies
the Christian principle.

When faced with violence,
turn the other cheek.

Despite threatening letters,
the target of an attack

on his home and therefore his
family, he will never give up

because for him,
violence breeds violence.

One day he even finds himself

besieged in a church by
over 300 demonstrators

armed with bricks
and teargas grenades.

After obtaining the resignation

of the Mayor of the
City of Birmingham,

and in particular the firing
of the racist and violent

Chief of Police, he organizes
a march on Washington.

Martin Luther King understands
that the nonviolent struggle

must be carried out under
the eyes of the cameras.

(people cheering)

Before 250,000 people in
front of the Lincoln Memorial,

he delivers what will become
the most famous speech

in the race struggle
in the United States.

(dramatic music)

- [Woman] We have just
reached a turning point.

A turning point is a key
event,
a crossroads in our history

where the world swings
one way or the other.

The Reverend Martin Luther King
has just delivered a speech

that will become famous
and mark our minds forever.

To the eyes and ears of the
world, he brings a message

of hope and reconciliation,
affirming the desire for
unity.

His words, open and
moderate, do not close doors.

They throw them wide open.

His vision makes
change possible.

Taking inspiration from
the courage of people

who dared defy authority, like
Dorothy Counts or Rosa Parks,

he allows the United States
to change direction smoothly

and to leave segregation behind.

What would have happened if
nobody, unlike Rosa Parks,

had shown the courage to say no?

If there had been no
Martin Luther King

to take up her defense, the
situation would have worsened.

It could only go that way.

Harassment and injustices from
the whites towards the blacks

would have continued
again and again

till they reached the
point of no return.

In the face of despair,

black communities would have
turned to radical leaders

and would have descended
into the path of violence.

In the big cities, repeated
riots would certainly have
led

to armed confrontation
with the police.

Blood would have demanded blood.

To control the situation
and protect its own,

the white population in power
would probably have passed

laws banning black populations
from leaving the ghettos,

perhaps even going
so far as to pen them

behind high barbed wire fences.

The situation would have
become highly explosive.

- [Man] Violence
breeds violence.

Hatred breeds hatred.

From 1930, in parallel
with the peaceful struggle

of the Reverend Martin
Luther King, radical groups

born of racism and
segregation gradually appear.

In Detroit,

Nation of Islam is a
political
religious organization.

In the beginning

there are no more than
a few hundred members.

In 1963, the year of
the March on Washington,

there are 30,000.

The group has a
security division,

actually a veritable
private army,

and places the emphasis
on self defense.

On one side Martin Luther
King reaffirms his desire

not to divide the country
and expresses his wish

to see an America
united in brotherhood.

On the other side whites are
classed as an inferior race

created by a black
scientist 6,000 years ago.

They are the devil on Earth.

There are even demands for
the creation of a black state

in the heart of
the United States.

Malcolm X, the official
spokesman, states,

"I am not an American."

For them it's freedom or death.

This is the reaction
to segregation and
the Ku Klux Klan,

the very opposite of
Martin Luther King.

Malcolm X is shot to
death barely one year

after Martin Luther King
receives the Nobel Peace
Prize.

And the rush to violence
is only just beginning.

1966 sees the birth of
the Black Panther Party,

an armed group of extremists
considered as terrorists.

On April 4, 1968, Martin
Luther King is assassinated

by a white segregationist.

Two days later, Bobby Hunter,

the Black Panthers's treasurer,

disarmed and with
his hands in the air,

is gunned down by 12
shots from the police.

The decades that follow will
see a sharp ghettoization

of the black population,

especially in the Bronx
neighborhood of New York

or South Central in Los Angeles,

and be witness to
many bloody riots.

But that is another story.

- [Woman] When faced with
injustice and oppression,

the most natural response is
often anger and then violence.

Throughout the world many
groups have chosen violent

rather than democratic
action to bring about change.

Intimidation, kidnapping,
assassination,

hijacking, terrorist attack.

The publicity given to
terrorism is tempting.

The effect is guaranteed.

The greater the violence,
the more the world hears you.

But does it listen to you?

How many laws have
been changed or dropped

because of an attack?

How many governments have
resigned because of a
hijacking?

Violence is certainly
visible but it creates fear.

It frightens those
who might understand,

alienates those who
could participate.

Martin Luther King, Nelson
Mandela, and Gandhi,

between the three of them
have achieved more through

nonviolence than all the
terrorist groups in the
world.

They understood that power rests

on acceptance by the people.

If the people follow you,
you can change the world.

The United States experienced
slavery and segregation.

They introduced race laws.

They experienced
unprecedented rioting,

witnessed the birth of
radical terrorist groups.

However, overcoming
the historical fears,

rising above their prejudices
and their resentment,

they were able to make progress,

forgive the past
without forgetting it.

In 2008, 40 years
after the assassination

of Martin Luther King
by a segregationist,

Barack Obama becomes

the first black President of
the United States of America,

and this fact alone speaks
louder than any words.

(instrumental music)