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Ella, I know you wanna say it.

Go ahead.

I'm not gonna say it.

But you wanna?

Yeah, I do.

I know. Go ahead.

I told you so.

See? Always with the

"I told you so."

'Cause I told you so

You's right this time.

What you mean, "this time"?

I'm always right.

Aight, aight, I got you.

Calm down, calm down

Aight, so get your little candy

or whatever.

And call me back.

Aight.

Hey.

Three fifty.

Like, I don't know,
some… oh, oh, oh…

You know, like, breakfast.

okay, breakfast.

I like me some eggs…

You like grits, berries.

I got you.

You got me?

I don't know if I
want… You like berries?

What you be eating berries
with pancakes?

Yeah, I eat berries

with pancakes.

Like blueberry pancakes.
That's so bomb.

See, okay. We've gotta have fun.

We gotta do our own thing.

I feel like…

We gotta do our own thing.

It's gonna be amazing.

I'm really excited…

Tray?

Hey, I think…

I think this
car's following me.

What? For real?

It keeps looping

around the
block.

Dang. Try goin' another way.

Call me when you get home,
okay?

All right.

Mama?

Mama?

Afternoon.

Afternoon. Are you sleeping

or kinda?

Kinda.

Hey, Sleeping Beauty.

- Hello.
- Hey. Hi. Hi.

Want to sit up? Sit up.

There you go. All right.

Come on, one more time.

- That's good. That's good.
- okay.

- I'm okay.
- How's that?

Yeah. There we go.

Sweetie with you?

He's bringing the trash around
back.

Ah, yeah, garbage day.

Everything in its right place.

of course you know how to do it

but you don't have to do it,
not while I'm here.

Don't take my job from me,
please.

There's only so much joy left
for me in this world,

you gotta let me have it now.

okay.

You ready?

Come here.

okay.

Go slow, okay? Come on.

I got you. okay.

Could you tell me how
many apartments there are in…

We have 200 units.

- Two hundred, okay.
- Two hundred units.

And everything…

Kitchen, full kitchen…

Full kitchen and…
Yeah, that's…

Well, everyone looks really
nice.

Yes. It's a great group.

You know, Mr. Mayhew,

my husband
was a Tuskegee Airman.

Fought for America
in World War II.

oh.

oh, this is a gym here, yeah?

Beautiful, open 24 hours.

oh, thank you.

Thank you.

So… You've got really nice
kitchen…

Hey.

- At least there's good light.
- Mmm. Yeah.

Look at that cloud.

I see a swimming pool
with boys jumping in.

- Where?
- There. Look.

There's the arms.

oh, yeah, I see it. I see it.
I see it.

They're a Little League team,
just won the big game,

celebrating and having a ball.

See the splashes?

Mama.

Little League team. Splashes.

It's true.

You and your imagination.

You gonna be all right?

Yes.

I'm gonna be all right, honey.

I'm going to be all right.

okay.

If anybody can maneuver,
it's your ma.

okay?
What's she say all the time?

"My husband
was a Tuskegee Airman."

Listen, I know keeping elders at
home

is supposed to be a noble
thing and all,

but there's something to be
said

for keeping her as independent
as she can be.

- Where'd you find them?
- Next to the lamp.

Under a scarf
with the ringer off.

Ugh…

You've got to use the
hook.

That is what it is there for.

Is that Mr. Brett?

- ohh!
- Ready to go out?

Is this Marion? How's Teddy?

You know, working my nerves,
but what else is new?

- You need some paper towels?
- Yeah.

Let's not miss this flight,
okay?

I love you. Please be safe,
okay?

okay.

You got your boarding pass?

- I knew you had that.
- Yeah, you knew it, huh?

- You got it.
- Bye.

Bye, baby.

The shipyard
workers at Blohm and voss

gather for a ceremony
celebrating the company's new

295-foot vessel.

Adopted by the Nazis,

a "heil" salute was mandatory
for German citizens.

But if you look closely,

you'll find someone
who defied this.

His name is believed
to be August Landmesser.

He had joined the Nazi Party
two years before this day,

but in that time,

August met and fell in love
with a woman

unlike any he'd ever met.

Unlike any he was supposed
to have met.

Irma Eckler.

A Jewish woman.

An unexpected treat. You're early.

I'm a surprise.

That you are.

A handsome one.

Although a member
of the dominant class,

August saw in Irma what others
like him chose not to see.

Her humanity, her beauty,

her love.

on this day,

he folded his arms

rather than salute a regime
that deemed that love illegal.

on this day, he was brave.

He couldn't have been the only
one who felt something tragic

was happening.

So why was he the only one
among the men

to not go along that day?

Perhaps we can reflect
on what it would mean

to be him today.

I'll leave you with that.

Thank you.

- Good luck.
- Thank you.

Bye.

Let me get this.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Water?
- I'm fine. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Isabel, Isabel. Hey!

Amari!

I didn't know you were speaking.

No, no, no, one
of my reporters is.

Hey, can you guys give me a
minute?

okay.

You were solid.

- Nice work.
- I am a better writer

than I am a speaker.

Yeah, well,
you're a better writer

than most people do anything.

So, listen, I was gonna reach
out to you on something.

So I'mma take seeing you
as a sign.

This… This Trayvon Martin
case.

- I know.
- Have you heard the tapes?

No. of what?

Not the murder?

911 calls.
This killer called 911

before he did it.

And tapes of people that heard
the boy screaming out

and called the police.

- Is this public?
- No.

But it's being released.

Slowly.

But we got him.

Are you interested in listening,
to consider writing something

for us?

Amari, you have a stable
of writers.

They don't have Pulitzer Prizes.

Some of them do, actually.

Yeah, well, then they're not
as brilliant as you on things

like this.

- You know what I do.
- Yeah, and I know what you used

to do.

Some of the best reporting
I've ever edited.

I write books now.

So, that one book you wrote
took way too damn long.

It was a masterpiece
and whatnot, but…

it took too long, Isabel,
if you ask me. Writers write.

So write.

I don't do assignments anymore.
I…

I wanna be in the story.

Really inside the story.

And, yes, that takes time.

okay.

Maybe after you hear the tapes.

I'mma send them to you.

- okay.
- okay. No pressure.

Sanford Police Department.
Is there a report of shots?

Hey, we've had some
break-ins in my neighborhood.

And there's a real suspicious
guy…

This guy looks like he is up
to no good,

or he's on drugs or something.

okay, he's just
walking around the area…

Looking at all the houses.

It's raining
and he's just walking around,

looking about.

okay.

And he's a Black male.

Now he's just staring at me.

Did you see
what he was wearing?

Yeah, a dark hoodie, like,
a gray hoodie,

and either jeans or sweatpants,
and white tennis shoes.

Shit, he's running.

He's running? Which
way is he running?

Down towards the other
entrance to the neighborhood.

These assholes,
they always get away.

Are you following
him?

- Yeah.
- okay, we don't need you

to do that.

okay?

All right, sir,
what is your name?

George.

He ran.

All right, George,
what's your last name?

Zimmerman.

911. Do you
need police, fire or medical?

Maybe both, I'm
not sure. There's just someone

screaming outside.

okay, what's the
address that they're near?

1211 Twin Trees Lane.

And is it a male or female?

- It sounds like a male.
- And you don't know why?

I don't know why.
I think they're yelling "help,"

but I don't know.

So you think
he's yelling "help"?

Yes.

I can't see him.
I don't want to go out there,

I don't know what's going on,
so…

Just… There's gunshots.

- You just heard gunshots?
- Yes.

- How many?
- Just one.

Is he right outside
1211 Twin Trees Lane?

Yeah, pretty much.
out the back, yes.

- Good to see you.
- Thank you. You too.

- Hey.
- Hi!

Looking gorgeous.

- oh, Brett. How are you?
- Hi. Yes.

- How are you?

- Great to see you.
- And you.

He's wearing the tux
very well.

very well.

- He can hear you.
- Well, he can.

But he's grateful, thank you.

- Hi.
- Hello.

Amari Selvan asked me twice
if you were coming.

He wants something
for the paper.

He's made that very clear.

You interested? We can
time it with the audio book.

Did you listen?

Yeah. Yeah.

It's a lot.

- Yeah.
- It's a lot.

It's a lot there.

But longer-form stuff,
questions that I don't have

the answer to.

So ask them in a piece.

I don't write questions.
I write answers.

Questions like what?

Like why does a Latino man
deputize himself

to stalk a Black boy to protect
an all-white community?

- What is that?
- The racist bias I want you

to explore,

excavate for the readers.

We call everything "racism."
What does it even mean anymore?

It's the default.
When did that happen?

- Hey, Brett.
- How are you doing?

So, what?
So you're saying

that he isn't a racist?

No, I'm not saying
that he's not a racist.

I'm questioning,
why is everything racist?

- This feels like a setup.
- I've been there.

okay.

- Home ownership.
- okay.

Covenants were written
into land deeds

barring Black people
from having wills.

No generational wealth allowed.

We could not pass
on what we earned

to our kids
for almost 500 years.

Every time,
we'd have to start from zero.

So, if we are not allowed
to pass on the fruits

of our labor to our family,

is that the same racism
that took Trayvon's life?

Systemic racism. Yes, same.

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

What does it mean?

Murders of Black people
by the police,

we call that racism.

- Everything's the same.
- I get it.

Being followed
in a department store

and being lynched

shouldn't be called
the same thing, I get that.

Racism as the primary language
to understand everything

is insufficient.

- See, this is good.
- That's all.

This is good.

Look, I need a piece delving
into what the Martin case means.

Set the context
with these questions,

it's what you do best.

Make the hard stuff digestible.
And this is a hard one.

"What does it all mean?"

These questions are the piece.

I'll make it splashy,
prime placement, Sunday.

- Maybe even the cover.
- You're terrible.

You're terrible, Amari.

I'm just saying.
Your face on the cover?

There's a lot there.
There's a lot there.

But I am on hiatus.

- Isabel, come on. Come on.
- I am. I am.

I… I have family
responsibilities.

Well…

Well, good for you
for taking time.

- We'll talk again.
- All right.

Hey, you two take care,
all right?

Good to see you. All right.

okay.

President Reagan
taking an office…

- I don't…
- She's wrong.

She just said it is the only
movie she knows.

She deserves to lose that money.

… speak to an issue
that obviously has gotten a lot

of attention

over the course
of the last week,

the issue
of the Trayvon Martin ruling.

I gave a preliminary
statement…

That poor child's mother.

… right after the ruling
on Sunday.

I wish he'd answered the man
right.

What was that, Mama?

I wish he had answered the man

when he asked him
why he was there

in the neighborhood.

Maybe he'd still be with us.

Are you saying
it's the boy's fault?

No, of course not,
don't be silly.

I'm saying you got to act
in a way to keep you safe.

He was…

He was too young to know it.

He shouldn't have had to answer
to anyone.

"Should have" and real life
are two different things,

darling, you know that.

You can't be walking around
at night on a white street

and not expect trouble.

That's intimidating
to most whites.

True or not?

Yeah.

Yeah. Unfortunately,
I think it is true.

But I also think
that you can't live your life

based on what's intimidating
to people.

Sure you can, sweetie.

So you're going on
hiatus, huh,

- is what you're doing?
- Huh?

You told Amari you were going
on hiatus,

you told me that you were
gonna be traveling less

for work.

So I'm just trying to figure out
what exactly it is

that you're gonna do.

'Cause…

I said I wanted to focus on her.

okay.

People are asking you to write
because of your voice,

because they…
the way you think.

I just… I don't know
what you're doing.

She…

She doesn't belong
in that place.

oh, right.

She should be at home.

She moved
because she was lonely.

I should've spent more time
with her.

Daddy would want me to fix this.

Hmm.

I think your father
was pretty clear

that what he wanted
was for you to be happy,

people to be happy.

Sacrificing your work, well,
that's gonna accomplish exactly

the opposite, so…

Your mother was very clear
about what she wanted.

It's not that, so…

- I don't see it, Betty.
- Maybe it's checked out.

In 1933,

two African-American
anthropologists

were studying in Berlin.

There are no books here
at all by him.

At the premier library
in the city.

The country.

Beautiful library, though.

I could get lost
in all these books forever.

All these ideas.

Your library card.

Good afternoon. of course.

And your passports.

Can you tell us when Erich Maria Remarque's
'All Quiet on the Western Front' is due back?

They witnessed events
that would change the world.

Baby.

Brett.

By trade, Brett
Hamilton was a mathematician,

a financial analyst.

By heart,
he was a passionate champion

for those he loved deeply.

He played classical guitar,

was an enthusiastic cook,

and volunteered his time
and efforts

to those less fortunate.

In college,
he joined Phi Kappa Tau,

Delta Chapter,

and, with his friends,
enjoyed caving trips,

watching thunderstorms,

and debating the big stuff.

Recently, he traveled
extensively in Europe,

accompanying his beloved
in her professional activities

in the cause of social justice.

I'm Mrs. Copeland
from across the street.

How is Isabel?

She's resting right now.

I can't believe it.

Thank you so much
for coming by.

Give her my
love, please.

Isabel Wilkerson's office.

Hello, hi.

This is Kate.
I'm Isabel's editor.

Yeah, I know who you are.
Hi, Kate.

This is her cousin Marion.

Marion. Marion, hi.

My condolences
for your family's losses.

I don't have the words.

It's unfathomable,
it's unthinkable.

I just, I can't…

Two of the closest people
to you in a year,

who can withstand it?

How is she?

Hold me.
Don't leave me.

I am right here.

I am right here.

Stay. Stay.

I am right here.

Stay. Stay. Stay.

Hey.

- You made it in okay?
- Yeah, I'm here.

How are you?

Tell me how you're feeling.

How does it feel
to be back there

with all of her things?

I'm here, Marion.
That's all I am.

- You know what? I gotta go.
- Right.

I've gotta get this house
packed.

I could come down this weekend
and help you.

We could take it slow.

I've gotta get these things
packed up so I can start

back work.

Wait, you're starting back
to work?

of course.

What am I supposed to do?
How am I supposed to live?

okay.

What is the work you have to do
and when do you need to start?

Marion, I have to go.
I'm already behind.

I'll talk to you later, okay?
Bye.

okay.

The HvAC guy
got the sump pump working

and got most of the water out.

This has never happened before.

I'm never down here.
My husband was always the one

down here,

changing the filter
in the furnace

or checking the fuse box.

But he died last year, so…

Uh-huh.

There's where
the water's coming in.

Where?

The sink.

The sink doesn't overflow.

I mean, is it a pipe
that's clogged, or…

Probably the pump
needs clearing out.

I'll write an estimate.

My mother died a few months ago.

What about you?

Is your mother still alive?

No. No, she's not.

Died in 1991, 52 years old.

Goodness.

That's not old… at all.

It sure ain't.

Your father?

He's 78.

You're lucky to have him.

He's mean as they come.

Well…

I guess, in the end,
we miss them

no matter what they were like.

No, not him.

You know what?

- You see something?
- Well, maybe.

- I have an idea.
- You do?

Thought that might be why you
came.

Tell us. Is it…

Well, I…

didn't explore
the Trayvon Martin case.

I know it's been a while,
but I think there's a lot

to unpack.

I've been thinking
about my mother

and how she insisted

we be polite and buttoned-up
around white people.

And there's all this
Nazi symbolism

all over the place.

You heard about
what happened in…

in Charlottesville.

- Yes. Neo-Nazis.
- Yeah.

Drove his car through a crowd
at a protest for Black Lives.

Killed a white woman.

Heather Heyer.

All these idiots walking
around with tiki torches,

invoking imagery from the KKK
and Nazi Germany to stoke fear.

There's this terrific
Indian scholar.

I've been wanting
to read his work, but I haven't.

He's a Dalit professor,
and he won a…

- Sorry, a "Dalit" professor?
- He's a Dalit

and a professor.

The Dalits are untouchables
in India,

beneath the lowest caste.

- Have you ever heard of them?
- No.

No. Me either. Why?

There's connective tissue here.

There's connective tissue there.

There is connective tissue here.

I… I could… I could…
I could…

I could build a thesis
that shows how all of this,

all of it,

is linked.

Well…

Well,
that's the writer's journey,

right?

Sorting all of that out.

There's a lot going on
in that big brain of yours.

I love that.

I love it.

But I gotta be honest with you,
I don't understand

how the woman that they killed,
by the neo-Nazis…

Heather Heyer.

… how that connects
to the Dalit professor,

connects to Trayvon Martin,

connects to your mom.

I don't see it.

Yet. I don't see that yet.

But if you can make people
see it,

then that is an incredible book.

I love you. Please be safe,
okay?

okay.

- Hello, excuse me.
- Hi.

This is the book you ordered.

- oh, yes, yes. Please sit down.
- And the list we talked about.

This is a list from 1935,
october,

a little bit later
than the first list.

Yes.

And here, Remarque,
Erich Maria.

That means everything he wrote
is "to destroyed." Blown.

- "To be destroyed."
- Yes.

Excuse me.

I heard you inquire
about Remarque.

But I couldn't hear
the librarian's answer.

I'm Kästner.

I'm from here.

How long have you been
in Berlin?

About five weeks.

You've no idea what's happening.

- Pardon me?
- I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.

You have no idea what's
happening here.

Everything is being torn apart.

The period
of exaggerated Jewish intellectualism

is now at an end!

The German soul…

… can express itself again!

No to decadence…

… and moral corruption!

Yes to decency and morality

in family and state!

In Germany, there's
memorials to nearly everyone

victimized by the Nazis.

And there's no entry sign,
no gate.

It's just open both day
and night.

Yes, yes.

Just standing to bear
witness.

20,000 books
that were lost that night.

Books filled with imagination
and ideas,

and history.

Leave here,
my friends.

Leave Germany.

Go to your home as soon
as you can,

you'll be safer there.

I deliver to the flames the works of…

Sigmund Freud,

Heinrich Mann,

Ernst Gläser,

Erich Maria Remarque,

Karl Renner,

Erich Kästner.

"Where you burn books,
you end up burning men."

It's a quote by Heinrich Heine.

He was a poet.
German and Jewish.

No. You are not changing
the subject anymore.

oh, yeah.

okay.

- Guns, Christmas.
- Yes.

And then?

- Sweetheart?
- No, I still have

a couple sips left.

You're basically in danger
when you're visiting

your family.
- Yeah.

Always.
- It's the American way.

I mean, we know. We know.
It's ridiculous.

That is what I'm looking at
with the article.

You have 900 shootings a week,
it seems, in America,

and you keep giving people guns.

I don't understand at all.

We don't even understand it
ourselves.

We don't understand.

You know,

I heard, here,
that displaying the swastika

is a crime.

- Mm-hmm.
- Three years in prison?

Yes, yes, that's true.

I mean, it's not tolerated.

Well, in America…

the Confederate flag,
which is like your swastika,

the flag of murderers
and traitors,

it is a part
of the official flag

of one of our states,

- No.
- Mississippi.

Men who wanted to wage war
for the right to own

other human beings.

Statues of them
sprinkled all over the country

right now.

Madness.

You know, it's not perfect,

but Germany has no monuments
that celebrate Nazis.

I mean, everything Hitler's
gone,

paved right over it all,
and built new things.

I mean, you can literally walk
right over Nazi places

and never know
they were even there.

- And the bunker.
- Yes, the bunker.

- It's long gone.
- It like nothing.

- Yeah.
- I mean, it was 30 feet

underground,

and was protected
with reinforced concrete.

And now it has, like,
a volkswagen

or something parked on top of it

at any given time of the day.

It is very different
than the States.

A very different approach.

Well, there are so many
differences between here

and there.

We are talking
about the systematic murder

of six million Jews,

that's the official number.

So it's just very different
than monuments to soldiers

and whatnot.

And what? What are you saying
is different?

All of it. We're talking
about deliberate extermination

over many years.

Yeah, but wasn't slavery
for, like, hundreds of years?

Right, Isabel?

Slavery lasted 246 years.

That's 13 generations of people.

Plus another 100 years
of Jim Crow,

segregation, violence
and murder.

It is, of course, horrific.
I am not downplaying any of it.

There were so many millions
of African Americans

who were murdered.

From the Middle Passage
until the end

of legal segregation,

that it goes beyond the realm
of an official number.

- There is no number.
- I didn't know that.

- No. It's stunning.
- It is.

And I understand you're trying
to make sense

of American racism.

It is noble.

But your thesis linking caste
in Germany

with the United States
is flawed.

Maybe it's not exactly the same,

but the thesis
of structural similarity

certainly gives context
for a framework.

Right, but a framework
is not a book, my friends.

She is trying to connect
the United States to Germany,

but it doesn't fit.

It's as if you're trying
to "fit a square

inside the circle," as they say.

I would just like you to note
for yourself

that American slavery
is rooted in subjugation,

dominating Blacks
for the purposes of capitalism,

using bodies and labor
for profit.

But for the Jews
during the Holocaust,

the end call
was not subjugation,

it was extermination.

"Kill them all.

Wipe them off the face
of the Earth.

There's no need for them here."

It's different.

I say, leave Jewish folks alone.

They're fine.
They don't need you.

Write about us, Isabel.

I am writing about us.

I just…

I couldn't fully explain

- what was in my head.
- You better than me.

Because I would have had words.

She was rude.

I had words.

I had a ton of words.

Wow. And none of them were,

"I'm the right one
on the wrong day, baby"?

Yeah, well, I'm still
my mother's child,

and that wouldn't have happened.

I know.

You never could bag back,
even when we were kids.

Always thinking
about your comeback

the next day.

"I know what I should
have said was…"

What if Brett had been there
last night?

Poor lady.

Probably would still be there,

confronting.

Afternoon.

Hi, afternoon.

Some unwanted visitors, huh?

Looks like they even built
a guesthouse.

I'm putting these out
in the backyard

to empty out.

Just have your gardener
pick 'em up in a day or two.

Sir.

Sir, I don't want that.

I'd rather not have those nests
in my yard.

I have dogs,

and that spray can't be good
for them.

It's fine, won't hurt 'em.

Hey.

Can I help?

- Can I just…
- Yes, go ahead.

Excuse me.

She doesn't want it back there.

Did you not hear what she said?

Yeah, but I can't take it
with me today.

My bins are full.

okay. Well,
I guess we're just gonna have

to figure something out then,
right?

I mean, you didn't…

you didn't remove that
for free, did you?

No. Right?

No, I didn't.

So, look, if this is your tree,
you go ahead

and you leave that
wherever you'd like.

But if you do want to get paid
for your work,

you're gonna have
to finish the job.

Appreciate the cooperation.

Did I just mansplain?

Well, you asked for permission,
so…

And if you hadn't…

I'd be in a white savior mode,
right?

What do you know about that?

Well, break bad habits,
never gonna get broke, right?

Well, you asked for permission,
so we'll just call it

being neighborly.

okay. Let's… Let's do that.

I haven't seen your mom and dad
on their walks for a while.

- How are they doing?
- You know,

they're slowing down. Thank you.

But they're having
the conversation about moving

to Florida.

But they're hanging in,
you know.

My mom, too.

I get it.

My mom made me promise
I'd come by today. It's…

It's my birthday, so…

Wait…

- Today is your birthday?
- Yeah.

- Today is your birthday?
- It is.

Yes, she…

She made me a cake.
Like I was a little kid.

'Cause she still thinks
you're her baby.

I think it's sweet.

Happy birthday…

It's Brett.

- I'm Isabel.
- Yeah, I know.

And I think birthdays
are a big deal.

- Do you? Wow.
- Yes, I do.

- Not me, honestly, but…
- They should be.

- Really?
- Yes.

okay.

Will you come over?

Come have a slice of cake
with us,

you know,
that would make my mom so happy.

And… And, you know,
it would make the birthday

a big deal,

because I don't have any idea
how to do that.

Well, I haven't seen your mom
and dad for a while.

There you go.

I'll come in and say hi.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

Wow.

- okay.
- oh, God.

- What?
- Nothing, what?

Come on, let's go eat some cake.

She makes a mean cake, too.

- Really?
- oh, yeah, she's got

the layers going.

What kind are we talking about?

We're talking about, I mean…

Hopefully, there's not gonna be,
like, a fire engine on it

like when I was seven,

you never know with my mom.

These are the minutes
from the meeting in 1934.

Fifteen months
after the meeting,

they become law.

- Jim Crow laws.
- Yes.

- American race laws.
- Yes.

It's mind-blowing.

"our problem is
different.

Their problem is…

Negroes with nothing
to build upon.

A problem that plays no part
for us here in Germany.

our problem is the Jews,
who must be kept

enduringly apart."

- What is this?
- That is a transcript

of a meeting
that I saw a picture of,

where Nazi lawyers
were studying American law

and customs

to figure out how
to pull off the Holocaust.

our problem is the
Jews who must be kept

enduringly apart,

since there's no doubt
that they represent

a foreign body in the volk.

And segregation
will never achieve the goal

as long as the Jews
have economic power

in the German fatherland
as they do have now.

As long as they have
the most beautiful automobiles,

the most beautiful motorboats.

As long as they play
a prominent role

in the pleasure spots
and resorts

and everywhere that costs money.

This can only be achieved
through measures

that forbids sexual mixing
of a Jew and a German,

and imposes criminal punishment.

We must answer
the question today

as to whether laws
that the Reich will institute

should declare
only the separation of races,

or if it should declare
the superiority of one

and the inferiority of others.

In the fall
of 1933,

Allison Davis and his wife,

Elizabeth,

cut short
their advanced studies

at the University of Berlin,

and fled Germany
when Hitler took power.

Well, we finally got proof

that one landowner named Bailey
has been whipping sharecroppers.

Bailey's wife told me

that's the way to manage them
when they get too "uppity"?

We heard about a tenant farmer,
one county over,

who was beaten so badly
by a store merchant,

he can't bring in a crop.

We're headin' over there
tomorrow.

Do you know what sparked that?

The Negro man asked
for a receipt.

Beat him right there
in the store.

It inspired him to study
the process of injustice.

This gave Dr. Davis new insight
into the nature of hate.

The other half of their team
was a white couple

named Burleigh
and Mary Gardner,

also Harvard anthropologists.

The mission
was quietly revolutionary.

Together, all four
would embed themselves

in an isolated Southern town
from both sides

of the caste divide.

one breach of a social order
could cost them

all their lives.

And this was exactly
what they were doing

in Natchez, Mississippi,

breaching the social order
to study the social hierarchy

of the South.

A mission that
would render them

undercover investigators

in order to fit
into the community.

This would be one
of the first studies

of its kind.

Neither couple fully knew
what they were

getting themselves into.

out in public,

they had to remain
in character at all times.

With the Davises required
to show deference

to the Gardners

and never give the appearance

that they were, in fact,
colleagues in the trenches,

they had to keep
to their own caste performance.

Everyone had to play the part
expected of them.

They don't need to be out
on these streets.

Seen 'em around
before?

oh, yeah.

Monkey's getting too big
for his britches.

Might've to train him.

Come on.

I don't see how we stay
much longer.

our neighbor practically
invited us

to a lynching yesterday.

Allison, there've been some…

some unkind things said
about you.

I can't be sure these folks
don't get in mind

and do something.

We're seeing similar suspicion,

- we should consider.
- Not yet.

- Allison.
- You're getting into the wide

inner circle

- of this town…
- It's not worth our safety.

… and that is what we need
to observe.

We're close.

The two couples kept
on the move,

constantly changing
clandestine locations

for safety.

They couldn't go
to each other's homes.

Mixing of races
was not allowed publicly

in any form
except subservience.

"A most striking tenet
of their embrace of supremacy

is deference."

That should be the core
of the chapter, don't you think?

Behavior, right?

Deference goes beyond
mere observance

of certain formalities.

We call them "sir"
and they call us "boy"

and "gal."

Exactly.

Never contradicting whites.

Always agreeing with them.

Evenin'.

- Hey!
- Y'all eat?

Been out here readin'
and writin' for hours.

Greens with fatback
gonna get cold.

Hey, now,
ain't gotta tell me twice.

No. Yes, ma'am.
Can't wait to try them greens.

We'll be there.

All right.

Hey!

Hi!

The American material
gives us a path to an answer.

Yeah.

America has succeeded here.

Their legislation
does not base itself

on the mere idea
of racial difference.

But to the extent
this legislation is aimed

at Negroes,

it bases itself absolutely
on the idea of inferiority.

Well,

Germans are already convinced
that the Jews

are an inferior race.

German laws should reflect that.

Precisely.

I am of the opinion
that we can proceed

with the same primitivity
as the American states.

Such a procedure would be…

crude legally,
but it would suffice.

The Nazi
blueprint,

for the extermination
of millions of people,

was directly patterned
after America's enslavement

and segregation of Black people.

- America taught the Nazis?
- Caste in America.

In Germany,
it functions the same.

The outcomes might be different,

like Sabine said.

But it is the same.

I think that the caste system
in India,

I think that there
is a connection there too,

but… the interconnectedness.

That is my point.

That is what I'm saying.

Come here.

We proudly bestow
this Ambedkar Award

to Dr. Suraj Yengde,

post-doctoral fellow
at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Come on, win it!
Come on, win it!

Nathaniel, I know
it's gonna be worth the wait.

Give it to me.

Carol, can you come
and uncover this one?

I got it, baby.

This chicken looks good.

What?

Respectfully, we and everybody
are just wondering about an ETA.

The ETA
is when I say it's ready,

respectfully.

Yes, ma'am.

- Hi, Isabel.
- Hello.

- How you been?
- I've been all right.

Yeah, how are you holding up?

All is well.

How are you two?

We're good.

- Starvin'.
- Good.

I wanted to ask if you knew
one of my professors,

Dr. Montgomery?

I think he studies
the same things you do.

No. But I'm not keeping up
like I used to, so…

of course.
Well, he is a smart man,

a nice older gentleman.

I thought you might like
to meet him.

He is handsome for his age,
Black.

Why don't the two of you
take this over to the Uno table?

And tell them we startin'.

- okay.
- okay.

Boy.

They mean well.

You know, Brett always
looked forward to these.

You and Mama were the only ones
that let him in.

Folks weren't mean.

I know, but there was always…
that.

"When is she gonna leave him
and find herself

a good brother?"

Now, these containers,
these containers we're in.

We… Maybe the…
Maybe the label says

"Black woman."

Maybe the label says
"white man, or Asian, or…"

Fix your face. You're too young
for all that.

You read the label
and we think we know

what's on the inside.

Y'all can eat now.

We trust the label.

We put the container
on the shelf.

And that's it.

That's it.

Who need a kiss for good luck?

- Me.
- 'Cause that hand is trash.

Come on, Mama,
give me some sugar.

There you go. Thank you, baby.

okay, so now go ahead,
I'm listenin'.

I think that's what my book
is about.

ohh. okay.

I forgot, which one is yours,
which one is mine?

This one is mine.

okay. oh, here you go.

So, your book is about
interracial relationships.

No, no, it's about…
it's about caste.

That's the phenomenon of placing
one group above another group.

In a hierarchy.

And the consequences
to its victims

and presumed beneficiaries.

one more time in English?

A little Pulitzer Prize-less,
if you can.

I can!

okay, well, then do it.
Make it plain.

Because the stuff you were
saying about the Nazis

got me all twisted around.

How is that in the same book
about Brett?

I don't get it.

Do you think slavery
was a system

of terrorism and torture

that the Europeans used
to profit off the labor

of Black people

who they considered inferior?

Yeah.

Hell yes, it was.

- No.
- Don't shake your head, it was!

No, they made it all up.

Your girl Toni Morrison
said:

"Why would you give your child
to be nursed and raised

by people
who you think aren't human?

Who are animals."

- Yes, Toni.
- Yes, Toni.

It was all lies.
They knew we weren't inferior,

but they magnified,
they magnified the myths.

They codify them, set them in
stone,

in systems,

in our laws, in our healthcare,

in where we live,
how we learned,

the kind of work that we do,
even our food.

Racism at its finest.

No, it's caste.

Everything you just said
was racist.

okay. Well, if it's racist,

then why is the same thing
happening in India?

They're all brown.
They're all Indian.

Marion, right now to this day,

there is a system in India

where generations of people
are forced to clean sewers

with their hands,

their shit, with their hands.

They are beneath the lowest
of the hierarchy.

They're called Dalits.

At one point, they were forced
to tie brooms

around their waists

because their shadows
were supposedly polluted.

- Mmm.
- Their shadows.

They had to sweep
behind themselves

when they walked.

How is it racist
if they're all the same race?

okay, do you think that Jews
are white?

Definitely.

The majority are.

But the same thing happened
to Jews in Germany

during the Holocaust.

The Nazis wanted to create
an all-white republic,

but they hated,
they hated the Jews.

So, they said,
"How do we make the Jews

not white?"

So, they put them
at the bottom of the hierarchy.

They said that they were greedy.

They said
that they were dishonest.

They blamed them for Germany
losing the First World War.

They blamed them
for everything bad

that happened in Germany.

They were dogs.

"Kill them. Gas them,
wipe them out."

The Jews and the Nazis
were the same color.

We have to consider oppression
in a way

that does not centralize race.

We do it here in America, yes,
because racism is all we know.

But these containers,

the Dalits in India,
Jewish people in Germany,

Black folks in America,

all these containers
have something in common.

Race is not one of them.

It's caste.

only took you 10 minutes

for that comeback.

Figure out how to say more
of what you just said,

make it plain.

Talk to real people like you
just did to me.

Real people.

Real things.

You know,
we met in college.

So, one time, she comes up
and saying,

"Can I borrow a pen?"

You are…
That is not true!

And he didn't know the day
of the final.

So he's like, "I've seen you
in my class…"

And I'm just going…

"Do you know exactly
what the day of the…"

And… See.

I think you were trying
to get to me.

Let me let you in on a secret.

- okay.
- I knew when the final was.

- That's my baby.
- Night.

Night, night. Sweet dreams.

Isabel.

Come by more often, will ya?

We seem to only get the lasagna
when you around here.

I'm hearing that she's stingy
with the lasagna.

I don't know what it is.

Stop, you are lying too close
to Sunday, come on.

Love you.

- Good seeing you. Good night.
- Good night.

Good to see you, too.

Make sure they bathe.
With water, real water.

Yes, ma'am.

- And a washcloth.
- I'll do my best, baby.

Shit, do I… What…
Do I just…

Do I talk slow? What do I…

okay, so I was in 10th grade,
and we had just moved to Texas,

and my friend and I had this…

these walkie-talkies.

Which, you know, we'd be usin'
between classes,

to talk or whatever.

And this was pre-cell phone,
of course.

Right.

- Late '80s.
- Right.

And… the principal called me
to his office,

he was all suspicious.

Because he wanted
to know why all these people

were gathered around my locker.

So I showed him
the walkie-talkie.

And he asked my name.

And I said, "Miss Hale."

And he said,
"What is your first name?"

"It's Miss."

I said,
"What is your first name?"

"My name's Miss."

He's, "I don't have time
for all this foolishness, gal.

"What is your real name?"

I've… I've repeated
my damn name four times.

That's a direct defiance
of caste.

The most personal
I've heard yet.

Can you imagine that?

A young Black man plotting
to force the respect

of white people.

Your father tore a loophole
through the hierarchy.

It's brilliant.

Brilliant. Go on, go on.

So the principal was furious.

So he tells his secretary
to check my records,

and, of course,
they confirm that my legal name

is Miss Hale.

So he says to me,

"Hale. I don't know any Hales.

"You not from around here.

"Where's your father from?"

And I said, "He's from Alabama."

And he said,
"I knew you weren't

from around here.

You know how I knew?"

And I said, "No."

And he said, real cold…

""Cause you looking me
in the eye.

Colored folk around here
know better."

I was…

I was scared.

- You know, I was a kid.
- Yeah.

I had never felt…

that…

that cold glare.

You know, he was lookin' me
right in the eyes,

demanding that I not look him
in the eyes.

You know, my…

You know, Daddy would…

It's okay.

Daddy tell me

again and again,

"Always live up to your name."

He said, "Miss…

They don't have the corner
on humanity.

They don't have the corner
on femininity.

They don't have the corner
on what it means

to be a whole, noble,
honorable person."

Far from it.

Thank you.

You okay?

Most relationships end.

Friendships, romances.

Divorces. I mean, separations,
people grow apart.

They break.

But we didn't break.

We fought that night.

It was about something
so silly, Miss.

I should have spent more time
with her.

Daddy would want me to fix this.

For Christ's sake,
would you stop, Isabel?

Just stop.

It's her idea,
she made a choice,

she's a grown woman,
let her make it.

It's like you hide
behind this thing

with your mother.

- Hiding?
- I just don't get it.

- Hide? I'm not hiding.
- Hiding. You're hiding.

I'm not hiding.

So silly.

And then…

he offered me some pasta…

to apologize.

You want some of that pasta?

- Save me some.
- okay.

And then that was it.

But we didn't break.

We did not break.

We were together.

Till the end.

He should be here, Miss.

He should be here.

And the one person…

that I could talk to about…

she's gone, too.

What the hell am I supposed
to do now?

Come, come, come.

You're okay.

I just wanna scream,

I just wanna scream,
I just wanna scream.

Then scream.

Scream.

Roomy.

Fantastic light.

Will you update
or sell as original?

I was thinking a fresh coat
of paint.

vintage it is.

Yeah.

There might be water damage
there.

Yes, with everything going on,
I just…

I just basically locked
up the house,

I have to deal with it.

It's a process.

Isn't everything?

So what is the price difference

between fixing it up
and selling it as is?

- As is?
- Yeah.

You're basically giving
this little jewel away.

The area's hot right now
with hipsters.

And these older homes,
when they're fixed up,

can sometimes double in value.

If you can put a few thousand
towards getting it fixed,

you would have a competitive
situation on your hands

with multiple bidders.

You write books, right?

A book.

I'm writing another one, but…

books don't pay as much
as people think.

I get it.

Sell as a fixer
and don't even worry about it.

Let someone else do the work.

So let's discuss the contract.

once the property is clear,
we'll go ahead

and do an open house,

that way, people can come in

and view the property
and see what they're willing

to offer.

Like I said,
we'll get multiple bidders…

Who is that?

What?
They didn't wanna get

in trouble.

Stop.

She sucked her thumb
and peed in the bed

'til she was 20 years old.

I'm not… I'm just… Stop.

So cute!

So cute.

Look at Mama.

So cute.

- So fine.
- Yeah.

How much is it?

All four estimates
are over $10,000.

- Damn.
- Yeah.

You can't sell the roofless
house.

Well, we'll have to wait
till I get back.

- You leave when again?
- Next month.

I have so much research
to do here,

and I have
to start a new draft soon.

Do you even know anybody
in India?

Marion, here's Uncle.

That's the point of travelin'.

Meeting new people.

Traveling to places where you
are warmly welcomed

by familiar faces

is underrated.

Well, I might have found
an Indian professor

who can help me navigate.

"Might"?

No, no "might."

Here you are.

No, no, no.

- Thank you.
- Thank you, Madame

okay good.

oh, good.

Isabel! Isabel!

Suraj!

- So good to see you.
- Hello, hello.

Allow me to introduce
my esteemed friend,

- Yes.
- Professor Ram Kamli.

- Pleasure is mine.
- Thank you.

You know what we're gonna do?

We're gonna go straight.

We're gonna walk right there.

- That's where we gotta go.
- We're doing that?

We're gonna do that.

- You are excited?
- Yes, I am.

Welcome to India, Isabel.
So good to have you.

I'm happy to be here.

There are signals
on all the corners.

And this is one of the…
This is not four-way.

- This is five-way.
- Five-way.

And if you add a person like me,

I make my own way.

- So, it's like six-way.
- Six-way?

oh my…

It's a beautiful market.

- I like this one.
- You like this one?

She would like this.

It's for my cousin.

That look gorgeous.

Thank you.

Why is the statue caged?

Quite observant.

He's Baba Saheb,
the leader of Dalits.

Isabel, he's Dr. Ambedkar.

This is the time
when he had just completed

the task of drafting
India's constitution.

There, he's holding it
and standing tall.

You will find these statues
all across the country.

From a busy street, square,
parks, railway stations,

bus stations.

Even in people's
private properties.

Him standing is an affirmation
of our existence.

To us, he is revered.

To others, they revile him.

Dr. Ambedkar statues are one
of the most vandalized

in the country.

The cage is
to keep the vandals away.

Dr. Ambedkar is more
than a champion

and a hero to the Dalit people.

He's the hope that lives
within us.

He went to the heart of the
problem of caste, and he thought

the purity was lying beneath the
artifice of caste…

Mm-hmm.

and where the human population
was chopped

into what he called fixed and
definite units.

In America,
you have what you call

the Blacks, the browns,
the Asian, the whites

and et cetera.

Similarly, we have in India,

where the Dalits are supposed
to be at the bottom

and the Brahmins at the top.

And between,
there are various units

of caste.

What maintains this unit
into continuing of caste system

is unending violence
in the form of rape,

mutilation and murder.

In India, a Dalit person
is attacked every 15 minutes.

Every day, 10 Dalit women
are raped,

and these are only
the reported cases.

Rohith vemula's friends, family
and the wider Dalit Movement

called it
an institutional murder.

And they called it this
because it was not simply a case

of suicide.

They said
that this was an institution

that was systematically
discriminating

against a young Dalit student.

And this was important
because for a lot of us,

as young folks who were looking
for a life of dignity

and respect,

and were looking to education
and the university to give us

that life,

it showed that the specter of
caste was still haunting us.

In a world where Dalit
people are brutalized,

simply to keep us in our place,

Dr. Ambedkar remains
our shining light.

our guardian, our hero,
our father.

The site
of Dr. Ambedkar's last home.

- It's a museum now.
- Ah.

Quite magnificent.

As you can see,
it's an open-book concept.

While he is a giant
among Dalits,

the world has failed
to acknowledge his genius.

Dr. Ambedkar was separated
from the kids of high caste

so as not to pollute them.

As a child,
young Bhimrao Ambedkar

was not allowed to touch many
of the things

his classmates would touch.

He was not even allowed
to touch water at the school.

This is because
he was considered

an "untouchable."

That was the term used
for Dalits at the time.

Young Ambedkar was not allowed
to touch or sit

at a desk during class.

But he persevered.

He continued to study
and break barriers.

Dr. Ambedkar earned two PhDs.

one at Columbia University,

and the other
at the London School

of Economics.

After obtaining his PhDs
and passing the bar,

Dr. Ambedkar returned to India
as a heralded scholar.

We have been carrying on
with untouchability

for the last 2,000 years.

Nobody has bothered about it.
You see?

Yes, there are some…
some disabilities.

We are very harmful.

Apparently,
people can't take water.

People can't have land,
you see,

to cultivate
and earn their livelihood.

There is an insistence
on conflating caste with race.

oh, yeah.

If I brought you
to the family reunion,

what would you say?

What would you say to them?

My cousin Marion. My mother.

What would you say to them
that's important for them

to know…

about you, about India,

about caste and our connection?

our heroes found
the connection.

And it is up to us
to find it again,

and build upon it
in sibling solidarity.

Bhimrao Ambedkar,
a young Indian grad student,

he found himself in New York
City.

Harlem, to be exact.

He saw kindred spirits
among Black people in America.

Both in the oppression they
faced and in their survival.

He immediately
recognized the similarities

between how African Americans
were treated

and the treatment of Dalits.

Asha, you've been doing some
work on this right?

Yes, my thesis centered on
Dr. King's visit to India.

He saw many
of these things first time,

while he and his wife toured
the country.

I found the way
in which he wrote about India

to be fascinating as someone
afflicted by caste

in their own country.

I used his essay

in the magazine of United States
as the core of my research.

Do you know Ebony magazine?

Yes.

Yes, I know Ebony magazine.

Dr. King wrote about India
in Ebony?

Yes.

July, 1959.

It is quite extraordinary.

And so, there is a
connection between us.

The African Americans,
the Dalits,

the indigenous people
around the world,

the Palestinian people,
the Roma people, Buraku people.

- Yes.
- The outcasts of Africa

are still fighting
for their rights.

Be it Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal.

You go to Latin America,
you find outcasts

within the Mexican society
or Brazilian society.

And if we think
about our histories

through the wonderful
ability of love,

the symbols of hate
and diets of violence

will be replaced by compassion,
care and solidarity.

This is the world that we have
to imagine

for ourselves and
for others

who have not yet seen the beauty

that human beings have to offer.

one afternoon,
I went down to speak

in the southern part of India,

and I remember that afternoon
that the principal got up

to introduce me.

He said, "I would like
to present to you

a fellow untouchable

from the United States
of America."

And for the moment,
I was peeved. I was shocked

that I would be introduced
as an untouchable.

But pretty soon,
my mind ran back across

to America.

And I had to say to myself,
I am an untouchable.

And segregation is evil
and sinful

because it stigmatizes

the segregated
as an untouchable

in a caste system.

And this is why I'm convinced

that we have the moral edict,
a moral mandate,

to work to get rid
of this unjust and evil system.

I'll put the phone near her.

okay.

Baby.

You're on speaker.

She's…

She hasn't been responding
to folks.

I understand.

Marion.

It's Isabel.

Hi, cousin.

I called to say goodbye.

I believe you can hear me.

You mean so much to me.

I remember everything
you have ever said to me.

From the time that we were kids

until the last time
I heard your voice.

I'll never forget it.

I'll never forget you.

You will walk with me.

You will live in me.

For as long as I'm here.

Watch over me.

Cover me, okay?

I won't see you,
but you'll see me.

There's more to life
than what you can see.

You're going to experience
it all.

I love you. I love you.
I love you.

I could stay around for a bit.

Don't you dare. You go.

So you can come home
and you can write your stories.

'Cause folks need to know
about this.

The pillars are working.

You know, it gives it shape.

Good, good.

Then how many of them
will there be?

Six or seven.

Maybe eight.

And you are going
to make this deadline?

I am going
to make this deadline.

This self-imposed deadline.

Well, I don't have anyone
to push me anymore,

so I have to push myself.

A caste
system needs scaffolding

in order to maintain
its hierarchies.

Dr. Ambedkar wrote,

"Caste is an artificial
chopping up

of the population
into fixed units.

Each unit is prevented
from fusing into another

through the custom
called endogamy."

our rehearsing has paid off.

It's taken only six months
to get that twirl down.

But…

… completely worthwhile.

Let's go again.

Let me powder my nose first.

In showing how endogamy
is maintained,

we can prove the genesis
and mechanism of caste.

Endogamy is defined
as restricting marriage

to people
within the same caste.

Have you heard…

… they're asking for names
and addresses.

They won't.

They're looking for artists
and people who like jazz.

I don't believe it.
It's all blown out of proportion.

No. This happened
at the Wonder Room last month.

This is an ironclad
foundation

of any caste
system.

From ancient India,
to the Nazi regime,

to the American colonizers.

Laugh, dear.

Laugh right now.

Endogamy enforces caste
boundaries

by forbidding marriage,
sexual relations

or even the appearance
of romantic interest

across caste lines.

It builds a firewall
between certain people.

By closing off
legal family connection,

endogamy purposely
blocks sense of empathy

and shared destiny
between people.

Mama!

Mama!

It was the caste
system, through the practice

of endogamy,

which essentially regulated
people's romantic choices

over the course of centuries,

that created and reinforced
the idea of races.

By permitting only those
with similar physical traits

to legally mate.

Endogamy laws written
and enforced by white men

designed the population
of the United States.

If you were not a white man
and you violated that…

An unknowable number of lives
were lost due to endogamy…

the defining pillar of caste.

It triggered the most
publicized cases

of lynchings in America.

A protocol strictly enforced
against Black men

and white women.

Front row seat, darlin'.

one of the foremost
scholars of caste

in America once wrote,

"Tied to what one looked like,

membership in either the upper
or the lowest caste

is immutable.

Fixed from birth to death.

Inescapable.

one may neither earn
nor wed their way out."

That scholar
was Dr. Allison Davis.

The Davis
and Gardner team emerged

with perhaps
the most comprehensive study,

to this day,
of the American caste system.

Their book, Deep South,

is a quietly revolutionary
landmark experiment

in interracial scholarship.

The Davises and the Gardners
remained lifelong friends.

Nazi Germany,
the United States and India

all reduced Jews,
African Americans and Dalits

to an undifferentiated mass
of nameless,

faceless scapegoats.

Millennia ago,
Dalits were called

the "untouchables" of India.

Enforced into the degrading
work of manual scavenging,

the practice
of cleaning excrement

from toilets
and open drains by hand

in exchange for leftover food.

The only thing that they have
to protect their bodies…

is oil,

each other…

and their prayers.

To refuse is to invite
severe punishment or death.

This persists to this day.

The trade and sale of African
people

demolished communities,
obliterated families

and tore flesh from spirit.

Human beings were tortured to
death,

and thrown overboard on slave
ships

during the Middle Passage.

Upon their arrival
at the concentration camps,

Jews were stripped
of the clothing

of their former lives.

Their heads were shaved.

Distinguishing features
like sideburns

or red hair were deleted
from them.

They were no longer
personalities to engage with.

They became a single mass,

purposely easier
for SS officers

to distance themselves from.

Indian activists explained
that the manual scavenger

is not a form of employment,
but an injustice

akin to slavery.

It is one of the most prominent
forms of discrimination

against Dalits,

and it is central
to the violation

of their human rights,

to their dehumanization.

Through violent storms at sea,
starvation, mutilation

and rape,

Black people were stacked
and squeezed into the hulls

of ships

to be sold into further
unfathomable terror.

Their bodies did not belong
to them…

but to the dominating caste
to do with however it wished.

No longer daughter
of a fisherman,

or a nephew of the midwife,

loving mothers,

headstrong nephews,
dedicated bakers

and watchmakers,

all merged into a single mass
of undifferentiated bodies.

No longer seen as humans
deserving empathy…

but as objects over whom
control could be exerted.

They were no longer people.

They were numbers.

Dehumanized.

Now a soulless animal.

Not human.

It is harder to dehumanize
a single person standing

in front of you,

harder to dehumanize
an individual

you've gotten the chance
to know.

Which is why people and groups
who seek power and division

don't bother with dehumanizing
an individual.

Better to attach a stigma,
a taint of pollution,

to an entire group.

Dehumanize the group

and you've successfully
dehumanized

every individual person
within it.

Racism is not the same
as caste.

Because race does not matter
in order for the system

to work.

"Little League team wins
championship."

Mama.

"Little League team…
splashes."

It's true.

Go, go, go!

It was a hot day like
today.

We were pretty excited

because we had just won
the city championship

when the coach told us
he was bringing us to this park.

And we're gonna get to eat
and go swimming.

We were quite excited,
as you can imagine.

And then the park ranger came
over and pointed out Al.

Hey, boy!

- Yes, sir?
- You can't be in here right now.

And you know better.

- Who you with?
- Everything okay here?

- This boy with your team?
- He's one of my players.

You know how long it'd take
for our maintenance crew

to clean this up?

Disinfect it?

- Disinfect what…
- This is a whites-only pool.

We didn't know.
Being young kids,

we didn't understand
what was going on.

- Yeah.
- And yet we wanted

to go in the pool

because it was so hot that day,
too.

And then the park ranger,
he said,

"If he goes in, nobody goes in."

So, they took Al outside
to a blanket out there.

But, you know,
we kept looking back at Al,

and seeing,
why was he over there.

So, a few of my friends and I
went over to talk to him

and to make sure he was okay.

So it felt strange
when that happened,

that he was over there

- and you guys were here.
- Yeah, it felt separate.

- He was on our team.
- Yeah. Right, right.

And he was a big part
of our team, and then,

they wouldn't let him in.

Some of the parents brought him
over some food to eat.

- He sat there by himself? Ugh.
- By himself.

And then, the coach talked
to the park ranger again

and said,

"Hey, you've gotta let this kid
in, at least

for a little swim."

- Yes, yes.
- So he talked to the coach

and he said,
"There's only one way

- I'm going to let this happen."
- Mm-hmm.

Everybody out.
Come on, now.

Come on. Come on.

Come on out now.
Come on.

You cannot touch
that water, boy.

You hear me?

Keep your balance.

Do not touch that water.

Real still.

Real still.

Don't touch the water.

It really affected us
and we didn't know what to do.

Right.

And it still bothers me today.

As a kid, we just want
to play baseball and swim.

We didn't know what to do.

And I wish I could do it
over again.

Because I don't think
I did enough.

How old were you?

I was nine.

Nine years old.

Al Bright went on
to become an artist

and educator.

He was the first
full-time Black faculty member

at his alma mater,
Youngstown State University.

I missed talking to him
for the book

by a matter of months.

He passed away at age 82.

But a part of him died
that afternoon in 1951.

You're going to be fine.

You're going to be just fine.

The tragedy of caste

is that we are judged
on the very things

that we cannot change.

Signposts on our bodies
of gender and ancestry,

superficial differences
that have nothing to do

with who we are
on the inside.

The goal of this work
has not been to resolve issues

of a millennia-old phenomenon,

but to bear witness
to its presence

in our everyday lives,

to shine a light on its history
despite those

who would deny it,

despite those who would
withhold it from us even,

who try to convince us
that we don't need to know.

We need to know.

You don't escape trauma
by ignoring it.

You escape trauma
by confronting it.

When you live in an old house,

you may not want to go
in the basement after a storm

to see what the rains
have brought.

But choose not to look
at your own peril.

We're all like homeowners
who've inherited a house

on a piece of land
that's beautiful

on the outside.

But the soil is unstable.

People say I had nothing to do
with how this all started.

I never owned slaves.

I didn't mistreat untouchables.

I didn't gas Jews.

And, yes, not one
of us was around

when this house was built.

But here we are.

The current occupants
of a property

with stress cracks built
into the foundation,

and a roof
that must be replaced.

We are the heirs to whatever
is right or wrong with it.

We didn't erect
the uneven pillars,

but they are ours to deal
with now.

The cracks
won't fix themselves.

Any more deterioration
is on our watch.

Caste is not simply hatred.

It is the worn grooves
of routine and expectation.

Patterns of a social order

that have been in place
so long, it looks natural…

when it isn't.

Caste is everywhere,
yet invisible.

No one avoids exposure
to its message,

and the message is simple.

one kind of person
is more deserving of freedom

than another kind.

Freedom to love whoever
you want to love.

Freedom to go wherever you want
to go.

Freedom to express yourself
however you want

to express yourself.

Freedom to resist and fight
for your human right to do so.