HELLO.
TODAY WE'RE GOING TO
TALK ABOUT WATIES WARING.
WATIES WARING WAS AN
8TH GENERATION CHARLESTON GUY.
HE WAS A JUDGE.
THIS WAS THIS GUY'S LIFE.
I'M IN CHARLESTON.
I LOVE IT.
I MAKE MONEY.
I HAVE MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE.
WE'RE RICH PEOPLE.
LOOK AT ALL OUR RICH FRIENDS.
BUT HE LIVED IN THIS PLACE
WHERE SEGREGATION
WAS THE WAY THAT IT WAS.
I MEAN, WE'RE FINE
WITH EACH OTHER
BUT BLACK PEOPLE GO OVER THERE,
RIGHT?
THAT MAKES SENSE.
HE AND HIS WIFE
STARTED PLAYING BRIDGE
WITH THIS COUPLE,
THE HOFFMAN'S.
ELIZABETH HOFFMAN.
SHE WAS FROM DETROIT,
SHE WAS INCREDIBLY SMART,
AND SHE WAS
THE LIFE OF THE PARTY.
HE'S NEVER KNOWN A WOMAN LIKE
THIS BEFORE IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE.
AND HE'S LIKE,
WHAT ARE YOU ABOUT?
THERE'S THIS THING
THAT STARTS HAPPENING
WHERE THEY'RE JUST FLIRTING
BETWEEN BRIDGE HANDS.
LIKE, ELIZABETH,
IT'S YOUR HAND.
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?
OH, WATIES.
YOU'RE SO FUNNY.
HE REALIZED HE WAS
IN LOVE WITH ELIZABETH
AND HE--HE CONFRONTED HIS WIFE,
AND HE--AND HE WAS LIKE,
HEY, REMEMBER ELIZABETH?
I'M SLEEPING WITH ELIZABETH.
[belch] SORRY, I'M GETTING LIKE,
UH, DRUNK NOW.
SO HE MARRIED ELIZABETH
AND THEY WERE OSTRACIZED
FROM CHARLESTON SOCIETY.
YOU'RE NOT CHARLESTON ANYMORE.
YOU'RE A YANKEE.
YOU'RE AN ASS[bleep].
NO ONE LIKES YOU.
AND ALL THEY HAVE LEFT
IS EACH OTHER.
AND SO ELIZABETH STARTS GOING
TO WATIES COURT CASES.
SHE STARTS GOING OH [bleep].
MAYBE ALL THESE CASES
WHERE THE WHITE PEOPLE WON,
SOME OF THE BLACK PEOPLE
GOT SCREWED OVER, YOU KNOW?
AND WATIES WAS LIKE, YEAH,
BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT'S AL--
IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN.
AND THEN SHE WAS LIKE, YEAH,
BUT--BUT BLACK PEOPLE
ARE PEOPLE THOUGH.
AND HE WAS LIKE, YEAH,
BLACK PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE,
BUT LIKE, IN, LIKE,
A DIFFERENT WAY.
AND SHE SAID,
THAT'S GROSS.
WE'RE GOING TO GET DINNER
WITH SOME BLACK PEOPLE.
AND HE SAID, WHITE PEOPLE DON'T
GET DINNER WITH BLACK PEOPLE.
AND SHE WAS LIKE,
NO, BUT WE DO.
WE'RE THOSE KIND OF
WHITE PEOPLE.
AND HE WAS LIKE,
ALL RIGHT.
I LOVE YOU,
BUT I'M TELLING YOU RIGHT NOW,
IT'S REALLY NOT NORMAL
FOR WHITE DINNER--
WHITE PEOPLE TO GET DINNER
WITH BLACK PEOPLE.
I FEEL LIKE [bleep].
- YEAH, I KNOW.
- LIKE I WANT TO THROW UP.
- IF YOU WANT TO GO THROW UP,
YOU CAN.
WE'RE VERY OPEN-MINDED HERE.
DO YOU WANT TO JUST GET
SOME FRESH AIR?
TAKE A LITTLE WALK?
- YEAH, SURE.
- OKAY.
JUST A LITTLE BIT
AND THEN WE'LL WALK BACK UP.
DOES THAT SOUND GOOD?
- SO SHE MADE HER HUSBAND GET
DINNER WITH A BLACK COUPLE
AND IT WAS AWKWARD AS HELL.
IT'S LIKE,
HEY, WHAT'D YOU DO TODAY?
AND THEY WERE LIKE,
I DON'T KNOW.
SEVERAL PEOPLE
THREATENED MY LIFE.
AND THEY WERE LIKE,
OH THAT'S INTERESTING.
BUT THEN ELIZABETH MADE WATIES
KEEP DOING IT.
AFTER THE SECOND TIME, THE THIRD
TIME, IT BECAME MORE REGULAR.
AND IT WAS LIKE, OH RIGHT.
WE'RE ALL PEOPLE, YOU KNOW?
HE STARTED TO UNDERSTAND
THAT BLACK PEOPLE
WERE INCREDIBLY SUBJUGATED.
MAYBE WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING
ABOUT THIS SEGREGATION THING,
YOU KNOW.
- THIS IS A REALLY GOOD AREA.
- I MOVED HERE BECAUSE
THE LAST PLACE I LIVED,
MY FRIEND GOT STABBED
WHILE HE WAS GETTING A HAND JOB.
- NO.
- YEAH, THAT HAPPENED.
- DID HE [bleep]?
- I DON'T KNOW.
I DIDN'T ASK.
FIRST THING HE DID WAS
HE INTEGRATED HIS COURTROOM.
AND HE WAS LIKE, NO, NO, NO.
EVERYBODY SITS TOGETHER.
BLACK PERSON THERE,
WHITE PERSON THERE.
THEN BLACK PERSON THERE,
THEN WHITE PERSON THERE.
BE FRIENDS.
QUIT BEING ASS[bleep].
JUST BE FRIENDS.
THEN HE RULED THAT BLACK
TEACHERS HAVE TO BE PAID
THE SAME AS WHITE TEACHERS,
WHICH IS, UH CRAZY.
THE NEXT REALLY BIG ONE,
HE RULED BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOW
ALLOWED TO VOTE IN PRIMARIES.
AND THAT JUST, LIKE,
SET CHARLESTON ON FIRE.
SOMEONE THREW A BRICK
THROUGH THEIR WINDOW ONE NIGHT.
THE KKK BURNED A CROSS
ON THEIR LAWN.
IT GOT SO BAD,
THERE WAS A PETITION
THAT 21,000 PEOPLE SIGNED
THAT SAID HEY, WARINGS,
HERE'S $10,000.
TAKE THIS AND MOVE ANYWHERE.
THEY'RE LIKE, NO WE STILL HAVE
WORK TO DO HERE, YOU KNOW.
[bleep] YOU.
AND THEN
BRIGGS V. ELLIOT HAPPENED.
THURGOOD MARSHALL TRYING
TO PROVE BLACK KIDS
ARE NOT GETTING THE SAME
EDUCATION AS WHITE KIDS.
AND THERE WERE THREE JUDGES.
ONE OF THEM WAS WATIES WARING
AND THE OTHER TWO WERE LIKE,
YEAH, SEGREGATION IS GREAT,
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS
IS AMAZING,
SO WHO CARES
IF THEY'RE EQUAL?
SO THEY LOST AND SCHOOLS WERE
NOT INTEGRATED IN THE SOUTH.
WATIES IS LIKE WELL, I'M NOT
GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT.
AND HE WRITES
THIS 20-PAGE DISSENT.
BASICALLY WHAT HE SAID WAS,
EVERYONE IN CHARLESTON
IS AN ASS[bleep].
YOU CANNOT BE OKAY
WITH THE FACT
THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE SEPARATE
FROM WHITE PEOPLE.
THIS IS A NICE TOWN.
I GREW UP HERE MY ENTIRE LIFE.
WHY DO WE PUNISH
HALF OUR CITIZENS?
STOP PUNISHING THEM.
JUST BE NICE.
#BENICE, YOU KNOW?
AND THAT WAS IT.
AND THEY MOVED TO NEW YORK.
MAN, CAN I JUST TELL YOU GUYS
HOW HAPPY I AM
TO NOT BE AS THROW-UPPY
AS I WAS, LIKE, 45 MINUTES AGO?
- THAT [bleep] SUCKED SO BAD.
[laughs]
IT WASN'T UNTIL 1954--
HE SERIOUSLY CHANGED
ALL OF HISTORY.
WHEN THE SUPREME COURT
MADE THEIR DECISION
IN A CASE CALLED
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION.
THEY WERE LIKE, DUDE,
BECAUSE ONE LONELY JUDGE
IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA,
SAYS THAT BLACK KIDS
ARE NOT GETTING THE SAME
EDUCATION AS WHITE KIDS.
AND HE'S PROVING IT.
THE ENTIRE COUNTRY
SHOULD BE INTEGRATED.
THEY BASED THEIR ENTIRE DECISION
ON THE FACT
THAT WATIES SAID
SEGREGATION SUCKS.
THAT DUDE ATE IT FOR YEARS
BECAUSE HE BELIEVED
THAT BLACK PEOPLE WERE
THE SAME AS WHITE PEOPLE,
AND THAT HE WAS
IN LOVE WITH HIS WIFE.
AND I THINK
THAT'S REALLY INCREDIBLE.
- YOU SEEM A MILLION TIMES
BETTER THAN YOU DID.
- YEAH, WELL I THREW UP
IN THE [bleep] TOILET.
SO THAT MAKES SENSE.
[laughter]
- I LITERALLY JUST DROOLED
ON THE FLOOR.
