1 00:00:04,046 --> 00:00:07,007 [ocean waves crashing] 2 00:00:31,698 --> 00:00:34,493 [women singing] 3 00:00:47,256 --> 00:00:49,883 NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES: They say our people were born on the water. 4 00:00:53,053 --> 00:00:55,347 The teal eternity of the Atlantic 5 00:00:55,347 --> 00:00:58,058 had severed them so completely from their home, 6 00:00:58,058 --> 00:01:01,103 it was like nothing had ever existed before. 7 00:01:05,399 --> 00:01:08,986 These African men and women from different nations, 8 00:01:08,986 --> 00:01:11,488 all shackled together in the hull of a ship. 9 00:01:12,072 --> 00:01:13,907 They were one people now. 10 00:01:15,284 --> 00:01:17,870 And although they tried to break our ancestors, 11 00:01:17,870 --> 00:01:20,247 to erase our identities, 12 00:01:20,247 --> 00:01:22,833 we forged a new culture of our own, 13 00:01:22,833 --> 00:01:24,960 giving birth to ourselves. 14 00:01:25,544 --> 00:01:27,171 It didn't matter we were told 15 00:01:27,171 --> 00:01:30,841 that, by virtue of our bondage, we would never be American 16 00:01:30,841 --> 00:01:36,430 because it was by virtue of our bondage that we became the most American of all. 17 00:01:38,765 --> 00:01:41,768 ♪ 18 00:02:02,664 --> 00:02:05,083 This is The 1619 Project. 19 00:02:25,062 --> 00:02:28,065 ♪ 20 00:02:45,290 --> 00:02:47,751 WOMAN: Uh, Dad's here. Happy Valentine's Day, Nikole. 21 00:02:47,751 --> 00:02:49,670 This is a tape for Nikole. 22 00:02:49,670 --> 00:02:51,547 Hello, darling. How you doing? 23 00:02:52,965 --> 00:02:55,133 Excuse me while I partake of this cancer stick. 24 00:02:55,133 --> 00:02:56,677 [woman laughing] 25 00:02:58,512 --> 00:03:00,430 NIKOLE: My memory of my father, Milton Hannah, 26 00:03:00,430 --> 00:03:02,307 is tender and complicated. 27 00:03:02,850 --> 00:03:07,062 He was brilliant, tough, funny, hard-working, and hard-living. 28 00:03:08,438 --> 00:03:10,524 He always flew a flag in our front yard. 29 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,153 Our home on a corner lot of a distressed block was humble, 30 00:03:15,153 --> 00:03:17,739 but my father made sure that flag was pristine. 31 00:03:19,241 --> 00:03:21,243 When I was young, I didn't understand 32 00:03:21,243 --> 00:03:23,579 how he could so proudly display his patriotism 33 00:03:23,579 --> 00:03:27,082 for a country that had treated him and our people so poorly. 34 00:03:30,210 --> 00:03:32,921 ♪ 35 00:03:37,759 --> 00:03:41,346 You see, my father was born into poverty in 1945 36 00:03:41,346 --> 00:03:43,849 on a sharecropping farm in Leflore County, 37 00:03:43,849 --> 00:03:45,642 just outside of Greenwood, Mississippi. 38 00:03:46,476 --> 00:03:47,978 The region was notoriously violent 39 00:03:47,978 --> 00:03:50,898 when it came to its near-majority Black population. 40 00:03:51,732 --> 00:03:55,611 Mississippi lynched more Black people than any other state in the nation. 41 00:03:55,611 --> 00:03:57,946 And Leflore County lynched more Black people 42 00:03:57,946 --> 00:03:59,823 than any other county in Mississippi. 43 00:04:01,325 --> 00:04:05,704 In 1947, my grandmother joined the flood of six million Black Southerners 44 00:04:05,704 --> 00:04:07,664 who fled north during the Great Migration. 45 00:04:08,373 --> 00:04:10,501 Still, my father and his siblings grew up 46 00:04:10,501 --> 00:04:13,504 in a poor, segregated neighborhood in Waterloo, Iowa, 47 00:04:13,504 --> 00:04:15,172 and went to segregated schools. 48 00:04:16,507 --> 00:04:19,510 So in 1962, at the age of 17, 49 00:04:19,510 --> 00:04:21,929 my father took what seemed like the best option 50 00:04:21,929 --> 00:04:23,722 for a poor Black teen: 51 00:04:23,722 --> 00:04:25,474 he signed up for the army. 52 00:04:27,726 --> 00:04:30,604 So you were a-- a-- a child 53 00:04:30,604 --> 00:04:33,857 - when he came back from-- from service. - Yes. I remember it so plain 54 00:04:33,857 --> 00:04:36,902 because, uh, we had a porch-- 55 00:04:36,902 --> 00:04:39,196 - Remember we had that porch-- - Yeah. 56 00:04:39,196 --> 00:04:43,742 - And, uh, when that cab pulled up, Mama said, "Milton's here." 57 00:04:43,742 --> 00:04:44,701 Yeah. 58 00:04:44,701 --> 00:04:48,455 LARRY TILLMAN: And, uh, got his-- Popped the truck, got his duffel bag out 59 00:04:49,039 --> 00:04:52,000 and everybody's looking like, "Who is this guy?" You know? 60 00:04:53,544 --> 00:04:55,838 NIKOLE: I remember he was proud that he learned to speak German 61 00:04:55,838 --> 00:04:57,339 over there. LARRY: Oh, yeah. He sure did. 62 00:04:57,339 --> 00:04:59,258 - I didn't know any other Black people who spoke German. 63 00:04:59,258 --> 00:05:01,677 And when I was in high school, I took German 64 00:05:01,677 --> 00:05:04,012 because I thought it would be cool to speak German with my dad, 65 00:05:04,012 --> 00:05:07,391 but then I-- I was terrible at German and I didn't get very far. 66 00:05:07,391 --> 00:05:10,018 But it does speak to, like, Dad was, like, so smart. 67 00:05:10,018 --> 00:05:11,103 I just-- MONROE TILLMAN: Yeah. 68 00:05:11,103 --> 00:05:12,688 - He used to read all the time, I just remember-- 69 00:05:12,688 --> 00:05:14,314 LARRY: He was smart. All the time. 70 00:05:14,314 --> 00:05:15,983 That's why you got all of them brains. 71 00:05:15,983 --> 00:05:17,860 - [all chuckling] - Thank you. 72 00:05:20,195 --> 00:05:23,115 But despite his intellect and his military service, 73 00:05:23,115 --> 00:05:26,869 my dad was never able to live the so-called American dream. 74 00:05:27,703 --> 00:05:31,123 Instead, like so many Black Americans of his generation, 75 00:05:31,123 --> 00:05:34,918 he would toil his entire life in service job after service job, 76 00:05:34,918 --> 00:05:37,045 never seeming to get too far ahead. 77 00:05:43,385 --> 00:05:46,847 The first thing you always see when you come to our house... 78 00:05:47,431 --> 00:05:49,474 MONROE: Flag in the yard. NIKOLE: ...is that flag on the pole. 79 00:05:50,726 --> 00:05:53,228 And one thing about Dad, 80 00:05:53,228 --> 00:05:54,730 he was patriotic. 81 00:05:54,730 --> 00:05:55,939 MONROE: Oh, yeah. LARRY: Yes, he was. 82 00:05:55,939 --> 00:05:59,109 NIKOLE: I was embarrassed by that flag when I was a kid. 83 00:05:59,109 --> 00:06:00,194 Well, you shouldn't have been. 84 00:06:00,194 --> 00:06:02,404 He was a part of that United States Army. 85 00:06:02,404 --> 00:06:06,575 He was a part of a big group, and he felt that, and he enjoyed that. 86 00:06:06,575 --> 00:06:09,995 You know, they served their country. They-- You know? 87 00:06:09,995 --> 00:06:14,416 But, hey, you serve your country don't mean your country's gonna serve you. 88 00:06:16,126 --> 00:06:18,462 NIKOLE: Looking back at my confusion and embarrassment 89 00:06:18,462 --> 00:06:20,464 over my father's patriotism, 90 00:06:20,464 --> 00:06:24,384 I realize that, like most young people, I thought I understood so much, 91 00:06:24,384 --> 00:06:26,011 when, in fact, I knew so little. 92 00:06:27,054 --> 00:06:29,765 The truth is my dad knew exactly what he was doing 93 00:06:29,765 --> 00:06:31,642 when he raised that flag. 94 00:06:31,642 --> 00:06:32,768 He knew that our contributions 95 00:06:32,768 --> 00:06:36,104 to building the richest and most powerful nation in the world 96 00:06:36,104 --> 00:06:37,439 were undeniable, 97 00:06:37,439 --> 00:06:41,777 and that no people had a greater claim to the American flag than we did. 98 00:06:42,236 --> 00:06:44,238 ♪ 99 00:06:45,989 --> 00:06:49,243 We laid the foundations of The White House and the Capitol, 100 00:06:49,243 --> 00:06:52,037 and lugged the heavy wooden tracks of the railroads 101 00:06:52,037 --> 00:06:53,288 that crisscrossed the South. 102 00:06:54,039 --> 00:06:58,335 The relentless buying, selling, insuring, and financing of our bodies 103 00:06:58,335 --> 00:07:00,295 would help make Wall Street and New York City 104 00:07:00,295 --> 00:07:02,464 a financial capital of the world. 105 00:07:03,257 --> 00:07:06,593 ♪ 106 00:07:12,015 --> 00:07:14,935 But it would be inaccurate to reduce our contributions 107 00:07:14,935 --> 00:07:18,564 to the vast material wealth created by our forced labor. 108 00:07:18,564 --> 00:07:23,402 - We can only stop fighting when all our people are free. 109 00:07:24,486 --> 00:07:27,281 NIKOLE: Black Americans have always been foundational 110 00:07:27,281 --> 00:07:28,991 to the idea of American freedom. 111 00:07:28,991 --> 00:07:31,952 [crowd chanting "Black Lives Matter"] 112 00:07:31,952 --> 00:07:34,204 We have to be that voice. 113 00:07:34,955 --> 00:07:37,124 We have to be the change. 114 00:07:38,166 --> 00:07:40,544 How would the history books remember you? 115 00:07:42,087 --> 00:07:43,839 What will be your legacy? 116 00:07:47,092 --> 00:07:48,969 NIKOLE: Through centuries of resistance, 117 00:07:48,969 --> 00:07:52,723 Black Americans have helped the country live up to its founding ideals. 118 00:07:53,599 --> 00:07:58,187 Without our idealistic, strenuous, and patriotic efforts, 119 00:07:58,187 --> 00:08:00,689 our democracy today would look very different. 120 00:08:01,481 --> 00:08:04,985 In fact, our country might not be a democracy at all. 121 00:08:10,741 --> 00:08:13,535 Our identity as Americans is anchored in the idea 122 00:08:13,535 --> 00:08:15,954 that we are the greatest democracy in the world. 123 00:08:16,622 --> 00:08:18,540 We believe that freedom is, in large part, 124 00:08:18,540 --> 00:08:21,043 defined by the right to choose our leaders. 125 00:08:21,043 --> 00:08:23,170 And so, perhaps, more than any other nation, 126 00:08:23,170 --> 00:08:26,757 we define citizenship by the ability to cast a ballot. 127 00:08:28,258 --> 00:08:31,386 Voting impacts our lives, families, and communities. 128 00:08:31,386 --> 00:08:33,847 It determines what policies we enact, 129 00:08:33,847 --> 00:08:35,849 what we fund and regulate, 130 00:08:35,849 --> 00:08:37,976 what kind of justice we will receive, 131 00:08:37,976 --> 00:08:40,312 and, ultimately, what equality looks like. 132 00:08:40,938 --> 00:08:42,356 Voting is power. 133 00:08:44,983 --> 00:08:48,320 [crowd chanting "Stop the steal"] 134 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,073 And that is why, while calling itself a democracy, 135 00:08:51,073 --> 00:08:55,285 this country has always tried to limit which people are considered citizens 136 00:08:55,285 --> 00:08:56,787 and which people can vote. 137 00:08:57,829 --> 00:09:00,666 And why, after a multiracial coalition of voters 138 00:09:00,666 --> 00:09:03,794 elected the first Black president in 2008, 139 00:09:03,794 --> 00:09:06,004 it spawned the beginnings of a campaign 140 00:09:06,004 --> 00:09:09,508 to challenge the validity of certain votes, certain voters, 141 00:09:09,508 --> 00:09:13,804 and ultimately, by 2020, the results of elections themselves. 142 00:09:22,437 --> 00:09:25,941 WOMAN: I just wanted to tell you, team, 143 00:09:25,941 --> 00:09:29,486 that we're glad you are up bright and early. 144 00:09:30,362 --> 00:09:33,156 All of us will have our assignments. 145 00:09:33,156 --> 00:09:37,452 So far, there haven't been any problems at any of the polling locations. 146 00:09:37,452 --> 00:09:38,662 You all voted this morning? 147 00:09:38,662 --> 00:09:40,914 - Yup, first time. WOMAN: Where did you vote? 148 00:09:40,914 --> 00:09:42,416 - First time? - First time. 149 00:09:42,416 --> 00:09:45,669 [all cheering] 150 00:09:49,006 --> 00:09:50,465 HELEN BUTLER: I'm Helen Butler, 151 00:09:50,465 --> 00:09:54,553 executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda. 152 00:09:54,553 --> 00:10:00,267 And I've been working in this civic engagement work since 2000, 153 00:10:00,267 --> 00:10:04,605 but with the Peoples' Agenda, I've been here since 2003. 154 00:10:04,605 --> 00:10:09,443 So it's over two decades of work, uh, to protect the right to vote, 155 00:10:09,443 --> 00:10:11,945 to get people, uh, engaged 156 00:10:11,945 --> 00:10:16,575 and to really have them be participants in the electoral process. 157 00:10:17,492 --> 00:10:19,912 They will call you with all issues. 158 00:10:19,912 --> 00:10:25,918 There will be things that you'll need to escalate to me, to Lyndon, or to Susan. 159 00:10:27,419 --> 00:10:29,755 NIKOLE: The Georgia Coalition of the Peoples' Agenda 160 00:10:29,755 --> 00:10:33,592 is a non-partisan organization working to defend the right to vote. 161 00:10:34,301 --> 00:10:38,013 In 2020, they helped mobilize a multiracial group of voters 162 00:10:38,013 --> 00:10:40,265 who, in a perennially red state, 163 00:10:40,265 --> 00:10:43,894 chose Democrats for both Senate seats and the presidency. 164 00:10:43,894 --> 00:10:46,855 A move that shifted the balance of power in Washington 165 00:10:46,855 --> 00:10:48,524 and prompted President Trump 166 00:10:48,524 --> 00:10:52,694 to infamously call Georgia's Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger. 167 00:10:52,694 --> 00:10:54,571 DONALD TRUMP: All I want to do is this. 168 00:10:54,571 --> 00:11:00,577 I just want to find 11,780 votes. 169 00:11:02,079 --> 00:11:03,956 NIKOLE: By the winter of 2021, 170 00:11:03,956 --> 00:11:07,042 the fight for voting rights had ignited into a pitched battle 171 00:11:07,042 --> 00:11:09,503 after Georgia's Republican-controlled legislature 172 00:11:09,503 --> 00:11:11,296 passed new restrictive voting laws. 173 00:11:12,256 --> 00:11:16,510 - Today, the Department of Justice is suing the state of Georgia. 174 00:11:17,511 --> 00:11:21,807 Our complaint alleges that recent changes to Georgia's election laws 175 00:11:21,807 --> 00:11:26,770 were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians 176 00:11:26,770 --> 00:11:29,189 to vote on account of their race or color. 177 00:11:31,066 --> 00:11:33,402 NIKOLE: By the 2022 mid-term elections, 178 00:11:33,402 --> 00:11:35,612 Helen Butler and her team were on high alert 179 00:11:35,612 --> 00:11:37,573 for any voter disenfranchisement. 180 00:11:38,407 --> 00:11:40,701 [phone ringing] 181 00:11:40,701 --> 00:11:42,119 WOMAN: Good morning. Peoples' Agenda. 182 00:11:42,703 --> 00:11:43,954 MAN: [over phone] We just got a report 183 00:11:43,954 --> 00:11:49,042 that, uh, because of an issue with the zip codes of some voters, 184 00:11:49,042 --> 00:11:51,003 um, this is their assigned voting place, 185 00:11:51,003 --> 00:11:53,338 but they're telling them that they can't vote there. 186 00:11:53,338 --> 00:11:54,464 When I get there, 187 00:11:54,464 --> 00:11:57,259 I should ask for the election, um, the poll manager. 188 00:11:57,259 --> 00:11:58,260 MAN: [over phone] Yep. 189 00:11:58,260 --> 00:12:00,387 And Anna will meet you there outside as well. 190 00:12:00,387 --> 00:12:01,388 MARY-PAT HECTOR: Okay. 191 00:12:01,388 --> 00:12:06,476 So we are about to head to a polling location, um, in Atlanta. 192 00:12:06,476 --> 00:12:08,228 Apparently, as you heard, 193 00:12:08,228 --> 00:12:11,940 um, some of the elderly people in the community have been told 194 00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:13,650 that they cannot vote at that location 195 00:12:13,650 --> 00:12:17,487 despite that being, um, their designated precinct location. 196 00:12:17,487 --> 00:12:20,699 Um, so we're gonna head there and speak to the poll manager 197 00:12:20,699 --> 00:12:22,534 and see if there's anything that we can do. 198 00:12:26,330 --> 00:12:29,082 NIKOLE: The Cosby Spear Towers are an affordable housing community 199 00:12:29,082 --> 00:12:30,375 in midtown Atlanta 200 00:12:30,375 --> 00:12:33,003 for seniors and people living with disabilities. 201 00:12:35,422 --> 00:12:41,261 - They told me I could not vote until I do a provisional vote or something 202 00:12:42,221 --> 00:12:48,227 because of the error that they put 30309 for my zip code, 203 00:12:48,227 --> 00:12:50,812 which is 30308. 204 00:12:50,812 --> 00:12:54,358 They trying to send me to Hapeville. 205 00:12:54,358 --> 00:12:56,944 NIKOLE: Because of what appeared to be a clerical error 206 00:12:56,944 --> 00:12:58,153 that mixed up zip codes, 207 00:12:58,153 --> 00:13:00,906 June Williams and other residents in her building 208 00:13:00,906 --> 00:13:04,284 were being rerouted to a precinct roughly 20 minutes away. 209 00:13:05,244 --> 00:13:07,162 WOMAN: And have you voted at this precinct before? 210 00:13:07,162 --> 00:13:10,332 - Yeah, I vote here every time and never had a problem 'til today. 211 00:13:11,792 --> 00:13:14,253 NIKOLE: If Williams wanted to vote at her regular precinct, 212 00:13:14,253 --> 00:13:16,338 she would have to cast a provisional ballot 213 00:13:16,338 --> 00:13:19,424 and a County Board would later determine whether her vote counted. 214 00:13:20,008 --> 00:13:22,845 But instead of being able to cast her ballot immediately, 215 00:13:22,845 --> 00:13:24,429 the new restrictive laws required her 216 00:13:24,429 --> 00:13:26,765 to return near the end of the day to do so. 217 00:13:28,684 --> 00:13:30,811 - So, they told them to come back at 5:00. 218 00:13:30,811 --> 00:13:31,979 Once they come at 5:00-- 219 00:13:32,813 --> 00:13:34,523 To me, it sounds like they're trying to say, 220 00:13:34,523 --> 00:13:36,817 "Oh, we can guarantee your-- your ballot will be casted." 221 00:13:36,817 --> 00:13:37,901 It just doesn't make sense to me. 222 00:13:37,901 --> 00:13:40,028 And what was-- It just doesn't make sense. 223 00:13:40,028 --> 00:13:42,656 - Lyndon's calling the election office, so hopefully... 224 00:13:43,323 --> 00:13:45,576 WOMAN: It just makes me feel very uncomfortable. 225 00:13:45,576 --> 00:13:46,994 It should not be this hard to vote. 226 00:13:46,994 --> 00:13:49,288 It just does not-- Especially considering-- 227 00:13:49,288 --> 00:13:50,956 And it kind of brings tears to my eyes 228 00:13:50,956 --> 00:13:53,041 because these people are disabled, you know? 229 00:13:53,792 --> 00:13:54,793 It's just messed up. 230 00:13:55,544 --> 00:13:56,545 Just messed up. 231 00:13:57,171 --> 00:13:59,006 MARY-PAT: We're gonna fix-- We're gonna get it fixed. 232 00:13:59,715 --> 00:14:01,091 My shift was supposed to end at 1:00, 233 00:14:01,091 --> 00:14:03,927 but I'm like, I'll be here 'til ten o'clock if I need to. 234 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:07,806 NIKOLE: Black Americans have always had to fight 235 00:14:07,806 --> 00:14:10,225 to participate in this country's democracy. 236 00:14:10,851 --> 00:14:13,729 And even before that democracy was established, 237 00:14:13,729 --> 00:14:17,316 we were fighting for the very principle that laid its foundation: 238 00:14:17,316 --> 00:14:18,317 freedom. 239 00:14:19,526 --> 00:14:22,529 ♪ 240 00:14:29,953 --> 00:14:32,956 ♪ 241 00:14:33,832 --> 00:14:34,917 NIKOLE: In this country, 242 00:14:34,917 --> 00:14:38,086 we are taught that we are a democracy because of our freedoms. 243 00:14:39,463 --> 00:14:41,423 Among them: freedom of speech, 244 00:14:42,382 --> 00:14:43,509 freedom of religion, 245 00:14:44,259 --> 00:14:45,469 freedom of the press, 246 00:14:45,469 --> 00:14:46,887 the freedom to protest. 247 00:14:48,430 --> 00:14:51,517 And our national mythology credits the Founding Fathers 248 00:14:51,517 --> 00:14:54,520 for establishing America as the land of the free. 249 00:14:55,103 --> 00:14:57,022 But even after independence, 250 00:14:57,022 --> 00:15:00,567 white freedom in America was predicated on Black slavery. 251 00:15:01,610 --> 00:15:04,738 Black people dreamed of freedom even as they lived without it. 252 00:15:05,322 --> 00:15:07,699 And they fought for freedom for centuries, 253 00:15:07,699 --> 00:15:10,285 all the way back to before our country's founding. 254 00:15:11,578 --> 00:15:15,290 It is Black people who have been the perfectors of our democracy. 255 00:15:29,972 --> 00:15:32,975 ♪ 256 00:15:39,356 --> 00:15:40,858 Slavery would be foundational 257 00:15:40,858 --> 00:15:44,111 to the economy, politics, and laws of the new nation. 258 00:15:44,778 --> 00:15:46,488 And so I've always found it strange 259 00:15:46,488 --> 00:15:50,659 that Black people are so absent from so many historical colonial sites, 260 00:15:50,659 --> 00:15:52,953 our presence virtually erased. 261 00:15:53,954 --> 00:15:56,039 Especially here in Williamsburg, 262 00:15:56,039 --> 00:15:57,833 where at the start of the revolution, 263 00:15:57,833 --> 00:16:01,253 enslaved people made up nearly half of the population. 264 00:16:01,253 --> 00:16:04,423 And the question of their freedom sparked a historical event 265 00:16:04,423 --> 00:16:06,925 that created a tipping point in the Southern Colonies 266 00:16:06,925 --> 00:16:08,969 at the dawn of the American Revolution. 267 00:16:10,554 --> 00:16:13,015 Look at this perfect coordination, though. You see this? 268 00:16:13,557 --> 00:16:16,393 - Air Jordans! I-- I'm wearing Costco Jordans. 269 00:16:17,978 --> 00:16:19,563 Costco Jordans! Is that a thing? 270 00:16:19,563 --> 00:16:21,106 No. It is now! 271 00:16:21,106 --> 00:16:22,816 [both laughing] 272 00:16:23,942 --> 00:16:25,986 NIKOLE: I think I wore Costco Jordans the first, 273 00:16:25,986 --> 00:16:27,946 you know, 15 years of my life as a child-- 274 00:16:27,946 --> 00:16:29,948 WOODY HOLTON: I think you've earned some Airs. 275 00:16:33,535 --> 00:16:38,332 NIKOLE: So we are here on the grounds of the Governor's Palace 276 00:16:38,332 --> 00:16:40,000 in Williamsburg, Virginia. 277 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,752 WOODY: It is the symbol, 278 00:16:41,752 --> 00:16:43,837 the pinnacle of power 279 00:16:43,837 --> 00:16:49,468 in the largest British American Colony of Virginia. 280 00:16:49,468 --> 00:16:51,637 It's where the governor resided. 281 00:16:51,637 --> 00:16:56,308 The governor in 1775 was Lord Dunmore, a Scottish Lord. 282 00:16:56,308 --> 00:16:59,853 And he was extremely popular among white Virginians, 283 00:16:59,853 --> 00:17:03,649 because he had just led them in a race war against Native Americans 284 00:17:03,649 --> 00:17:06,026 whose land they coveted. 285 00:17:06,026 --> 00:17:08,278 NIKOLE: So what changes? 286 00:17:08,278 --> 00:17:11,198 WOODY: James Madison, who later will write the U.S. Constitution 287 00:17:11,198 --> 00:17:12,783 and become president of the United States, 288 00:17:12,783 --> 00:17:17,746 reported that African Americans had started to hold meetings 289 00:17:17,746 --> 00:17:20,374 to choose who would lead them, 290 00:17:20,374 --> 00:17:22,960 to quote him, "when the English troops should arrive." 291 00:17:26,296 --> 00:17:28,507 NIKOLE: In April of 1775, 292 00:17:28,507 --> 00:17:31,760 rumors of slave revolts were running rampant in Virginia, 293 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,054 sparking paranoia among the white colonists. 294 00:17:34,763 --> 00:17:36,348 But Dunmore had other worries. 295 00:17:37,099 --> 00:17:40,352 Even though the fighting had not yet reached the Southern Colonies, 296 00:17:40,352 --> 00:17:42,062 he had become gravely concerned 297 00:17:42,062 --> 00:17:45,649 that the growing patriot sentiment stirring in Virginia against the British 298 00:17:45,649 --> 00:17:47,860 might bring the revolution to his front door. 299 00:17:49,027 --> 00:17:51,613 So in order to preemptively deter an attack, 300 00:17:51,613 --> 00:17:55,242 Dunmore confiscated gunpowder in the capital here in Williamsburg 301 00:17:55,242 --> 00:17:56,660 and decided to make a threat. 302 00:17:58,495 --> 00:18:01,415 WOODY: Governor Dunmore said, "If you touch a hair on my head, 303 00:18:01,415 --> 00:18:04,126 "I will declare freedom to the slaves 304 00:18:04,126 --> 00:18:07,337 and reduce the town of Williamsburg to ashes." 305 00:18:09,089 --> 00:18:12,342 He thought, "If I play this card of threatening to free the slaves, 306 00:18:12,342 --> 00:18:13,677 that will scare them off." 307 00:18:13,677 --> 00:18:15,804 NIKOLE: That's a serious threat to make. WOODY: That's right. 308 00:18:15,804 --> 00:18:19,892 - Dunmore understands that he's playing into the colonists' kind of gravest fear. 309 00:18:19,892 --> 00:18:20,893 WOODY: Absolutely. Absolutely. 310 00:18:20,893 --> 00:18:24,855 Jefferson was always worried about a revolution of the wheel of fortune. 311 00:18:24,855 --> 00:18:27,649 That is, we're on top now, but this thing can spin. 312 00:18:27,649 --> 00:18:29,943 - He was just trying to scare the colonists... 313 00:18:29,943 --> 00:18:31,528 - WOODY: Exactly. - ...into not rebelling. 314 00:18:31,528 --> 00:18:33,280 - Exactly. He was-- He was playing the race card. 315 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,033 He was using a threat of-- of slave insurrection 316 00:18:36,033 --> 00:18:38,619 to scare white colonists into standing down. 317 00:18:38,619 --> 00:18:40,537 While all this is going back and forth 318 00:18:40,537 --> 00:18:44,208 between Governor Dunmore and white patriots, 319 00:18:44,208 --> 00:18:46,960 he's issued this threat to free the slaves, 320 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,005 slaves are listening, they heard his threat. 321 00:18:51,006 --> 00:18:53,967 They came and knocked on the door of the Governor's Palace 322 00:18:53,967 --> 00:18:57,095 and said, "Here we are, man. You need us. 323 00:18:57,930 --> 00:18:59,431 "We can be great fighters. 324 00:18:59,431 --> 00:19:02,142 All you got to do is promise us our freedom." 325 00:19:02,142 --> 00:19:05,020 And guess what Governor Dunmore said to those enslaved people? 326 00:19:05,020 --> 00:19:06,271 NIKOLE: What did he say? 327 00:19:06,271 --> 00:19:07,981 - "Get the hell out of here." NIKOLE: Mmm. 328 00:19:07,981 --> 00:19:10,442 - That was an idle threat. You know, we all do that. 329 00:19:10,442 --> 00:19:12,903 We threaten to do things. "I'll take you to court." 330 00:19:12,903 --> 00:19:15,239 It was an idle threat. He-- he didn't mean it. 331 00:19:15,989 --> 00:19:18,867 NIKOLE: But when enslaved people continued to self-emancipate 332 00:19:18,867 --> 00:19:20,953 and presented themselves to Dunmore, 333 00:19:20,953 --> 00:19:23,330 he saw an opportunity to shore up his ranks 334 00:19:23,330 --> 00:19:26,083 by declaring he would free any enslaved person 335 00:19:26,083 --> 00:19:27,960 who agreed to fight against the colonists. 336 00:19:29,419 --> 00:19:34,466 So eventually, this threat that Lord Dunmore makes becomes a reality, 337 00:19:34,466 --> 00:19:38,512 and he actually does issue, uh, an emancipation order, 338 00:19:38,512 --> 00:19:40,681 that we now call Dunmore's Proclamation. 339 00:19:48,063 --> 00:19:50,732 WOODY: Dunmore issued that emancipation proclamation, 340 00:19:50,732 --> 00:19:52,734 November 1775. 341 00:19:52,734 --> 00:19:57,781 And that emancipation proclamation infuriated white Southerners, 342 00:19:57,781 --> 00:20:02,244 'cause this building is supposed to symbolize white rule over Blacks, 343 00:20:02,244 --> 00:20:06,582 and now the guy inhabiting that building has turned things upside down 344 00:20:06,582 --> 00:20:08,333 and is leading Blacks against whites. 345 00:20:09,585 --> 00:20:11,461 So you have this situation 346 00:20:11,461 --> 00:20:15,591 where many Virginians and other Southern colonists, 347 00:20:15,591 --> 00:20:19,803 they're not really convinced that they want to side with the patriots. 348 00:20:19,803 --> 00:20:24,391 And this turns many of them, um, towards the Revolution, is that right? 349 00:20:24,892 --> 00:20:26,977 If you ask them, it did. 350 00:20:26,977 --> 00:20:28,645 The record is absolutely clear. 351 00:20:28,645 --> 00:20:32,399 I can't think of a point that I could make about the American Revolution 352 00:20:32,399 --> 00:20:38,405 where I could compile as many quotes as I can from white Southerners 353 00:20:38,405 --> 00:20:41,700 saying how furious they are at Governor Dunmore. 354 00:20:41,700 --> 00:20:43,118 Some of them said, 355 00:20:43,118 --> 00:20:45,871 "There's-- There's no other expedient you could have thought of 356 00:20:45,871 --> 00:20:48,832 that was as likely as this to turn us against you." 357 00:20:49,708 --> 00:20:51,585 NIKOLE: Further enraging the white colonists, 358 00:20:51,585 --> 00:20:54,713 Dunmore created the all-Black Ethiopian Regiment 359 00:20:54,713 --> 00:20:57,424 who fought the patriots at The Battle of Kemp's Landing 360 00:20:57,424 --> 00:20:59,801 just outside of Norfolk, Virginia. 361 00:20:59,801 --> 00:21:02,304 And the Ethiopian Regiment won. 362 00:21:03,597 --> 00:21:06,141 By the fall of 1776, 363 00:21:06,141 --> 00:21:09,186 approximately 1,000 enslaved people had joined Dunmore. 364 00:21:10,270 --> 00:21:11,438 This understanding of the role 365 00:21:11,438 --> 00:21:13,649 that Black people played in the Revolutionary War, 366 00:21:13,649 --> 00:21:16,068 why is there so much pushback? 367 00:21:16,068 --> 00:21:19,363 This is just historical fact, so why-- 368 00:21:19,363 --> 00:21:21,073 Why do we have so much pushback? 369 00:21:21,073 --> 00:21:25,953 - Yeah. It-- It astonishes me as well, because it just seems so obvious 370 00:21:25,953 --> 00:21:29,039 that both economically and politically, 371 00:21:29,039 --> 00:21:31,625 enslaved people were at the center of the story. 372 00:21:32,125 --> 00:21:35,045 I would say-- I think if-- if slaves had been as passive 373 00:21:35,045 --> 00:21:38,674 as I was taught they were in Virginia schools in 1960s, 374 00:21:38,674 --> 00:21:41,426 then the Revolution might not ever have come to the South. 375 00:21:41,426 --> 00:21:43,762 And you can't win the Revolution without the South. 376 00:21:47,140 --> 00:21:48,600 NIKOLE: The way we are taught our history 377 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,020 has a lot to do with how we are supposed to think about our democracy, 378 00:21:52,020 --> 00:21:55,357 how we think about who built it and who should benefit most from it. 379 00:21:57,276 --> 00:21:58,735 When I was a student in Iowa, 380 00:21:58,735 --> 00:22:01,822 for the most part, the America revealed to me in my education, 381 00:22:01,822 --> 00:22:04,658 in museums, and in monuments, was a white one. 382 00:22:05,993 --> 00:22:07,911 And yet my world, my neighborhood, 383 00:22:07,911 --> 00:22:09,580 my friends, the aunts and uncles 384 00:22:09,580 --> 00:22:12,207 who crowded our home for barbecues and card games 385 00:22:12,207 --> 00:22:13,500 was largely Black. 386 00:22:16,003 --> 00:22:18,255 I searched desperately to find our people, 387 00:22:18,255 --> 00:22:20,757 to find myself in the American story. 388 00:22:21,466 --> 00:22:24,469 Except for the occasional passing reference to our enslavement 389 00:22:24,469 --> 00:22:26,430 and the Civil Rights Movement, 390 00:22:26,430 --> 00:22:28,807 the story of America that I learned made it seem 391 00:22:28,807 --> 00:22:31,977 that Black people had not contributed much of value to this land. 392 00:22:32,811 --> 00:22:36,315 And so for most of my life, I never felt fully American. 393 00:22:37,232 --> 00:22:39,234 But then, when I was a high school student, 394 00:22:39,234 --> 00:22:40,944 I took a Black Studies course. 395 00:22:40,944 --> 00:22:44,072 And Mr. Ray Dial, the only Black male teacher I ever had, 396 00:22:44,072 --> 00:22:47,201 gave me a book that told the story of the year 1619, 397 00:22:47,201 --> 00:22:49,119 the beginning of American slavery. 398 00:22:50,287 --> 00:22:52,998 I remember feeling angry that no one had bothered to teach us 399 00:22:52,998 --> 00:22:56,502 that Africans and slavery were here before the Mayflower, 400 00:22:56,502 --> 00:22:57,503 and then empowered 401 00:22:57,503 --> 00:23:00,672 that our lineage as Black Americans went back that far. 402 00:23:01,715 --> 00:23:03,133 I was 15 years old 403 00:23:03,133 --> 00:23:06,678 and had no idea how those emotions would fuel a quest for the truth 404 00:23:06,678 --> 00:23:08,222 that would shape my life, 405 00:23:08,222 --> 00:23:09,932 a quest to understand a country 406 00:23:09,932 --> 00:23:13,810 that the history we had been taught did not, could not explain. 407 00:23:14,895 --> 00:23:16,897 ♪ 408 00:23:17,648 --> 00:23:22,027 - Please welcome back Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones. 409 00:23:22,027 --> 00:23:23,820 [audience applauding] 410 00:23:23,820 --> 00:23:25,739 NIKOLE: As the project's success grew, 411 00:23:25,739 --> 00:23:27,991 it became a target of conservative politicians. 412 00:23:27,991 --> 00:23:30,118 - You know, the-- the whole project is a lie. 413 00:23:30,118 --> 00:23:32,621 The 1619 Project 414 00:23:32,621 --> 00:23:35,123 and the crusade against American history 415 00:23:35,123 --> 00:23:37,125 is toxic propaganda. 416 00:23:37,125 --> 00:23:40,045 [crowd chanting "Shame on you!"] 417 00:23:40,045 --> 00:23:42,506 NIKOLE: The backlash had real consequences. 418 00:23:42,506 --> 00:23:44,633 As of October 2022, 419 00:23:44,633 --> 00:23:46,844 there were at least 33 state-level efforts, 420 00:23:46,844 --> 00:23:48,679 as well as a federal bill, 421 00:23:48,679 --> 00:23:52,558 seeking to restrict educators from teaching The 1619 Project 422 00:23:52,558 --> 00:23:54,893 or discussing systemic racism. 423 00:23:54,893 --> 00:23:58,480 - Nevada groups, they want teachers there to wear body cameras 424 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,190 so they can monitor what they are teaching 425 00:24:00,190 --> 00:24:03,318 to make sure that they're not teaching things like The 1619 Project. 426 00:24:05,112 --> 00:24:08,532 MAN: 1619-related curricula banned in Texas, banned in Florida. 427 00:24:08,532 --> 00:24:11,869 NIKOLE: And while the backlash to the project may seem surprising to some, 428 00:24:12,369 --> 00:24:15,497 the truth is, the fight to include slavery and Black contributions 429 00:24:15,497 --> 00:24:17,791 in the full story of America 430 00:24:17,791 --> 00:24:21,503 mirrors the fight to include Black Americans in democracy itself. 431 00:24:22,129 --> 00:24:24,798 And that is a fight that stretches back centuries. 432 00:24:30,596 --> 00:24:34,474 ♪ 433 00:24:39,479 --> 00:24:41,815 Through 250 years of slavery, 434 00:24:41,815 --> 00:24:44,484 Black Americans resisted their bondage. 435 00:24:44,484 --> 00:24:47,362 They continually plotted, rebelled, and escaped. 436 00:24:48,030 --> 00:24:49,281 Some of those who ran away 437 00:24:49,281 --> 00:24:51,658 found safe haven in Brooklyn's Plymouth Church, 438 00:24:51,658 --> 00:24:54,995 a place often called the Grand Depot of the Underground Railroad. 439 00:24:56,371 --> 00:25:00,792 In 1860, then-presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln prayed there 440 00:25:00,792 --> 00:25:02,419 before giving a campaign speech 441 00:25:02,419 --> 00:25:05,672 outlining his plan to limit the expansion of slavery, 442 00:25:05,672 --> 00:25:08,008 an issue that would define his presidency. 443 00:25:09,885 --> 00:25:14,181 So in 1862, a year into the Civil War, President Lincoln-- 444 00:25:14,181 --> 00:25:17,768 This is before he issues the emancipation, but he's considering it. 445 00:25:17,768 --> 00:25:22,397 Lincoln invites a delegation of five Black men to the White House. 446 00:25:22,397 --> 00:25:25,067 What is this meeting about? What happens? 447 00:25:25,067 --> 00:25:28,070 - So Lincoln is contemplating emancipation. 448 00:25:28,070 --> 00:25:29,780 And so what he believes 449 00:25:29,780 --> 00:25:33,951 is that if he can convince Black people to leave the United States, 450 00:25:33,951 --> 00:25:37,538 then it'll be easier to get the white majority to accept emancipation. 451 00:25:37,538 --> 00:25:40,249 So what Lincoln does in that conversation 452 00:25:40,249 --> 00:25:45,128 is try to guilt, insult, do anything he can 453 00:25:45,128 --> 00:25:48,799 to persuade the Black folks who were there in that meeting 454 00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:50,425 to leave the United States. 455 00:25:51,093 --> 00:25:54,888 And what they are very clear on is that they are not going to leave. 456 00:25:54,888 --> 00:25:56,640 Robert Purvis says, 457 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,185 "Sir, this is our country as much as it is yours, 458 00:26:00,185 --> 00:26:02,020 and we will not leave it." 459 00:26:02,020 --> 00:26:04,022 And Purvis isn't alone on that. 460 00:26:04,022 --> 00:26:06,275 The vast majority of the Black population, 461 00:26:06,275 --> 00:26:10,696 the free Black population even, said, "No. We're not going anywhere." 462 00:26:10,696 --> 00:26:15,158 Frederick Douglass said, "We were with you when you arrived on these shores. 463 00:26:15,158 --> 00:26:17,077 "We leveled your forests. 464 00:26:17,077 --> 00:26:20,122 "Our blood, sweat, and tears are in this soil. 465 00:26:20,706 --> 00:26:21,999 "We've been with you, 466 00:26:21,999 --> 00:26:25,294 and we are going to be with you in the future." 467 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,590 NIKOLE: Instead of promising to leave the land of their birth, 468 00:26:29,590 --> 00:26:30,966 Black men pushed Lincoln 469 00:26:30,966 --> 00:26:33,719 to let them sign up to fight in the Union army. 470 00:26:33,719 --> 00:26:36,180 And desperate, Lincoln finally did. 471 00:26:36,638 --> 00:26:40,475 As W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, "The North had to call in the Black men 472 00:26:40,475 --> 00:26:44,354 to save the Union, abolish slavery, and establish democracy." 473 00:26:45,772 --> 00:26:49,193 And amid the ruin and devastation of this nation's deadliest war, 474 00:26:49,193 --> 00:26:51,320 in an era known as Reconstruction, 475 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,032 this country finally began to try to redeem the grave sin of slavery. 476 00:26:56,366 --> 00:26:59,036 These newly emancipated people pushed lawmakers 477 00:26:59,036 --> 00:27:02,873 to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment: 478 00:27:02,873 --> 00:27:04,291 Abolishing slavery; 479 00:27:04,291 --> 00:27:06,793 guaranteeing equal protection under the law; 480 00:27:06,793 --> 00:27:11,507 and citizenship not just for Black people but for any person born on American soil; 481 00:27:11,507 --> 00:27:14,551 and making it illegal to deny voting rights based on race. 482 00:27:15,677 --> 00:27:17,179 In this moment of rebirth, 483 00:27:17,179 --> 00:27:20,974 Black Americans embraced democracy and its promises of equality 484 00:27:20,974 --> 00:27:22,142 with the type of fervor 485 00:27:22,142 --> 00:27:24,853 that comes from living so long with no freedom at all. 486 00:27:27,856 --> 00:27:31,068 KIDADA WILLIAMS: What they want after slavery is over is justice, 487 00:27:31,068 --> 00:27:32,903 and they go about building it. 488 00:27:33,445 --> 00:27:35,239 They knew that if Black people 489 00:27:35,239 --> 00:27:38,534 enjoyed all of these rights, privileges, and protections, 490 00:27:38,534 --> 00:27:41,495 then all Americans would be able to enjoy them. 491 00:27:41,495 --> 00:27:44,206 And that's the beauty of who they were as a people. 492 00:27:44,206 --> 00:27:47,501 - We know how the story of Reconstruction ends. 493 00:27:47,501 --> 00:27:50,462 A deal is struck that if, um, 494 00:27:50,462 --> 00:27:53,382 Rutherford B. Hayes can get the presidency, 495 00:27:53,382 --> 00:27:56,802 then he will agree to withdraw the federal troops from the South. 496 00:27:56,802 --> 00:27:58,387 And in doing so, 497 00:27:58,387 --> 00:28:02,099 he leaves these newly freed people 498 00:28:02,099 --> 00:28:05,018 to the mercy of their former enslavers. 499 00:28:05,018 --> 00:28:10,190 Can you talk about, um, what happens in that period when Reconstruction ends? 500 00:28:10,691 --> 00:28:13,026 - And so what we see over the next 25 years 501 00:28:13,026 --> 00:28:16,780 is whites in the South constructing the new order. 502 00:28:16,780 --> 00:28:19,449 And this new order will be what we call Jim Crow. 503 00:28:19,992 --> 00:28:23,412 But they can't construct it until they disfranchise Black men, 504 00:28:23,412 --> 00:28:26,290 which is what they spend the next decade trying to do. 505 00:28:28,375 --> 00:28:31,795 NIKOLE: White men in power passed new allegedly race-neutral laws 506 00:28:31,795 --> 00:28:33,422 to get around the 15th Amendment. 507 00:28:34,173 --> 00:28:35,424 Grandfather clauses said 508 00:28:35,424 --> 00:28:37,759 you could only vote if your grandfather had, 509 00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:40,345 but most Black men's grandfathers had been enslaved. 510 00:28:41,221 --> 00:28:42,472 Slavery had ensured 511 00:28:42,472 --> 00:28:45,934 most Black people entered freedom illiterate and impoverished, 512 00:28:45,934 --> 00:28:50,189 so white officials instituted literacy tests and poll taxes to vote. 513 00:28:53,775 --> 00:28:56,904 I-- I think it can't be overstated 514 00:28:56,904 --> 00:29:00,073 how much violence Black Americans were subjected to 515 00:29:00,073 --> 00:29:01,074 during that period. 516 00:29:01,700 --> 00:29:03,869 KIDADA: So we saw that during Reconstruction, 517 00:29:03,869 --> 00:29:07,915 but we also saw that in 1898, in places like Wilmington, North Carolina, 518 00:29:07,915 --> 00:29:12,419 where the democratically elected government is overthrown 519 00:29:12,419 --> 00:29:15,214 by white mobs rampaging through the city. 520 00:29:15,214 --> 00:29:18,008 And they had held on to the promise of Reconstruction 521 00:29:18,008 --> 00:29:20,010 for much longer than anyone else had. 522 00:29:20,594 --> 00:29:22,513 And it has a chilling effect. 523 00:29:22,513 --> 00:29:24,556 Not only massacres like Wilmington, 524 00:29:24,556 --> 00:29:28,435 but also widespread lynching throughout the region. 525 00:29:29,144 --> 00:29:32,981 And lynchers are not targeting Black people 526 00:29:32,981 --> 00:29:35,776 who are committing crimes against them. 527 00:29:35,776 --> 00:29:38,779 They're targeting Black people who are successful, 528 00:29:38,779 --> 00:29:40,155 who are prosperous, 529 00:29:40,155 --> 00:29:43,325 and who won't stand down and submit to white supremacy. 530 00:29:47,704 --> 00:29:50,707 ♪ 531 00:30:00,217 --> 00:30:03,846 MAN: This picture is essentially for Americans, 532 00:30:03,846 --> 00:30:05,889 people who call themselves American. 533 00:30:08,267 --> 00:30:11,144 It begins with the painful and hard-felled assumption 534 00:30:11,854 --> 00:30:14,398 that we are not an island of perfection, 535 00:30:15,107 --> 00:30:19,736 but in fact, a land of imperfection in an imperfect world. 536 00:30:21,572 --> 00:30:24,700 Negroes are trying to register to vote 537 00:30:24,700 --> 00:30:28,662 and help to change the situation that they're existing under today. 538 00:30:29,371 --> 00:30:33,083 Help to bring about democracy in our land today. 539 00:30:34,418 --> 00:30:36,211 NIKOLE: The system of racial apartheid 540 00:30:36,211 --> 00:30:39,131 that was created after Reconstruction was so savage 541 00:30:39,131 --> 00:30:41,550 that Nazi Germany would take inspiration from it 542 00:30:41,550 --> 00:30:43,427 for its own racist policies. 543 00:30:44,094 --> 00:30:46,972 But Black Americans would never stop fighting 544 00:30:46,972 --> 00:30:48,223 to democratize America. 545 00:30:50,726 --> 00:30:53,312 Black Americans have always believed in this nation 546 00:30:53,312 --> 00:30:55,314 with a faith it did not deserve, 547 00:30:55,314 --> 00:30:59,443 risking and losing our lives, generation after generation, 548 00:30:59,443 --> 00:31:01,987 to make this country what it already claimed to be. 549 00:31:02,738 --> 00:31:06,074 And nowhere was the fight for democracy more dangerous 550 00:31:06,074 --> 00:31:08,410 than in my father's home state of Mississippi. 551 00:31:09,620 --> 00:31:10,621 MAN: Well, hi there. 552 00:31:11,580 --> 00:31:14,541 NIKOLE: MacArthur Cotton was born just three years before my father 553 00:31:14,541 --> 00:31:16,043 and about 50 miles away. 554 00:31:16,919 --> 00:31:21,590 MACARTHUR COTTON: I was born in April 23, 1942. 555 00:31:22,508 --> 00:31:25,552 I was a person who championed the underdog. 556 00:31:25,552 --> 00:31:31,016 So it was just a natural thing that I would want to be in the movement 557 00:31:31,892 --> 00:31:35,687 because, uh, the choice to me was, 558 00:31:35,687 --> 00:31:39,191 you know, accepting things like they were. 559 00:31:39,191 --> 00:31:41,151 And that wasn't much of a choice. 560 00:31:43,028 --> 00:31:46,865 This is one of the pictures that a friend sent to me 561 00:31:46,865 --> 00:31:49,618 when we were in SNCC. 562 00:31:50,327 --> 00:31:56,124 This-- This should be about '63, I believe, when it was taken. 563 00:31:59,461 --> 00:32:02,464 [people singing] 564 00:32:04,258 --> 00:32:07,845 NARRATOR: In the fall of 1962, a group of students arrived in Greenwood. 565 00:32:08,595 --> 00:32:10,722 They came to organize the Negro population, 566 00:32:10,722 --> 00:32:12,349 to spread the word of the new gospel. 567 00:32:12,933 --> 00:32:14,893 They called themselves SNCC: 568 00:32:14,893 --> 00:32:17,020 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. 569 00:32:22,359 --> 00:32:23,819 NIKOLE: In the 1960s, 570 00:32:23,819 --> 00:32:26,780 Greenwood, Mississippi, became a battleground for voting rights. 571 00:32:27,322 --> 00:32:30,492 At the time, Leflore County was more than two-thirds Black 572 00:32:30,492 --> 00:32:33,412 but only five percent of the Black voting-age population 573 00:32:33,412 --> 00:32:34,621 was registered to vote. 574 00:32:35,873 --> 00:32:38,750 And in a state where nearly half the population was Black, 575 00:32:38,750 --> 00:32:42,087 there was not a single Black elected official in the State House 576 00:32:42,087 --> 00:32:43,839 or in U.S. Congress. 577 00:32:47,467 --> 00:32:51,054 Thank you, Mr. Cotton, for meeting with us today. 578 00:32:51,054 --> 00:32:54,016 Let's start by just telling where we are sitting. 579 00:32:54,016 --> 00:32:55,559 Where-- Where are we right now? 580 00:32:55,559 --> 00:32:59,271 - Well, we are in Leflore County Courthouse 581 00:32:59,271 --> 00:33:01,148 in Greenwood, Mississippi. 582 00:33:01,148 --> 00:33:04,568 NIKOLE: So how-- how does a young Black man decide 583 00:33:04,568 --> 00:33:08,030 that he's going to get involved with the Civil Rights Movement here? 584 00:33:09,239 --> 00:33:15,204 - Well, uh, I was always taught, uh, civic responsibility. 585 00:33:15,704 --> 00:33:18,916 It was a civic thing to do. The right thing to do. 586 00:33:18,916 --> 00:33:21,710 I had no interest in being a slave, so. NIKOLE: Mm. 587 00:33:25,339 --> 00:33:28,842 MacArthur Cotton was a student working in the Tougaloo College Library 588 00:33:28,842 --> 00:33:31,762 when the legendary civil rights activist Bob Moses 589 00:33:31,762 --> 00:33:32,846 recruited him to join 590 00:33:32,846 --> 00:33:35,098 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, 591 00:33:35,098 --> 00:33:36,600 also known as SNCC. 592 00:33:37,184 --> 00:33:40,979 At the time, SNCC was making a big push to register Black voters in the South. 593 00:33:42,272 --> 00:33:43,941 Cotton eventually left Tougaloo 594 00:33:43,941 --> 00:33:46,318 to work full-time in the Civil Rights Movement. 595 00:33:46,318 --> 00:33:49,863 He sacrificed his college degree to fight for democracy, 596 00:33:49,863 --> 00:33:51,990 eventually becoming a field secretary 597 00:33:51,990 --> 00:33:54,201 for the Greenwood voter registration project. 598 00:33:56,411 --> 00:33:57,955 MACARTHUR: You know, in the back of my head, 599 00:33:57,955 --> 00:34:01,750 I thought that we probably would be able to register people to vote. 600 00:34:01,750 --> 00:34:05,921 I didn't expect, uh, the kind of opposition that we had, 601 00:34:05,921 --> 00:34:08,423 even though I knew it wasn't going to be easy. 602 00:34:09,007 --> 00:34:13,804 But, uh, after a while, we found out it was almost impossible. 603 00:34:13,804 --> 00:34:17,099 - Why was it that so few Black people were registered to vote here? 604 00:34:17,099 --> 00:34:19,017 What type of opposition did they face? 605 00:34:19,017 --> 00:34:20,769 - State-sponsored terror. 606 00:34:20,769 --> 00:34:23,981 You know, just straight out, they-- they killed people 607 00:34:23,981 --> 00:34:24,982 for trying to register. 608 00:34:32,072 --> 00:34:34,157 NIKOLE: I read some of Bob Moses' reports, 609 00:34:34,157 --> 00:34:37,661 and he said that Greenwood was a hardcore resistance area, 610 00:34:37,661 --> 00:34:40,080 that almost no progress had been made here 611 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,251 after at least two years or more of intensive organizing, 612 00:34:44,251 --> 00:34:46,753 and even the SNCC offices were bombed. 613 00:34:46,753 --> 00:34:48,589 They were burned. MACARTHUR: Of course. Burned. 614 00:34:48,589 --> 00:34:49,923 They were shot up. 615 00:34:49,923 --> 00:34:52,301 Um, and you're entering into that 616 00:34:52,301 --> 00:34:54,928 to try to-- to reinforce the local efforts. 617 00:34:55,345 --> 00:34:57,139 We expected that. 618 00:34:57,139 --> 00:35:02,686 We knew that, uh, there would be bombings and shootings and-- We knew that. 619 00:35:02,686 --> 00:35:06,690 You know, we always hoped that it didn't happen to us, 620 00:35:06,690 --> 00:35:09,276 but we knew that that was a possibility. 621 00:35:09,818 --> 00:35:12,070 So we could have retreated, 622 00:35:12,863 --> 00:35:16,617 which we didn't feel like that was an option. 623 00:35:16,617 --> 00:35:18,327 - So-- - You say that so calmly now. 624 00:35:18,327 --> 00:35:20,579 Were you-- Were you calm about it back then? 625 00:35:20,579 --> 00:35:22,789 MACARTHUR: Probably even more so. NIKOLE: Really? 626 00:35:22,789 --> 00:35:26,376 - Yeah. You know, when you're 18 or 19 or 20, 627 00:35:26,376 --> 00:35:28,128 - you're invincible anyway. - Mmm. 628 00:35:28,128 --> 00:35:29,922 MACARTHUR: You think about what you want to do. 629 00:35:29,922 --> 00:35:32,591 You don't think about the consequences as much 630 00:35:32,591 --> 00:35:35,677 even though, you know, we were intelligent enough to know that, 631 00:35:35,677 --> 00:35:41,308 you know, there were terrorists and all kind of opposition. 632 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:46,980 NIKOLE: Cotton and his fellow activists came up with a strategy 633 00:35:46,980 --> 00:35:48,690 to overwhelm the system. 634 00:35:48,690 --> 00:35:52,486 In June of 1963, they turned up at the county courthouse 635 00:35:52,486 --> 00:35:55,739 with a group of local Black residents who dared register to vote. 636 00:36:00,077 --> 00:36:03,997 MACARTHUR: Our idea was to, you know, maybe double that the next day, 637 00:36:03,997 --> 00:36:05,582 and on and on, 638 00:36:05,582 --> 00:36:09,753 until we got some kind of concession from somebody. 639 00:36:09,753 --> 00:36:10,754 Okay. 640 00:36:11,463 --> 00:36:12,464 And what happens? 641 00:36:12,464 --> 00:36:14,967 So you-- you go in, you march up here, and what happens? 642 00:36:15,634 --> 00:36:19,054 MACARTHUR: So we got to-- As they began to go in, 643 00:36:19,054 --> 00:36:20,764 I think they took a couple of them in 644 00:36:20,764 --> 00:36:25,519 and then they say, uh, "Well, we're closing the courthouse for lunch, 645 00:36:26,603 --> 00:36:27,980 so y'all gotta get out." 646 00:36:27,980 --> 00:36:32,401 So we-- we refused to, uh, leave. 647 00:36:33,527 --> 00:36:35,195 So they, uh, arrested us. 648 00:36:37,281 --> 00:36:40,826 NIKOLE: After the Sheriff's office arrested Cotton and the other SNCC leaders, 649 00:36:40,826 --> 00:36:44,371 they were fined and initially sentenced to four months of hard labor. 650 00:36:45,122 --> 00:36:47,124 But instead of staying on the County Penal Farm 651 00:36:47,124 --> 00:36:48,542 for their full sentence, 652 00:36:48,542 --> 00:36:51,336 partway through, they were transferred to State prison. 653 00:36:52,337 --> 00:36:53,797 So they take you to Parchman? 654 00:36:53,797 --> 00:36:57,885 Was one of the worst places to be in America. 655 00:36:57,885 --> 00:36:59,595 MACARTHUR: Right. That's what it's supposed to be. 656 00:36:59,595 --> 00:37:05,392 And I think part of that, you know, they inst-- instill fear in people. 657 00:37:05,392 --> 00:37:09,605 And, uh, I think it kind of bothered them that we didn't care. 658 00:37:09,605 --> 00:37:11,315 That didn't scare you at all? 659 00:37:12,065 --> 00:37:16,153 - Well-- Well, you know, really, we, uh, we were living in Parchman. 660 00:37:16,153 --> 00:37:18,989 We couldn't st-- We couldn't stand up to the courthouse. 661 00:37:19,656 --> 00:37:22,576 We couldn't walk down the street without being harassed, so. 662 00:37:23,202 --> 00:37:26,455 You know, it wasn't-- It wasn't a big change, you know, 663 00:37:26,455 --> 00:37:28,332 from being inside or outside. 664 00:37:28,332 --> 00:37:31,585 - Talk about Parchman. What-- What was your experience there? 665 00:37:33,128 --> 00:37:36,089 - We were on-- on death row. 666 00:37:36,590 --> 00:37:38,800 - So they housed you with the... MACARTHUR: Yeah. 667 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:40,093 With the death row inmates? 668 00:37:40,093 --> 00:37:41,887 Right, that's where we were kept. 669 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:48,060 NIKOLE: Activists faced extreme violence and deprivation at Parchman. 670 00:37:48,060 --> 00:37:50,979 Cotton told me of the brutality he experienced 671 00:37:50,979 --> 00:37:54,274 after he asked for food that another inmate had refused. 672 00:37:56,693 --> 00:38:00,197 MACARTHUR: They hung me, uh, stretched me, uh, 673 00:38:00,197 --> 00:38:01,532 at the top of my tiptoes 674 00:38:02,324 --> 00:38:06,411 and hung me, uh, to the bars by my wrists, 675 00:38:06,411 --> 00:38:07,704 you know, put handcuffs... 676 00:38:09,373 --> 00:38:10,624 So they tortured you. 677 00:38:10,624 --> 00:38:12,918 - Of course. That was the name of the game. 678 00:38:12,918 --> 00:38:17,256 They might would've let me stay there until, you know, until I perished. 679 00:38:17,256 --> 00:38:19,633 I don't know. But just so happened, 680 00:38:20,425 --> 00:38:22,678 the International Council of Churches, 681 00:38:23,887 --> 00:38:25,013 uh, came 682 00:38:26,181 --> 00:38:28,267 to investigate. 683 00:38:28,684 --> 00:38:32,354 So their representatives came and saw me hanging. 684 00:38:32,771 --> 00:38:37,401 And of course, by then, my clothes was full of feces and all. 685 00:38:37,401 --> 00:38:41,989 Maybe that-- that was the straw that broke the camel's back. 686 00:38:42,573 --> 00:38:44,366 And they were able to bail us out. 687 00:38:48,579 --> 00:38:50,414 - I'm so sorry. I don't-- 688 00:38:50,414 --> 00:38:51,623 MACARTHUR: It's okay. 689 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:54,251 You should be glad. 690 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,504 You should be glad that we had to sacrifice 691 00:38:57,504 --> 00:38:59,339 to-- to do what we had to do. 692 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:04,761 'Cause... somebody had to do it. 693 00:39:04,761 --> 00:39:07,139 And, hey, I'm still here. 694 00:39:07,639 --> 00:39:13,312 - We've seen the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gutted by a conservative Supreme Court. 695 00:39:13,312 --> 00:39:18,317 We've seen, in the last year and a half, more voter suppression laws passed. 696 00:39:18,317 --> 00:39:23,280 I just wonder, how do we think about the challenge for democracy ahead, 697 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:27,284 understanding that history, and what's your fear? 698 00:39:28,869 --> 00:39:29,995 Mmm. 699 00:39:32,539 --> 00:39:35,083 That I won't be here long enough to see it. 700 00:39:35,667 --> 00:39:37,085 That's one thing, but, uh... 701 00:39:38,670 --> 00:39:39,671 It-- 702 00:39:40,506 --> 00:39:44,551 Well, for people who were paying attention 703 00:39:45,802 --> 00:39:47,888 and understood, 704 00:39:47,888 --> 00:39:49,890 the opposition never quit fighting. 705 00:39:50,766 --> 00:39:56,355 So actually it wasn't that much change in the mind or heart. 706 00:39:56,355 --> 00:39:58,941 So, just, you know, the struggle continues. 707 00:40:00,025 --> 00:40:02,277 And it-- it will always 708 00:40:03,278 --> 00:40:04,279 be a fight. 709 00:40:04,279 --> 00:40:05,906 Democracy is a fight. 710 00:40:10,369 --> 00:40:12,579 ♪ 711 00:40:12,579 --> 00:40:15,123 NIKOLE: Just weeks after his release from Parchman prison, 712 00:40:15,123 --> 00:40:17,793 MacArthur Cotton set on his way to the nation's capital... 713 00:40:17,793 --> 00:40:21,797 MAN: We are requesting all citizens to move into Washington. 714 00:40:21,797 --> 00:40:23,882 NIKOLE: ...where he joined a quarter million people 715 00:40:23,882 --> 00:40:25,425 from across the country. 716 00:40:25,425 --> 00:40:29,388 MAN: Go by plane, by car, walk if necessary. 717 00:40:29,388 --> 00:40:34,977 We are pushing for jobs, housing, desegregated schools. 718 00:40:34,977 --> 00:40:36,520 This is an urgent request. 719 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:38,605 Please join. Go to Washington. 720 00:40:39,356 --> 00:40:42,693 NIKOLE: On that hot August day in 1963, 721 00:40:42,693 --> 00:40:44,486 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke 722 00:40:44,486 --> 00:40:47,698 to Black American commitment to the democratic process. 723 00:40:50,284 --> 00:40:54,454 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America 724 00:40:55,247 --> 00:40:59,251 until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. 725 00:40:59,251 --> 00:41:00,252 NIKOLE: Two years later, 726 00:41:00,252 --> 00:41:02,754 after countless activists had been violently beaten 727 00:41:02,754 --> 00:41:04,339 and many others murdered, 728 00:41:04,339 --> 00:41:07,843 Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 729 00:41:07,843 --> 00:41:10,721 forcing the South to stop violating the Constitution 730 00:41:10,721 --> 00:41:12,848 by denying Black people the right to vote 731 00:41:12,848 --> 00:41:16,685 and enforcing the century-old rights promised in the 15th Amendment. 732 00:41:17,644 --> 00:41:21,064 Black Americans, just as they had right after the Civil War, 733 00:41:21,064 --> 00:41:25,777 helped expand legal equality and democracy for all Americans. 734 00:41:36,038 --> 00:41:38,290 With the balance of Congress once again at stake 735 00:41:38,290 --> 00:41:40,667 in the 2022 midterm election, 736 00:41:40,667 --> 00:41:44,296 Mary-Pat Hector was trying to resolve the issue at the Cosby Spear Towers 737 00:41:44,296 --> 00:41:47,257 that was routing residents to another polling location 738 00:41:47,257 --> 00:41:48,759 about 20 minutes away. 739 00:41:49,301 --> 00:41:51,595 - I mean, Hapeville-- That just seems ridiculous. 740 00:41:51,595 --> 00:41:53,597 WOMAN: And there's another polling site right here at the-- 741 00:41:53,597 --> 00:41:55,933 NIKOLE: Back at headquarters, Helen Butler worked the phones 742 00:41:55,933 --> 00:41:58,519 with the Fulton County election board representative, 743 00:41:58,519 --> 00:42:00,771 who confirmed the County had made a mistake. 744 00:42:01,355 --> 00:42:04,483 - All right. Thank you. So I'll get it taken-- 745 00:42:04,483 --> 00:42:06,485 So they were in the wrong precinct? 746 00:42:07,194 --> 00:42:08,195 WOMAN: [over phone] Yes. 747 00:42:08,195 --> 00:42:10,072 HELEN: Okay. All right. WOMAN: [over phone] Okay. Okay. 748 00:42:10,072 --> 00:42:11,532 HELEN: Okay. Thank you. WOMAN: [over phone] Mm-hmm. 749 00:42:12,157 --> 00:42:14,952 [line ringing] 750 00:42:14,952 --> 00:42:16,370 MARY-PAT: [over phone] Hey, Ms. Helen, you talked to her? 751 00:42:16,370 --> 00:42:17,204 Yes. 752 00:42:17,204 --> 00:42:19,039 MARY-PAT: [over phone] Uh, what's the update? 753 00:42:19,039 --> 00:42:22,209 - They're voting a regular ballot on the voting machine. 754 00:42:22,793 --> 00:42:27,464 If a poll worker tells them that they have to vote provisionally, 755 00:42:27,464 --> 00:42:29,299 ask for the poll manager, 756 00:42:29,299 --> 00:42:32,970 and the poll manager will get it corrected. 757 00:42:32,970 --> 00:42:34,680 MARY-PAT: [over phone] All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Helen. 758 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:36,390 So, I-- I can leave? 759 00:42:36,390 --> 00:42:37,808 You can leave. 760 00:42:37,808 --> 00:42:39,226 MARY-PAT: [over phone] Okay. Thank you very much. 761 00:42:39,226 --> 00:42:41,478 All right. Okay, bye. 762 00:42:42,271 --> 00:42:45,065 MARY-PAT: They can. They can. Yep. Everything is good. 763 00:42:45,065 --> 00:42:47,150 So I'm about to leave and go back to the office. 764 00:42:47,150 --> 00:42:49,027 That's a win. Small wins count. 765 00:42:49,027 --> 00:42:51,530 MARY-PAT: All right. Very-- Small wins really do count. 766 00:42:51,530 --> 00:42:53,991 So thank you. I really appreciate it. 767 00:42:55,492 --> 00:42:59,162 BIANCA WEBB: Yeah, so myself and some volunteers went over there, 768 00:42:59,162 --> 00:43:01,415 knocked on every door in that building 769 00:43:01,415 --> 00:43:04,001 that was impacted by the error this morning, 770 00:43:04,001 --> 00:43:06,295 just to make sure all of the residents knew 771 00:43:06,295 --> 00:43:09,882 that if they were turned around that they can come back and vote. 772 00:43:11,550 --> 00:43:14,178 NIKOLE: And while June Williams finally cast her ballot, 773 00:43:14,178 --> 00:43:16,388 the mistake felt all too familiar. 774 00:43:17,764 --> 00:43:18,849 Speaking with Miss June 775 00:43:18,849 --> 00:43:21,727 and hearing how she's actually been a part of the Civil Rights Movement 776 00:43:21,727 --> 00:43:23,770 and actually lived in those times, 777 00:43:23,770 --> 00:43:27,858 uh, where it, in her own words, feels like a repeat. 778 00:43:27,858 --> 00:43:30,402 But to see her go the extra mile 779 00:43:30,402 --> 00:43:33,280 and say, "I will sit out this door until seven o'clock 780 00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:34,740 because I'm going to vote." 781 00:43:34,740 --> 00:43:39,328 Um, I think she really charged my generation to have that same tenacity 782 00:43:39,328 --> 00:43:41,038 and do what needs to be done 783 00:43:41,038 --> 00:43:43,665 to correct whatever wrongs that may be happening. 784 00:43:46,460 --> 00:43:47,794 NIKOLE: For nearly 50 years, 785 00:43:47,794 --> 00:43:50,756 the Voting Rights Act that protected Williams' generation 786 00:43:50,756 --> 00:43:54,885 was reauthorized with bipartisan support from Congress and the White House. 787 00:43:55,511 --> 00:44:00,432 - So Bush actually signed the last reauthorization 788 00:44:00,432 --> 00:44:02,684 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. 789 00:44:03,393 --> 00:44:06,396 I got a personal invitation from George Bush. 790 00:44:06,396 --> 00:44:09,691 That's-- The red ticket is my ticket to the event. 791 00:44:10,275 --> 00:44:13,070 We were out on the lawn of the White House. 792 00:44:13,946 --> 00:44:17,157 And in the middle, we got to take our picture, 793 00:44:17,157 --> 00:44:19,326 our little Georgia delegation. 794 00:44:19,326 --> 00:44:24,915 So it-- it is us there, uh, enjoying the moment. 795 00:44:25,249 --> 00:44:30,963 But of course, we know Shelby v. Holder changed that in 2013. 796 00:44:31,713 --> 00:44:34,967 NIKOLE: After President Obama won a second term in 2012, 797 00:44:34,967 --> 00:44:36,134 the Supreme Court, 798 00:44:36,134 --> 00:44:39,054 determining the nation had largely moved on from the racism 799 00:44:39,054 --> 00:44:41,473 that had once made the Voting Rights Act necessary, 800 00:44:41,473 --> 00:44:44,142 overturned key protections in the law. 801 00:44:44,142 --> 00:44:48,814 NEWSCASTER: The decision invalidating a section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 802 00:44:48,814 --> 00:44:50,774 deeply divided the justices, 803 00:44:50,774 --> 00:44:53,318 but it rested on a simple premise. 804 00:44:53,318 --> 00:44:55,779 As Chief Justice John Roberts said, 805 00:44:55,779 --> 00:44:59,658 "Nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically." 806 00:45:00,492 --> 00:45:03,287 NIKOLE: Following the ruling, by the 2016 election, 807 00:45:03,287 --> 00:45:06,665 14 states had enacted new redistricting plans 808 00:45:06,665 --> 00:45:08,375 or new restrictions on voting 809 00:45:08,375 --> 00:45:12,296 that, before, would have required preapproval by the Justice Department. 810 00:45:12,296 --> 00:45:15,090 And just like the laws passed during Jim Crow, 811 00:45:15,090 --> 00:45:17,759 these new laws were allegedly race-neutral. 812 00:45:17,759 --> 00:45:19,469 But the intent was clear. 813 00:45:20,053 --> 00:45:22,014 For example, a federal court found 814 00:45:22,014 --> 00:45:25,642 North Carolina's voter ID laws had targeted Black Americans 815 00:45:25,642 --> 00:45:29,313 with, quote, "almost surgical precision." 816 00:45:29,313 --> 00:45:31,690 And the attack on the democratic process 817 00:45:31,690 --> 00:45:34,860 only escalated in the wake of the 2020 election. 818 00:45:35,986 --> 00:45:37,487 CHUCK SCHUMER: We are witnessing an attempt 819 00:45:37,487 --> 00:45:40,199 at the greatest contraction of voting rights 820 00:45:40,199 --> 00:45:42,326 since the end of Reconstruction 821 00:45:42,993 --> 00:45:45,454 and the beginning of Jim Crow. 822 00:45:45,454 --> 00:45:46,955 NIKOLE: Since 2021, 823 00:45:46,955 --> 00:45:50,459 lawmakers have passed at least 42 restrictive voting laws 824 00:45:50,459 --> 00:45:51,919 in 21 states. 825 00:45:51,919 --> 00:45:53,212 And in Georgia, 826 00:45:53,212 --> 00:45:55,672 one of the most heavily Black states in the nation, 827 00:45:55,672 --> 00:45:58,509 Republicans passed the Election Integrity Act 828 00:45:58,509 --> 00:46:01,136 that created a long list of voting restrictions. 829 00:46:01,762 --> 00:46:06,225 After a pandemic-era election saw the use of mail-in ballots in record numbers, 830 00:46:06,225 --> 00:46:09,019 the law shrunk the number of ballot drop boxes 831 00:46:09,019 --> 00:46:11,980 and added ID requirements for absentee voting. 832 00:46:12,981 --> 00:46:16,318 Data shows Black Americans, on average, wait longer than white voters 833 00:46:16,318 --> 00:46:17,611 to cast their ballot 834 00:46:18,445 --> 00:46:21,615 And yet, the law criminalizes passing out food and water 835 00:46:21,615 --> 00:46:22,991 to those standing in line to vote. 836 00:46:23,951 --> 00:46:25,911 And finally, the law allows anyone 837 00:46:25,911 --> 00:46:29,748 to legally challenge the right of their fellow citizens to cast a ballot, 838 00:46:29,748 --> 00:46:32,876 and created a new hotline to accept anonymous tips 839 00:46:32,876 --> 00:46:34,294 to report voter fraud. 840 00:46:41,301 --> 00:46:45,055 So we are here today, uh, to talk about democracy. 841 00:46:45,055 --> 00:46:49,518 Can you talk about the state of American democracy right now? 842 00:46:50,185 --> 00:46:55,732 - Well, the state of American democracy is really on life support in my opinion. 843 00:46:55,732 --> 00:46:59,653 You had the insurrection of January 6th. 844 00:46:59,653 --> 00:47:04,283 You have all of these draconian, uh, policies being implemented, 845 00:47:04,283 --> 00:47:09,413 uh, to prevent people from being able to select their representatives 846 00:47:09,413 --> 00:47:10,831 and to have a voice. 847 00:47:10,831 --> 00:47:16,753 The takeover process where they have total control of the outcome of elections, 848 00:47:16,753 --> 00:47:20,716 uh, that kind of thing is really putting us in peril. 849 00:47:20,716 --> 00:47:22,801 MARY-PAT: I think, you know, Coretta Scott King once said, 850 00:47:22,801 --> 00:47:25,470 like, "Freedom is-- is a never-ending process. 851 00:47:25,470 --> 00:47:26,471 "Struggle is never really won. 852 00:47:26,471 --> 00:47:28,682 You win it and earn it in every generation." 853 00:47:28,682 --> 00:47:33,061 And, um, one thing that Mrs. Helen often says is, "This is our Selma moment." 854 00:47:33,061 --> 00:47:37,649 And so while I know our democracy is in a very, very bad place, 855 00:47:37,649 --> 00:47:39,526 I feel like we've been here before. 856 00:47:39,526 --> 00:47:42,905 - And really, if you look at the Civil Rights Movement, 857 00:47:42,905 --> 00:47:45,616 it wasn't won overnight. 858 00:47:45,616 --> 00:47:50,037 It was a drawn-out period of time before we could get that right. 859 00:47:50,037 --> 00:47:55,375 We are just really a resilient community. 860 00:47:55,375 --> 00:47:57,127 Uh, we have fought. 861 00:47:57,127 --> 00:47:58,128 And who is the "we"? 862 00:47:58,128 --> 00:48:00,506 We, Black people. 863 00:48:00,506 --> 00:48:01,590 Black people are the-- 864 00:48:01,590 --> 00:48:03,675 - MARY-PAT: And Black women. - And Black women, yes. 865 00:48:03,675 --> 00:48:05,719 We are resilient. 866 00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:07,763 We can make it happen. 867 00:48:07,763 --> 00:48:09,848 - And we can't give up. - Yeah. 868 00:48:09,848 --> 00:48:11,767 Uh, I'm a fighter. 869 00:48:11,767 --> 00:48:17,356 And, you know, if you don't believe in something that you would die for, 870 00:48:17,356 --> 00:48:19,149 then you really don't believe in it. 871 00:48:19,149 --> 00:48:23,320 It has to be so incredibly frustrating 872 00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:27,407 that you convinced people to have a stake in their democracy, 873 00:48:27,407 --> 00:48:29,034 that their vote matters. 874 00:48:29,034 --> 00:48:32,287 How do you return to those people again in 2024 875 00:48:32,287 --> 00:48:35,541 and say, "Yes, they didn't protect your rights. 876 00:48:35,541 --> 00:48:38,168 "They're not respecting your agenda. 877 00:48:38,168 --> 00:48:40,295 "They pass more laws that's gonna make it harder for you. 878 00:48:40,295 --> 00:48:42,089 Do it again because your vote matters." 879 00:48:42,089 --> 00:48:45,384 - It is a hard message, but it's a necessary message. 880 00:48:45,384 --> 00:48:47,469 We can't tell them, "Give up." 881 00:48:47,469 --> 00:48:49,054 I can't tell anybody to give up. 882 00:48:49,054 --> 00:48:50,138 HELEN: You can't tell 'em, "Give up" 883 00:48:50,138 --> 00:48:52,599 because you don't want 'em to stay at home, 884 00:48:52,599 --> 00:48:54,268 because that makes it even worse. 885 00:48:54,810 --> 00:48:59,648 So it's always the lesser of two evils. 886 00:49:00,107 --> 00:49:01,275 Quite honestly. 887 00:49:01,775 --> 00:49:03,360 It's the lesser of two evils 888 00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:06,113 until you can get in 889 00:49:06,113 --> 00:49:09,533 and have a true majority. 890 00:49:12,995 --> 00:49:15,998 ♪ 891 00:49:20,502 --> 00:49:22,296 NIKOLE: Black American freedom struggles 892 00:49:22,296 --> 00:49:25,507 have laid the foundation for every other modern rights struggle. 893 00:49:27,593 --> 00:49:29,595 The laws born out of Black resistance, 894 00:49:29,595 --> 00:49:31,305 first during Reconstruction 895 00:49:31,305 --> 00:49:33,348 and later during the Civil Rights Movement, 896 00:49:33,348 --> 00:49:36,476 guaranteed equality in law and banned discrimination 897 00:49:36,476 --> 00:49:40,898 based not just on race but on gender, nationality, and religion. 898 00:49:42,691 --> 00:49:45,068 When other marginalized groups demand their rights, 899 00:49:45,068 --> 00:49:48,363 they sue under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, 900 00:49:48,363 --> 00:49:50,741 including when same-sex couples used it 901 00:49:50,741 --> 00:49:52,868 to win their constitutional right to marry. 902 00:49:55,204 --> 00:49:59,499 We have made tremendous progress toward realizing our democratic ideals, 903 00:49:59,499 --> 00:50:02,628 and yet the ongoing fights over voting and elections 904 00:50:02,628 --> 00:50:05,047 show that a significant portion of our country 905 00:50:05,047 --> 00:50:07,299 still does not believe in democracy 906 00:50:07,299 --> 00:50:11,053 if democracy requires sharing power with multiracial citizens 907 00:50:11,053 --> 00:50:12,387 in our multiracial nation. 908 00:50:13,847 --> 00:50:15,557 I think a lot about what it will take 909 00:50:15,557 --> 00:50:18,602 for a true democracy to take shape in this country. 910 00:50:18,602 --> 00:50:21,104 And I worry about how the nation will respond 911 00:50:21,104 --> 00:50:23,649 to what is clearly a democratic crisis. 912 00:50:28,570 --> 00:50:30,864 So you both are, uh, political scientists 913 00:50:30,864 --> 00:50:34,117 who study how democracies work around the world. 914 00:50:34,117 --> 00:50:37,287 But you guys argue that this backsliding of our democracy 915 00:50:37,287 --> 00:50:40,332 really began as early as the 1980s. 916 00:50:40,332 --> 00:50:41,750 Can you tell me more about that? 917 00:50:42,459 --> 00:50:44,294 Well, the Civil Rights Revolution 918 00:50:44,294 --> 00:50:47,047 and the increasing diversification of our society 919 00:50:47,047 --> 00:50:48,632 with large-scale immigration 920 00:50:48,632 --> 00:50:51,635 triggers a dramatic transformation of the party system, 921 00:50:51,635 --> 00:50:53,512 where, by the early 21st century, 922 00:50:53,512 --> 00:50:58,392 the Republican Party was an overwhelmingly white Christian party 923 00:50:58,392 --> 00:51:02,855 in a society that was much more diverse than ever before. 924 00:51:03,397 --> 00:51:08,110 And it was a party that concentrated the vast bulk of white Americans 925 00:51:08,110 --> 00:51:11,238 who were uncomfortable with racial diversity. 926 00:51:11,238 --> 00:51:14,783 And that's the base that Trump eventually taps into. 927 00:51:15,742 --> 00:51:18,287 But that's a slow movie. That doesn't get invented by Trump. 928 00:51:19,538 --> 00:51:22,040 Trump is a product of that, more than a cause of it. 929 00:51:23,500 --> 00:51:26,879 [crowd chanting "USA"] 930 00:51:27,588 --> 00:51:28,922 - In order to understand our current moment, 931 00:51:28,922 --> 00:51:31,133 it's actually useful to look back to the 19th century 932 00:51:31,133 --> 00:51:33,177 and the first effort to create a multiracial democracy 933 00:51:33,177 --> 00:51:34,928 after the Civil War. 934 00:51:34,928 --> 00:51:36,388 And this was a major effort. 935 00:51:36,388 --> 00:51:39,016 All these Constitutional Amendments to guarantee voting rights 936 00:51:39,016 --> 00:51:42,728 failed by 1876, at the earliest by the 1890s, certainly. 937 00:51:42,728 --> 00:51:45,606 And what this meant is that voting rights were now excluded 938 00:51:45,606 --> 00:51:47,149 for African Americans in the South. 939 00:51:47,608 --> 00:51:50,360 By the time we get to the 1960s, their second effort at this, 940 00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:52,738 and the question of political equality 941 00:51:52,738 --> 00:51:55,741 for all groups and all individuals of all backgrounds 942 00:51:55,741 --> 00:51:57,201 is now on the political table. 943 00:51:57,868 --> 00:52:00,245 It's explosive, and there's a backlash against it, 944 00:52:00,245 --> 00:52:03,207 just as there was after the first attempt at this. 945 00:52:03,207 --> 00:52:05,834 And so we're living through that moment right now. 946 00:52:05,834 --> 00:52:06,835 And I guess the question is 947 00:52:06,835 --> 00:52:09,922 to what degree will we make the same mistakes we did last time? 948 00:52:10,756 --> 00:52:13,050 White people are being targeted. 949 00:52:13,050 --> 00:52:18,347 - Joe Biden's five million illegal aliens are on the verge of replacing you. 950 00:52:18,347 --> 00:52:24,186 [crowd chanting "You will not replace us"] 951 00:52:25,562 --> 00:52:30,150 - You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. 952 00:52:30,150 --> 00:52:32,152 [people screaming] 953 00:52:34,821 --> 00:52:37,658 - They openly campaign for racial reparations 954 00:52:37,658 --> 00:52:40,744 and bigoted policies that target white people. 955 00:52:41,495 --> 00:52:44,665 - So, what are some of the warning signs we see 956 00:52:44,665 --> 00:52:48,502 when we have politicians that are working to threaten democracy, 957 00:52:48,502 --> 00:52:50,379 or that have become a threat to democracy? 958 00:52:51,380 --> 00:52:53,549 - In our book, we identify four warning signs. 959 00:52:54,174 --> 00:52:57,427 One: If a politician says they won't accept election results 960 00:52:57,427 --> 00:52:59,721 or challenge a democratic constitution. 961 00:53:00,347 --> 00:53:04,101 - We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn't happen. 962 00:53:04,101 --> 00:53:07,104 You don't concede when there is theft involved. 963 00:53:08,105 --> 00:53:12,234 - Number two: If they condone or threaten violence in their rhetoric. 964 00:53:12,234 --> 00:53:15,487 Usually they go on and tend to support this kind of stuff in action. 965 00:53:17,364 --> 00:53:19,283 Those are people that love this country. 966 00:53:19,283 --> 00:53:21,201 - You know, if you didn't know the TV footage 967 00:53:21,201 --> 00:53:23,370 was a video from January the 6th, 968 00:53:23,370 --> 00:53:26,290 you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit. 969 00:53:26,290 --> 00:53:27,833 DANIEL ZIBLATT: Number three: 970 00:53:27,833 --> 00:53:29,793 Do they threaten to assault civil liberties? 971 00:53:29,793 --> 00:53:31,670 Do they threaten the press, for example? 972 00:53:31,670 --> 00:53:35,299 - The Republican candidate allegedly throwing a reporter to the ground. 973 00:53:35,799 --> 00:53:38,051 [objects clattering] 974 00:53:45,934 --> 00:53:47,728 And then number four: 975 00:53:47,728 --> 00:53:49,730 Do they challenge the legitimacy of their opponents? 976 00:53:49,730 --> 00:53:51,148 She shouldn't be allowed to run. 977 00:53:51,773 --> 00:53:55,986 Chris, she should never have been allowed to run for the presidency. 978 00:53:55,986 --> 00:53:58,238 Why doesn't he show his birth certificate? 979 00:53:58,238 --> 00:54:00,657 Because I think it's a terrible pall that's hanging over him. 980 00:54:01,742 --> 00:54:05,037 NIKOLE: Today, we once again find ourselves in a chapter of America's story 981 00:54:05,037 --> 00:54:08,498 where some in power are eroding our democratic norms. 982 00:54:10,125 --> 00:54:12,211 REPORTER: One day after top Senate Republicans 983 00:54:12,211 --> 00:54:14,213 decidedly dug in their heels 984 00:54:14,213 --> 00:54:17,090 saying they will not even hold hearings 985 00:54:17,090 --> 00:54:19,510 or even meet with the president's nominee. 986 00:54:19,510 --> 00:54:21,303 NIKOLE: After President Obama was blocked 987 00:54:21,303 --> 00:54:24,765 from appointing a Supreme Court nominee in his final year of office, 988 00:54:24,765 --> 00:54:27,351 President Trump appointed three justices, 989 00:54:27,351 --> 00:54:29,269 creating a conservative Supreme Court 990 00:54:29,269 --> 00:54:31,355 that may soon strike down equality measures 991 00:54:31,355 --> 00:54:33,398 established during the Civil Rights Movement. 992 00:54:35,150 --> 00:54:39,029 One that addresses the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in higher education. 993 00:54:39,029 --> 00:54:40,864 The conservative majority appears ready 994 00:54:40,864 --> 00:54:44,952 to roll back 40 years of affirmative action on American campuses. 995 00:54:44,952 --> 00:54:47,788 NIKOLE: And another that undercuts fair elections. 996 00:54:47,788 --> 00:54:49,915 - The Supreme Court hears arguments this morning 997 00:54:49,915 --> 00:54:53,919 on a significant case focusing on race and voting rights in Alabama. 998 00:54:53,919 --> 00:54:56,755 NEWSCASTER: With Black voter registration at historic highs, 999 00:54:56,755 --> 00:54:59,633 Black leaders say Alabama is using redistricting 1000 00:54:59,633 --> 00:55:01,718 to dilute the power of their vote. 1001 00:55:02,886 --> 00:55:05,138 NIKOLE: In the 2022 midterm elections, 1002 00:55:05,138 --> 00:55:09,810 nearly 200 candidates who did not accept the results of the presidential election 1003 00:55:09,810 --> 00:55:11,270 ran for office. 1004 00:55:11,270 --> 00:55:13,063 And on the state level, 1005 00:55:13,063 --> 00:55:16,191 we saw armed poll watchers intimidate citizens in Arizona. 1006 00:55:16,859 --> 00:55:18,360 And in Florida, 1007 00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:21,572 Governor Ron DeSantis created a special election police force 1008 00:55:21,572 --> 00:55:23,156 to go after voter fraud 1009 00:55:23,156 --> 00:55:27,160 even though study after study showed widespread voter fraud wasn't occurring. 1010 00:55:28,579 --> 00:55:34,168 - So if a political party or a politician tries to tilt the playing field in a way 1011 00:55:34,168 --> 00:55:37,796 to make it so that it's really so hard for the other side to win elections, 1012 00:55:37,796 --> 00:55:39,965 that basically the other side can't win elections, 1013 00:55:39,965 --> 00:55:42,176 often doing this legally by changing election rules, 1014 00:55:42,176 --> 00:55:44,136 by changing how election districts are drawn, 1015 00:55:44,136 --> 00:55:46,388 changing who counts the elections. 1016 00:55:46,388 --> 00:55:49,349 - And these are things that we're seeing happening in the United States right now. 1017 00:55:50,267 --> 00:55:52,811 STEVEN LEVITSKY: Yeah. Um, look, we're at a point 1018 00:55:52,811 --> 00:55:56,273 where the bulk of the Republican Party at this point 1019 00:55:56,273 --> 00:55:59,151 did not accept defeat in 2020 1020 00:55:59,151 --> 00:56:03,864 and has not clearly, unambiguously rejected the use of political violence. 1021 00:56:04,448 --> 00:56:06,783 And so to us, that is a warning sign 1022 00:56:06,783 --> 00:56:12,539 that one of our major parties is no longer fully committed to democracy. 1023 00:56:12,539 --> 00:56:16,502 And when one of two major parties is not committed to democracy, 1024 00:56:16,502 --> 00:56:18,420 your democracy is imperiled. 1025 00:56:26,595 --> 00:56:28,472 MARY-PAT: This is my first time doing this, so... 1026 00:56:28,472 --> 00:56:29,306 WOMAN: Yes. MARY-PAT: Okay. 1027 00:56:29,306 --> 00:56:32,935 - You go in to the right and those tables and those chairs there. 1028 00:56:32,935 --> 00:56:33,936 MARY-PAT: All right. Thank you. 1029 00:56:34,728 --> 00:56:36,563 So we're watching the ballots come in, 1030 00:56:36,563 --> 00:56:39,650 and we are watching Fulton County count the ballots, 1031 00:56:39,650 --> 00:56:42,361 um, of all of the people within this community. 1032 00:56:43,904 --> 00:56:47,115 Seeing all of the work that organizers have put forth 1033 00:56:47,115 --> 00:56:50,118 to combat voter suppression in this state, um, 1034 00:56:50,744 --> 00:56:53,163 really has me amped up, but it also has me scared. 1035 00:56:53,163 --> 00:56:56,959 It has me scared about what's gonna happen either way. 1036 00:56:56,959 --> 00:56:59,044 Um, this election takes place tonight. 1037 00:56:59,044 --> 00:57:02,047 Either way it goes, it has me scared about what's to come. 1038 00:57:06,552 --> 00:57:09,638 HELEN: I think history will show in the future 1039 00:57:09,638 --> 00:57:15,477 that the demographics of the United States will be different. 1040 00:57:15,477 --> 00:57:19,523 People of color are gonna be the majority. 1041 00:57:19,523 --> 00:57:22,526 And I'm hopeful that at that point, 1042 00:57:23,861 --> 00:57:26,572 then we'll have the true democracy that we want. 1043 00:57:27,573 --> 00:57:30,242 - That's maybe why they're fighting so hard right now. 1044 00:57:30,242 --> 00:57:34,288 - I think that's-- I think you hit the nail on the head, 1045 00:57:34,288 --> 00:57:38,709 is that they're fighting because they see those numbers changing. 1046 00:57:38,709 --> 00:57:42,129 So, to me, when we get that demographic shift, 1047 00:57:42,921 --> 00:57:44,590 I think we'll be better 1048 00:57:44,590 --> 00:57:49,720 at not having to work so hard for this. 1049 00:57:49,720 --> 00:57:54,600 - I wanna be able to look back and say, "I did this so that you didn't have to." 1050 00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:57,227 You know, my grandfather did a lot. Ms. Helen did a lot. 1051 00:57:57,227 --> 00:58:00,564 She integrated, uh, the University of Georgia, right? 1052 00:58:00,564 --> 00:58:02,232 And so, you know, she can say, 1053 00:58:02,232 --> 00:58:05,611 you know, "I did this so that Mary-Pat didn't have to do that." 1054 00:58:05,611 --> 00:58:08,030 Um, and that's-- that's what legacy is all about. 1055 00:58:14,119 --> 00:58:17,664 ♪ 1056 00:58:20,042 --> 00:58:21,502 NIKOLE: As a woman in my 40s, 1057 00:58:21,502 --> 00:58:24,129 I am part of the first generation of Black Americans 1058 00:58:24,129 --> 00:58:25,923 in the history of the United States 1059 00:58:25,923 --> 00:58:27,382 to be born in a society 1060 00:58:27,382 --> 00:58:29,927 in which Black people had full rights of citizenship. 1061 00:58:30,928 --> 00:58:32,763 Yet, in that brief span of time, 1062 00:58:32,763 --> 00:58:35,766 despite continuing to face rampant discrimination, 1063 00:58:35,766 --> 00:58:38,519 and despite there never having been a genuine effort 1064 00:58:38,519 --> 00:58:40,270 to redress the wrongs of slavery 1065 00:58:40,270 --> 00:58:43,106 and the century of legal discrimination that followed, 1066 00:58:43,106 --> 00:58:45,776 Black Americans have made astounding progress, 1067 00:58:45,776 --> 00:58:49,154 not only for ourselves but also for all Americans. 1068 00:58:50,697 --> 00:58:55,202 Our struggles and strivings have made America more fair and more just. 1069 00:58:55,202 --> 00:58:57,454 And as much democracy as we have, 1070 00:58:57,454 --> 00:58:59,706 it has been born of Black resistance. 1071 00:58:59,706 --> 00:59:01,375 In other words, 1072 00:59:01,375 --> 00:59:05,337 the very people who were never supposed to be a part of our democracy 1073 00:59:05,337 --> 00:59:08,048 have played the most pivotal role in creating it. 1074 00:59:12,302 --> 00:59:14,471 So what if America understood, 1075 00:59:14,471 --> 00:59:18,058 finally, now, after 400 years, 1076 00:59:18,058 --> 00:59:20,894 that Black people have never been the problem 1077 00:59:20,894 --> 00:59:22,312 but the solution? 1078 00:59:33,115 --> 00:59:35,200 ♪ 1079 00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:38,161 But that solution came at a tremendous cost, 1080 00:59:38,161 --> 00:59:41,123 and so much of it has been borne by Black women. 1081 00:59:42,249 --> 00:59:45,752 WOMAN 1: There's a direct link to maternal mortality today 1082 00:59:45,752 --> 00:59:48,714 and the challenges that women had giving birth during slavery. 1083 00:59:49,381 --> 00:59:50,674 NIKOLE: What did she tell you? 1084 00:59:50,674 --> 00:59:54,386 - She said, "Baby A doesn't have a heartbeat." 1085 00:59:55,137 --> 00:59:57,514 And I couldn't understand. I'm like, "I don't--" 1086 00:59:57,514 --> 00:59:59,266 I'm like, "I don't understand." 1087 01:00:00,184 --> 01:00:04,730 WOMAN 2: The legacy of slavery is so ingrained in our system, 1088 01:00:04,730 --> 01:00:06,064 and we don't even see it. 1089 01:00:12,613 --> 01:00:16,200 ♪