"[ominous music]" "# #" "# #" "# #" "[stirring piano music]" "# #" "# #" "# #" "[leaves crunching]" "[birds chirping]" " Good morning." " Hey." " Good morning." " Hey." " Hey." " Hi." " Dean Daniels?" " That'd be me." " I got a note in my box that said you wanted to see me." " I sent out a lot of notes." "I need you to tell me your name." " Oh, sorry." "Patrick Chibas." " Oh, Patrick." "Great." "Come on in." "How was your summer?" " I waited tables at this fusion place in the East Village." " Good money?" " Yeah." "Am I in trouble?" " No, no." "Not at all." "No." "You declared an environmental sciences major last spring?" " Yeah." " Well, we have a scholarship that's designated for-- well, it's designated for an outstanding minority student in environmental sciences, and I just wondered if you might be interested." " Sure." " Well, there's just one thing then." "I need to ask you, Patrick," "On your Belmont application, you-- well, under the voluntary disclosure of your racial/ethnic background, you marked "other."" " Yeah." "I'm New Yorican." " New Yorican?" " Yeah." "A New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent." " Right." "Do you think-- uh... would it be fair for me to say, then, that you're hispanic?" " What's wrong with New Yorican?" " Well, nothing, of course." " Then why don't you just say that?" " Because the scholarship committee is-- well, they're not culturally sensitive, if you know what I mean." " No." " They're old, and, just trust me on this, the simpler the better with these folks." " You do understand why I don't want to be called hispanic, don't you?" " Well, as I understand it, and correct me, please, if I'm wrong, it's because it really only refers to imperialists of European descent who colonized Puerto Rico." " Yeah, I mean, if you understand, then" " Then why am I suggesting it?" "That's a good question." "You're right." "I shouldn't compromise your feelings for the sake of expediency." "I'm sorry." " That's okay." " How about just plain Puerto Rican?" " No." " It's a $12,000 scholarship, Patrick." " It is?" " You are a remarkably talented student, Patrick, and I think you should be rewarded in a meaningful way." " You can put "Puerto Rican."" " Thank you." "[hard rock music]" " # and that was just the way # # you play the game #" "# #" " Fuck." " Dean Daniels." " Yeah." " I'm Nathan Glazer, the R.A." "Security's waiting inside." " And the student?" " Yeah." " What's his name?" " Simon Brick." " Thanks." "[rock music]" "# #" " They're right in here." " And neither of you guys heard anything last night?" "[knocking]" " Hey." " Oh, hello." "Sarah, this is Jason..." " Thorn." " He found the note." " You must be Simon." " How'd you guess?" " I'm Sarah Daniels, the Dean of Students." "Are you okay?" " I guess." " What did the note say?" " Uh, notes, plural." " He found the other one last week." " Why didn't you tell someone?" " I just figured some asshole put 'em there." " That's an understatement." "This is serious shit." " I didn't want to make a big deal." "I just got here." "I don't want everyone to know who I am like that." " So you don't have a roommate?" " I live next door." " No, this is a single." " Did you request it?" " Yeah." " You're lucky, man." "My roommate stinks, literally." "His--his feet" " Okay." "More to the point... we're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna put an end to it." "Would you like to talk to somebody, maybe go see one of the counselors over at Student Health?" " You know, I think I'd really just like to go to class." " If there's anything that I can do, call me." "Thank you." "Thanks." " [sighs]" " Has anyone had a run-in with Simon?" " The opposite." "Everybody seems to like him." "I made a point of asking him to meals the first week since he didn't have a roommate." "He's real shy." " Okay." "Well, call us if you think of anything." " You could, uh, put guards at the doors is something I thought of." " Yeah, I'd have to clear it with President Garvey." "And tell your freshmen not to prop the doors open, hmm?" " Thanks, Nathan." "Let's make copies of those notes, and then you can give the originals to the police." " You want me to call the police?" " Of course." "What?" " President Garvey will want to handle it internally." " He's being threatened." " It's up to you." " Call the police." " Yes, ma'am." "[chuckles slightly]" " These winter term classes are an embarrassment." "Wine tasting?" "The films of Brigitte Bardot?" " I teach that." " Well, we can't be too demanding in the winter term." " Why not?" " Because it is one month in the winter, and that's when they all ski, all right?" "67% of students surveyed said the ski slopes were a deciding factor in choosing Belmont over competing colleges." "You're late." " There's a problem." " God." " I have never seen anything like this before." " Is he all right?" "Is he frightened?" " I mean, we might as well be in Mississippi, 1963." "All we need is guys with hoods burning crosses on the quad." " Is that a plan?" " It had to be someone from town." " Oh, because rural America is racist?" " Because it couldn't be someone from here?" " What do we do?" " President Garvey is speaking in Boston." "I can't call him for another hour, so it gives us time to come up with something." "Jeffrey, give me Rita Chambers in the press office." " I bet they don't do a damn thing." " I bet they'll expel him." " Or her." " We have to let people know this isn't Belmont." "We should issues some sort of a statement right away condemning this." " Well, shouldn't we try to find out who did it first?" " They should have an all-campus meeting, get it out in the open." " I bet you they call one of those useless all-campus meetings." " An all-campus meeting." "That feels like the kind of response we should have." "Doesn't it?" " Yeah." " In case any of the parents call." " You could sell it as a learning experience." " It is a learning experience." " And it will get everybody on board, too, in terms of protecting the boy." " Like a neighborhood watch." " We'll cancel classes and hold the meeting this afternoon." " I think we should wait." " Why don't we call it a forum?" " A forum on race." "Good idea." " Wait, wait." "Wait a second." "We should speak to Simon first." "What if he doesn't want us talking about him this way?" " Why wouldn't he?" " It might be embarrassing for him." "He's very quiet." "Everybody will stare." " No one will stare." " Now, who's going to speak at this forum." " You should, Catherine." "You're Dean of the College." " I'd like to put my name in." " You'll want an African-American up there." " There's the chaplain." " Who else?" " There's Ellen Jenkins in Economics." "Hmm." "[knocking at door]" " Uh, Dean Kenney," "One of the guys from the police department's here, wants to talk to you." " The police?" "You called the police?" " Yeah." " I told him to." " Never do that." "It'll be in the local press, and then the wire services will get hold of it, and then we're everybody's business." "How can you be so stupid?" " Those notes are violent." " It is an internal incident." "Internal." "You have really overstepped your bounds this time, Sarah." " Officer Olson wants" " Tell him to wait." "I better not see any press on this campus." " Hey." "You did the right thing calling the police." " You couldn't have said that back there?" " You still have the spark of life left in you." "Just give it a couple of years and you too will join the ranks of the walking dead." " [sighs]" "Is that a reporter?" "Oh." " No." "He just plays one on TV." " I don't know." "I think the whole campus is in shock, you know." " Mm-hmm." "Are you in shock?" " Well, yeah." "Yeah, but I'm more curious, you know, because historically speaking," "The Story of Little Black Sambo was a metaphor for imperialism in East India, you know." "So I'm wondering, well, when did Sambo come to mean, um... oh, um, you know, I..." " Sambo." " Sambo." "Yeah, Sambo." " Okay, can we please stop saying "Sambo."" " Excuse me." "Hi." "Can I help you?" " I don't know." "Who are you?" " I'm Sarah Daniels." "I'm the Dean of Students." "Who are you?" " Aaron Carmichael." "Didn't" "I used to watch you in Chicago, didn't I?" "Action News Team Channel 3 was my first job." " That's right." "So what are you now, with CNN?" " I'm with Channel 6 in Burlington." " Channel 6 in Burlington." "Wow." "Good for you." " Hmm." " Uh, so... are you interviewing these guys?" " Well, I'm here to do a story on what happened on campus last night." "The station got an anonymous call this morning." " Can I talk to you for a second?" " Absolutely." " You guys can go back to class." " All right." " I wonder if you might hold off on this thing." "The student to whom this happened really doesn't want any attention." " Oh, I'd never reveal his name, but this is quite a story." "A hate crime in Belmont College, bastion of liberal idealism, it's ready-made." " Ready-made for what?" " So how is the college responding to this incident?" " We're having a..." "Um..." "A race forum." " And what's that?" " A forum... on race so we can discuss the incident and the surrounding issues of race." " Hmm." "So the usual lip service?" " Uh, no comment." " Off the record." " Off the record?" " Mm-hmm." " I don't want to lose my job." " Well, take my card then." "You'll want to talk to me when those other vultures descend." "So what'd you do in Chicago?" " I was Dean of Students at Lancaster College." " At Lancaster?" "How long have you been here?" " I'm just starting my second year." " Well, it's, uh... it's definitely a step up." " Let's just say it's different." " [laughs]" "It's night and day." " Belmont will not be reduced to this trash." "Ours is a noble tradition of learning, of truth, most importantly, of tolerance." "Armed with that tradition, Belmont will rise to this challenge." "Armed with that tradition, she will prevail." "Now, we often speak of the student body, and I've always responded to that expression," ""for this college is nothing without all of you."" "If Belmont has a heart, it is her students." "And today Belmont's heart beats stronger than ever." "[applause]" " I thought Ellen Jenkins was going to be up here." " She declined our invitation." " Oh?" " So did Simon Brick." "[hip-hop music]" "# # [dramatic music]" "# #" "[applause]" " Thank you, President Garvey, for that generous introduction and for your sterling leadership during these trying times." "Like all of you," "I am shocked by what has happened to one of our students." "If truth be told, we are a family, and so we must ask ourselves some difficult questions." "Have we done our best to protect our brothers and sisters?" "Or has our silence made us culpable?" "We need to look inside our hearts this afternoon and ask the question, is my conscience clear?" "[applause]" " And now Chaplain Scott will close with a nondenominational statement of universal spirituality." "Chaplain." " Thank you." "We used to call it a prayer." "[laughter]" "If we might have a moment of silence." "May the spirit of acceptance touch each of you, and may our wishes for peace be granted." "[applause]" " You're not staying for the end." " Oh." "I always skip the credits." " Well, President Garvey authorized overtime for one guard outside Houtman Hall." " One guard?" "But there must be four or five entrances." " I've worked here 20 years, Sarah, and one thing I've learned, these people don't know their ass from a hole in the ground." " Uh." "Thanks." " Yeah." " Is he saying that I'm somehow responsible for what happened to Simon," "I mean, just because I'm white?" " At least he talked to you." "I'm the invisible man." " I thought we'd get to talk." " That was just apologist bullshit." " Well, problem solved." " And what's the college doing to diversify?" " I know that they're recruiting heavily and they've built these affinity houses." " Yeah, what's that?" " Residences for different groups, like if all the Pan-Asian students wanted to live together, explore their culture, cook pad thai, wear sarongs." " Yeah, but..." " if you didn't know what they were going for, you might call it segregation." " Uh, Ellen." " Dr. Jenkins." "It's good to see you." "I don't believe I've ever met your husband." " He's not my husband." " I'm not her husband." " Oh." "Oh, my mistake." " I'm not married." " Have we met?" " Aaron Carmichael from Channel 6 in Burlington." " A reporter." "Were you here today?" " I was." " Did someone invite you?" " Actually, Dean Daniels mentioned it to me." " Sarah," "Join us." " Thank you for your time." " My pleasure." " You know this gentlemen?" " Well, we met this morning." "In fact, Dean Daniels was doing her level best to kick me off campus, all the while remaining unfailingly polite." " Well, in the future, we would appreciate it if you arranged all interviews through our press office." " I'll keep that in mind." "Now, if you'll excuse me..." "Thanks." " I told you this would happen." " So racism is a bad thing?" " Indeed." " Huh." " And behold, they heave their collective sigh of white guilt, and then they drive downtown in their Saabs and buy sweaters." " [chuckles]" "Cheryl's making up some pasta if you want to come over." " Don't you two ever want to be alone?" " No." " Hmm." "Well, I feel like I should be paying you rent." " You need to get out more." " Where to?" "I..." "I'll see you in the morning." "[distant train whistle blows]" "[dramatic music]" "# #" "[intense music]" "# # [sirens wail]" "[mixed conversation]" "[breathing heavily]" " Dean Daniels." "Dean Daniels." "This is lucky." "I was gonna come by your office." "I'm Greg..." "Sullivan." " Greg." " Well, no need to stop." " Oh, okay." " I just, uh, wanted to talk to you about last week's forum." "I thought it was really instructive." " Oh." "I'm glad you thought so." " Yeah, it got me so worked up to talk about this Simon Brick issue." "Everybody else too." " Uh-huh." " But, uh, I feel like the momentum's dying out, so I had an idea." "I want to start a discussion group..." " Oh?" " To keep people talking." " Oh." " I was thinking about calling it Students for Tolerance." " Oh." " What do you think?" " It, uh... it's a good idea, actually." " Excellent." "Uh, so how does something like that get to be official?" " Uh... does it have to be official?" " Yeah, just to get a room." " Okay." "Uh... well, uh, first you need a faculty sponsor, and then, um, the Student Activities Committee gives you an account and a space." " And at that point, could I say that I'm the founder and president of Students for Tolerance." " Uh." "I don't see why not." " I'm applying for law school next year, and I'm a little short on the extracurricular, if you know what I mean." " I see." "Hey, uh... why don't you ask Dean Strauss to be your sponsor?" " That's a great idea." " Yeah, I thought you might like it." " Thanks, Dean Daniels, and, uh, nice pace." " [sighs]" "Ah, whatever." "[bell tower chimes]" "[shattering noise] [indistinct conversation]" " Dean Kenney, how are you?" " Not well." " Dean Daniels," "I'm Mike Olsen, Belmont police." " Oh, how do you do?" " Pleasure." " Where's Simon?" " In my room." " Oh." " It must have happened while we were at breakfast." " The guard was probably on the other side of the building." " Here's the rock." " Very helpful." " Excuse me." " You know, uh, cameras would solve this whole problem inside and out." " Why not razor wire and guard towers?" " Catherine." " We are already in the Boston papers." "Are you aware of that?" ""Racial Incident at Belmont."" ""Racists Run Belmont Ragged."" "And that reporter friend of yours wants to bring a camera crew to the next forum." " Well, what's the point of another forum?" " How else are we going to have a dialogue?" " Well, we could talk to each other instead of being talked at." "Public dialogue is never real dialogue." "Nobody will admit to anything in a crowd." " Well, that reporter's gonna be there, so I can only hope you're right." " I told Simon we can just switch rooms for a while." " Why don't you take him up on it?" " My dad's always told me that we can afford to do what we want, but if you want to live in that neighborhood or go to that school, you have to be prepared for ugliness, and you can't let it bother you." "So if I go home or change rooms even," "I'm letting it bother me." " you're letting them win." " but I want to win." " well, I think it's coming along just fine." "More details, okay?" "That's it." "More--oh, excuse me." "Sarah." " Burton." " a young man, Greg Sullivan, has asked me" "To sponsor his students for tolerance group." "He said you recommended me." " Well, you seemed like an obvious choice to me." " We'd be honored if Simon Brick would attend our first meeting, but he won't return any of my calls." " I doubt he wants to come." " Would you ask him?" " I'd rather not." " But you're our liaison." " What?" " To the minority students." " Wha--what the hell does that mean?" " Never mind." "I'll keep trying him myself." "[phone rings]" " My dad said I should insist on talking to you right away." "When I got the scholarship, they took away my financial aid." "It's costing more now." " That's not right." " My dad is furious." "He was already mad about the whole hispanic thing." "He said I shouldn't have to make compromises to get something." " Maybe I should call him and try to explain." " And then I told him about Simon Brick, and he completely freaked." "He said that's exactly why he didn't want me to come here." " He didn't want you to come here?" " But I wanted a change of scenery, you know, or just some scenery, period." "But now with this financial aid letter, I" " Don't worry, okay?" "I will straighten this out." "What?" "Is there something else?" " Some of my friends asked me to come here and talk to you about that forum thing we had to go to." "We felt like it was really insulting." " You mean the minority students?" " No, I mean" "What?" "You think all my friends are minority students?" " No, I just--I just thought that's what you meant." " Why?" "Because hispanic people stick together?" " No, I just" "I didn't" "I wasn't thinking, like, you and your amigos or anything." "That was a joke." "I was making a joke." " It wasn't funny." " My god, Patrick." "I'm sorry." " And I didn't correct you before, but it's "students of color," not "minority students."" "Students of color." "Of course." "I just--the minority thing, you know, it's--it's a-- it's a technical thing." "You know paperwork:" "Everything has to fit into a box." " Is that why you made me say I was Puerto Rican?" " You know, Patrick, I wasn't trying to make you say anything." "I just wanted to make sure you got the scholarship." " So it was a compromise." " No, not a bad compromise like your dad meant, but a good compromise, between the two of us, that you agreed to." " Right." " Look, Patrick." "I really am on your side." "Everyone who recommended you says you are an exceptional student, smart, and talented." "So just let us give you the $12,000, okay?" " Okay." " And don't be shy." "You go to the next forum, and you tell them how you feel." " We must rebuild our community, and to do that, we must rebuild our sense of trust." "I know we can count on all of you to help us in this effort." "The safety of our students is a paramount concern to all of us here today." "And you have our word:" "The miscreant responsible for this second heinous act will be discovered." "[applause]" " Miscreant?" " Heinous." " And now I believe Dean Strauss has a few words." " Thank you, President Garvey." "I'd like to begin this afternoon with a story that" "Is there a question?" " We wanted to say something." "At the forum last time when you talked, we found it really patronizing." " Be sure you get this." " We felt like you talked about the students of color like we weren't even here, and then you talked about the white students like they were all a bunch of criminals." " You must have misunderstood." " But how can we misunderstand?" "There's a bunch of white people onstage literally talking down to us." "Young lady, I want to" "I want to hear what you have to say, but..." " Here we go." " I can understand your feelings." "We're all brothers and sisters here." " Here we go where?" " I-I would like to begin." "I had a story." " Hey, man." "You're not our brothers." " You people don't know what you're talking about." "When I say "brother," I mean "brother."" "I was a freedom rider." "I marched on Selma." " Ancient history." " Yeah, you weren't at the back of the line." " You weren't there." "I sacrificed for you people." " Burton." "Enough." "[crowd stirs]" " Let him talk." " What are you talking about?" "Sit down." " Please, can we all just sit down?" " But you're always telling us, "be inclusive."" " It's sheer tokenism, Jay." " You only want us here so you can put our pictures on your fucking website!" " That's right." "[crowd stirs]" " All you care about is your image." " Shut up!" " Listen." "Listen!" "Listen!" "I got this scholarship." "It was supposed to go to a minority student, but then I'm not an official minority because there's no box on the form for what I am." "So to get the scholarship, I had to say I was Puerto Rican." "But I've never even been to Puerto Rico." " Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "What are you complaining about?" "I don't even get a scholarship because I'm white." " I didn't get it for my color." " That's what you just said!" " I deserved that scholarship." " I don't get shit for being white." "I'm living in freshmen dorms 'cause there's not enough housing because of those dumbass affinity houses." " We like those affinity houses because they get us away from you." " Come on." "Half of 'em are empty!" " 'Cause we don't want to be ghetto-ized." " Why not?" "It's where you belong." " Fuck you." " Fuck you!" " Oh, don't." "[crowd yelling]" " This is not what we marched for." " Give us some help here." "[yelling and screaming]" " Security." "Find security." "Turn that camera off." "You!" "Turn that off!" "Turn it off!" " So what's the purpose of these forums that you're holding?" " Well, we believe the forums offer a valuable learning experience and also a chance to heal." " But there was little in the way of healing at this afternoon's forum." " You!" "Turn that off!" "Turn it off!" " Some students blame remarks made by the faculty at today's forum for the violence that ensued." "Belmont's press office reported that five students were treated for minor injuries." "This is Aaron Carmichael reporting live from Belmont College." " Sarah." "Would you excuse us?" " Can I buy you a drink?" " I'm not giving you an interview." " I'm off the clock." "I've only been here two months, and I could really use the company." " Only if we go someplace where there aren't any students." "[rock music]" "# #" "Oh, man." "We're gonna get killed." " Oh, I can handle myself." "I'm from Newark." " [clears throat]" "# #" " What can I get ya?" " What a letdown." " [laughs]" " Uh..." " I'll have a beer." "Two beers." " Two beers." " Okay." " So how did you end up..." " BOTH:" "In Burlington?" " See." "See, I knew that was coming." "Um..." "I was at WKOW in Portland, then KCTV Kansas City doing features, trying to get behind the anchors' desk." "But every station had black anchors already." "Then this producer in Burlington called, and I thought, "hmm."" " There are no blacks in Vermont." " I want East Coast exposure." "I want to move to a major network." " And a story like this is ready-made?" " It wasn't my idea to cover this." "I learned a long time ago that my subjects better not be too black too often." " So why are you doing it?" " [clears throat]" "I didn't really decide to until I got on campus." "It seemed that everybody was working so hard to get me off campus that I had to wonder, who exactly are they trying to protect?" " Simon." " Well, you are maybe." "I don't know about the rest of them." "Do--I can't take this music." " Oh." " [laughs]" "Do you got some coins for the jukebox?" " # higher # [hard rock music] # 'cause your love, love, love # # it takes me higher #" " Air supply?" " Please." " How do you know you're a good reporter?" " I am a good reporter." " But how do you know if you don't get hired because you're black, or if you do get hired because you're black?" " Didn't Lancaster hire you because you're white?" " They needed a last-minute replacement." " Oh, I thought it was because of some quota." " It was because I was cheap." " [laughs]" "You're not siding with that little twerp at the forum, are you," "Mr. Reverse Discrimination Anti-Affirmative Action?" " It's just the other student, the one with the scholarship." " Okay." "Here we go." "[blues music]" " You want to dance?" "So he changed "New York" to "Puerto" and got $12,000." "What's the problem?" " People should be called what they want to be called." " Yeah, but how are you supposed to keep up?" " That's not the point." "When--when I was at Lancaster, even though it was my job to help the students, sometimes, because I was white, people took my advice as paternalistic." " Like you were the missionary lady coming to clean up the natives." " Well, something like that." " Or the kindly slave owner come to help out these darkies." " Just..." " Okay." " Quit it!" "So with Patrick, I thought..." "I will treat him entirely as an equal." "We will be in on this whole thing together, exploit the system, put it to the man." " Yeah, but you're the man." " He wasn't in on anything." "I was just" "I was just a crazy Dean forcing him to be Puerto Rican." " Well, did you make him wear a sombrero?" " That's Mexican." " You know, I don't even know why you want to help these kids." "They seem like a bunch of ingrates to me." " Because the world isn't fair." "People keep getting their asses handed to them." "Why shouldn't we try and change that?" " [laughs]" "Ah." "You're an idealist." "Shut up, idealist, and dance." "[rolling blues music]" "# # [both laughing]" " You still want to go to the game tomorrow?" " Oh, yeah." "I'd love to." " All right." " [laughs]" "[indistinct voices] [ominous music]" "# #" "# #" " Get him." "[laughter]" " [screams] Oh!" " Son of a bitch." " Oh, ho-ho." "[laughter]" " What?" "Uh..." " [groaning] Oh, my God." " Thanks for the beer." " [laughs]" "You're sending me on my way." " Tonight was pretty much the best time that I've had in Vermont." " It's been so long since I've had an actual conversation." " I was starting to feel crazy." "But tomorrow's gonna be a horrible day, and I have to get some sleep." " If you don't like it here, why did you come?" " What, are you investigating me now?" " You don't fit in here." "The--these people are... blowholes." " [laughs]" "I believe the expression is "blowhards."" " What are you doing here?" " Well, what are you doing here?" " What, are you saying that I couldn't cut it anywhere else?" " Are you saying I sold out?" " You ought to hide those buttons so they don't get pushed." " You ought to hide those chains so they don't get yanked." " I'm not-- I didn't" " Yeah, before you choke on that foot... you want to have lunch tomorrow?" "[dramatic music]" "# #" " Oh, hey." "What's up, b?" " aight." " All right, Del." "[mixed conversation]" " For the career day coming up," "I have some ideas for people that I would like to invite." "Practically speaking, I'm" " I told you, man." " So, I would like to pursue" " Hey, man, you disturbing class." " Sit down, man." " pursue any ideas that... that you all might have." " Come on, nigger, sit down." " Take your seats, please." "Hey, guys." " Will President Garvey make a statement?" " No comment." " Will President Garvey make a statement?" " No comment." "Please." "Please." "He'll have a statement later this morning." " Does the board have any official position?" " I believe I've already answered that." " Are you still holding classes?" " Of course." " Over here." "One more question." " Please." "Please." "If everybody could just wait," "I'll be handing out a press release shortly." " Will President Garvey resign?" " No, he won't." " Are the minority students going on strike?" " Not to my knowledge." " Will President Garvey be making a statement?" " Please." "Please." "Sarah." "Those are the names and numbers of some of our key African-American alumni." "President Garvey wants you to call them and assure them that everything is under control." " Why me?" "I mean..." "Burton said this thing to me the other day about my being the liaison to the minority students." " Well, when we set out to diversify, we wanted your experience serving a... more diverse student population." " It wasn't diverse." " African-American then." "[phone rings]" " Why didn't you hire a black person?" " We tried." " So when I came here for my interview, were you surprised?" " Surprised?" " Because I was white?" " No." " You didn't think that because I was at Lancaster," "I was black." " By the time we hired you, we knew you were white, so don't let it bother you." "[phone rings]" " [sighs]" "You deserved that scholarship, and you know it." " Then why does it have to come at a price?" "Why is there is always some fucking price?" "Look." "Here's why I agreed to come and talk to you." "I'm applying at NYU for the spring." "I'm not staying here." " Patrick." " I hate this place." "You could give me $12,000, and I don't care." "It's not worth it." "My father says if I stay here, all I'll learn is shame." " That's not all you'll learn." " I hate Vermont." " Please." "Please reconsider." "You're so smart." " I don't want to reconsider, and I don't want anymore compliments!" "I'm not some genius or something." "I'm just whatever I am, and I want to get the fuck out of here!" " Patrick." " You're early." " Do you want to take a walk?" " Well, I don't think it's entirely your fault." " It's not enough to say my intentions were good." "I made the kid feel like shit." " So?" "Learn from your mistakes." "Make up for it with the next one." " That's what I was trying to do with Patrick." " Yeah, what were you making up for?" " There was no money at Lancaster." "I couldn't do anything for anybody there." " Is that why you left?" " I left to come here." " Because..." "See, see, see." "I just keep getting this look away." "Look, is there something with the college that you're not coming clean about?" "Because I already know that they basically went out and trolled for black students." " It's called recruiting." "They're trying to diversify." " Which you're all for, right?" " It's..." "It's just... it's just that the college treats these kids like they're action figures, you know, like you can collect the whole set, but then if you want to play with them, you have to take them out of their packaging." "And once you do that, they're no good anymore." " Look." "If you think the world isn't fair and you want to change that, shouldn't you be at Lancaster?" "Shouldn't your try and help the kids who actually need it?" " You don't understand." "Something happened to me." " At Lancaster?" "What happened to you there?" " I can't." " Sarah." "Sarah!" "As police continue to search for the guilty party, many students at Belmont are worried about the racial climate at their school." " White people talk to you in class." "Socially, there's not a lot of interaction." " Well, it seems like the students of color want to stay separate." "I mean, they have their own student union, their own radio shows." " And some students wonder if Belmont College's attempts to bridge the racial divide are actually making matters worse." "Aaron Carmichael, in Belmont, for Channel 6 news." "[laughter]" " Hey, the fat lady has not sung yet." "Let's go to the Fox Hat." "Come on." " I..." "I got to finish this paper while I can still see." " I'll do a shot in your honor, dude." " All right." "Whoo-hoo!" "[dramatic music]" "# #" " Fuck." "Fuck." " Hey, you!" "What are you doing here?" " Yeah, what about the note, huh?" "Did you find that too, or did you put it on Simon's door?" " I just found it." "I swear to you I would never do anything like that." "I swear to God!" " Jason." "Jason." " Back the fuck off, man." "He didn't do it." " He didn't do anything." "He was out with us." " Where is Simon?" "We're gonna move you in here with Nathan." " They're winning." " Belmont College." "Nestled in the mountains of northern Vermont," "It's the kind of small liberal arts school most parents would feel perfectly safe sending their children to... until now." "That's when a series of ugly racial taunts against an African-American student turned into what some are calling a death threat." "It's this sinister message, intended for the unidentified Belmont student, that has led to the heightened concern and heightened security." "Apparently, the same student received similar threats in the last two weeks, threats that some say were mishandled by the school administration." " Are you with me?" "[cheers and applause]" "Are you sick of this?" "Are you tired of an Administration that does nothing?" "If President Garvey can't provide some sort of leadership, then he should step aside for somebody who can." "[cheers and applause]" " Belmont's Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting to discuss how to deal with the problem, although the school has made no public statement." "In the meantime, minority students are taking time off from the college, and many of them are leaving for good." " The Board is livid." "They want the students protected, and they want solutions." "So here's what I need you to do." "Come up with a ten-point plan." " A plan for what?" " Call it "racial harmony."" " Seriously?" " Seriously." "And type it up so any idiot can understand it." "Type it up in a bulleted list." " You want me to solve racism with a bulleted list?" " Include specific concrete suggestions." " [breathes deeply]" "[knocking at door]" " [sighs]" " You know, I've got an exclusive with the kids in the Black Student Union." "I thought you might like to listen in." " Well, I can't." " Well, don't you care what they have to say?" " Of course I do, but I'm busy." " [exhales deeply]" "That's not why I'm here." "I want to know why you ran away the other day." "Do you not trust me?" " You're a reporter." " But you're not my story." " Well, what am I then?" " A friend." "Maybe something more." "I don't know." "Or maybe you don't date black men." " That's not it, and you know it." " Yeah?" "Well, how do I know it?" " You know, I was wondering if maybe the reason you thought you could treat the Patrick Chibas kid as an equal is because he's a nice, creamy latte color instead of just plain old black." " That's ridiculous." " You know, maybe you did look down on those kids at Lancaster." " I did not look down on them." " Maybe that's why you left." " No." " Was it the money?" "The skiing?" " I don't ski." " The scenery?" " Why not?" "It's beautiful." " It's empty." " There's no crime." " Except hate crimes." " The leaves, the snow, the fresh air." " It's a gated community." " It's a winter wonderland." " It's fucking White Christmas." "It's white." " You said it." " And you're not denying it." "So you wanted to be with white people." " I wasn't always like this, okay." "You have to believe me." "I wasn't always like this." " Then what changed?" " I used to be a good person." " What changed?" " I met the students." " At Lancaster." " It wasn't like I'd never been around black people before." " But..." " But I'd only ever known people-- people like you." " Nice, clean, black folks." " These kids were different." " How?" " They were more... regular." "And they scared the shit out of me." "Maybe it was because I was outnumbered, but they all seemed so loud and belligerent." "And I couldn't understand a word they were saying." "They would walk down the hall in packs and if I didn't get out of their way, they'd ram me over and pushed me aside." " Hey, hey." " They were kids." " Yeah, that's what I told myself." ""They're just kids." "Kids are kids,"" "And that worked for about a minute." "But then I just got pissed off because they were so rude." " All of them?" " No, there were plenty of nice ones, but they aren't the ones you notice." "You notice the awful ones because they dominate the landscape." "And it was the same on the train." "There would be a dozen black people sitting quietly, going about their business, but there'd be two incredibly loud, stinky, offensive black guys at one end of the car, and they'd be the ones I noticed." "And I told myself not to pay attention to them, that they weren't representative of their entire race." "I knew that." "But then I noticed that I started slipping into a pattern when I got on the train." "First--first I would look for an empty seat next to a white woman and then a white man and then a black woman and then..." "Last choice, a black man." "And sometimes, if the only empty seats were next to black men and if they were wearing big puffy coats, then I would just stand." "And then I started adding categories:" "white men, then hispanic, then Asian, then Middle Eastern and then finally and always last, black men." " Thanks." " Well, I felt terrible about it at first." "I'd--I'd get on the train, and--and I'd wonder," ""what must that poor black man be thinking?" ""I'm so obviously avoiding him." ""he's a perfectly nice person sitting there." "I can see his face."" "But I just... didn't want to take a chance." "And then after a while, it sort of slipped my mind to feel bad about it, and then everything slipped my mind so that when I found myself sitting across from my students thinking that they were scary or that their hair was stupid" "or it was no wonder they were pregnant," "I knew it was wrong, but..." "I didn't care." "I just felt tired, contemptuous." "They weren't gonna listen to me." "They weren't gonna graduate from college." "They weren't gonna do anything with their lives, not because they couldn't, but because they didn't want to, because they were lazy and stupid... because they were black." "And it started to scare me." "For the career day coming up," "I have some ideas for people that I would like to invite." "And then I think" "I think that we should make some" " Crazy, man." " make some room..." " Give it." " for employers who are actually recruiting." "Hey, could you guys" " Yo." "Yo, man." "Do you want to take your seats, please?" " Come on, nigger, sit down." " Ass in the seat, Nigger." " Chill out, girl." " Hey, could you guys" "Do you want" " Naw, man, naw." " Nigger!" " Could you guys" " Nigger, stop playing." " Stop it!" "I mean, Jesus Christ, if you keep calling yourself niggers and acting like niggers, then why do you get so upset when we think you're niggers?" " You said that to them?" " This close." "It was leaving my mouth." "I could see it in the air." " Well, it's not my favorite word either." " But I can't say that." " No." "No, no." "No, no." " I knew that if I didn't leave that that crap would start coming out of my mouth, that everything that popped into my head, that I would say it." "Belmont, Vermont." "Beautiful mountain." "Green mountain." "I knew it would be quiet and clean... and white." "It wasn't a noble way to save myself, or a brave way, but it was the only way I could think of." "[sighs]" "But now I'm right back where I started." " But you're not a dog." " Of course I'm not." " So you can control this crap, but, you know, you act like you can't, like a dog can't help chewing up the furniture." "But you're not a dog." "You're a human with a human-sized brain." " Well, what about you?" "You're not perfect." ""Put a sombrero on him."" " We could do this all day." "You know, just get it all out." "Come on." "Yeah?" ""Blacks:" ""Lazy." ""Stupid." "Scary hair."" " They're always late." " Come on." "Come on." " Homeless." "They never use crosswalks." "They're always running out into traffic." " Well, it's no wonder they're all dead or in prison." " Okay." "Now..." ""Whites:" ""Stingy." "Tight-assed."" " Spineless." " They can know you for 15 years and walk right by you on the street without even recognizing you." "Always stealing our talent and our music." " Plain vanilla candy-asses." " Can't cook for shit." "No sex drive." " Frigid." " And when they do it, they do it all wrong." " Hey." " Freak-assed serial killers." " Hateful." "Liars." " And they're always asking black people to tell them that it's okay that they are racist." "But that's just trading insults." " Yeah." "What we need is a plan." " Hell yes, we need a plan." "I mean, what are you gonna do, just sit there and wallow in it?" "What the hell good is that going to do you?" " Well, fine." "What's yours?" " I'm going to get to the bottom of this story." "I'm gonna find the truth, because I'll bet whoever's doing this, they don't stand out at all." "But I'm gonna find the son of a bitch and put his face on national TV." "I'm gonna say, "Here you are, America." ""Huh?" "Remind you of somebody?" "Run away from that."" " Oh, I already ran away." "It doesn't work." " So what's your plan?" " "One:" "Stop being stupid." ""Two:" "Move to Vermont." "Three:" "Admit defeat."" "What is this?" " The college wants a plan too, ten steps to solve racism." " [laughs]" "And they asked you." " Apparently, I put on a good face." " Well, that's half the battle." "[hip-hop music]" "# #" " # it's my turn, my turn # # let's go, let's go #" "# I put it all on the line # # when I'm out on the crime # # it's my turn, my turn # # let's go, let's go # # if you really want it, go and get it #" "# don't let it go # # it's my turn, my turn # # let's go, let's go #" "# I put it all on the line # # when I'm out on the crime #" " Hey!" "[can rattles]" " # if you want it, go and get it # # don't let it go # # you can kill 15 cats in one song # # and you wonder why your shows don't last that long #" " [groans]" " [breathing heavily]" " You can't record this." " Yeah, well, you can't keep it secret." " He's back there." " Did you call the police?" " No." "[door shuts]" "He said it'd be okay if we called you." " It was all you?" " I can see my hands writing those notes and tying that rope." "I knew I would get caught." "I just..." "I did it anyway." " Why?" " It's like someone else was doing it." " Well, I wish somebody else was doing it." "Now they're gonna think we're all crazy." " Oh, they're gonna love this." ""There's no racism." "They're doing it to themselves."" "The press is gonna be all over this." "Do you know that brothers are being executed for nothing?" "For nothing!" "It's shit like this that sets us back every time." "I can't believe I've got to go on the air and report this." "This is an embarrassment!" " It's not about you." " Well, it sure as hell isn't about you." " [sobbing]" "[dramatic music]" "# #" " What are you gonna do?" " You?" "# #" " Good luck to you then, Sarah." " Good luck to you." "# #" "[alarm clock buzzing] [buzzing stops] [buzzing resumes] [buzzing stops]" " Write up a press release." "Don't say "expelled."" " I'll say he voluntarily agreed to leave." " Mm-hmm." "And say we've encouraged him to seek counseling." " Say he's deranged." " You've never even spoken to him." " Highlight the fact that we are forming a committee and we're looking forward to further discussion." "And you fill in the rest." " I'll get it out this morning." " You know, I feel sorry for Simon." "I feel like it's going to take him a long time to recover from this." " I think he just wanted attention." " None of you know Simon." " I do." "He's Little Black Sambo." "That's how he referred to himself in the notes." "Remember the story?" "Little Black Sambo has some beautiful new clothes, and he's walking through the jungle showing them off, and a tiger jumps out of the bush and threatens to eat him." "So Little Black Sambo offers his coat to the tiger in exchange for his life." "And then another tiger pops up, and so on and so on, until the tigers have taken all his clothes." "Little Black Sambo is going home naked and forlorn when he hears a terrible noise coming from the forest." "All of the tigers are wearing his clothes" "And arguing over which of them is the grandest tiger of all." "The tigers argued and argued until they got so angry, they started chasing each other around a tree." "They began spinning and spinning" "Until they were just a yellow blur." "They spun so fast, they spun themselves into butter." "So Little Black Sambo got himself a spoon, scooped up the butter, and ate the tigers up, which is just what Simon Brick has done to us, gotten us all in a whirl over nothing." " It wasn't over nothing." " He's a little fox, a con man." " Imagine him for half a second." " Oh, ho." " That isn't why he did it." " Why then?" " I don't know." " You don't know?" "[knocking at door]" " Come in." " I got a call you wanted to see Simon before I drive him home." " Yes, we do." " Oh, please don't." " We deserve an opportunity to confront the individual who's put us through all this." "Bring him in here, Mr. Meyers." "Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself, Mr. Brick?" "What were you trying to get out of us?" " Nigger." "I was waiting for someone to call me a nigger." " You see, all my life, my dad told me," ""be ready." "Be ready for the day." "Be ready."" "But no one would do it." " Because no one on this campus thinks that." " Yeah." "Everyone on this campus is real nice to me." "I mean, I walk into a room, and you all smile big smiles." "And I can see you're all trying really hard to think of something to say to me, going out of your way to be my friend, like my R.A." "He's great." "You know he has dinner with me every night?" "I can't even walk down the sidewalk because every one of my professors has to come up to me and say hello." "They walk right past all their white students, but they all say hello to me." "Yeah, I'm" "I'm lucky the way everyone loves me." " You are lucky." " You think I can't feel that hate?" "It's so thick that I can't even breathe!" "Why don't you just say it?" "Say it!" " Get him out of here." " Come on, Simon, let's go." " Say it!" " Get him out of here." "Get him off my campus now." " I hate you too." " Let's go." " [sighs]" " And on that note..." " What's this?" " My letter of resignation." "I quit." " Why?" " This sends a terrible message." " He's right." "He's nothing but a problem to you." " Of his own making." " You're relieved he's gone." "You'd be relieved if they all left." " That's outrageous." " Oh, there's no cameras now." "Just say it." ""We'd all be so much happier." "It'd be so much easier if everybody was white."" " I have never thought that." " Fine." "Stick to your stories if it makes you feel better, but..." "I don't want to be a liar anymore, and I really want to get the fuck out of here." " Where are you going?" "[door closes] [birds chirping]" " Hey, jared." "Wait up." " Oh, thanks." " There it is." " [laughs] Come here." "Congratulations." "Send me a postcard from the land of the living." " All right." "Bye." " Dean Daniels." "Greg Sullivan, Students for Tolerance." " Oh, yeah, I remember you, Greg." "What's up?" " Our first meeting was a bust." "Dean Strauss wouldn't shut up." " [laughs]" " And on top of that, there are no black students in our group." " Aha." " Right." "It's ridiculous." "But I don't know what to do." " Well, maybe I do." " Hi, Dean Daniels." " Hey, Claudia, Tyler." "I've got someone here I'd like you to meet." " I think Aaron's point that we cover these stories more aggressively is probably true, but they also seem un-- unusually common." " But it's fair to speculate on what motivates these people." "Belmont is implying that this particular student is mentally ill." " Well, of course you have to be to do something like this." "But it happens often enough that it makes you wonder if there's not something else too." " Something in the air?" " Well, maybe." "I mean, this kid wouldn't have done this to himself if somebody hadn't made him feel bad, if somebody hadn't put the words in his head." "See, I don't think you see yourself like that, the way he did, unless somebody's already seen you that way first." "Let me explain." "[engine turns over] [dramatic music]" "# #" "[hip-hop music]" "# #" "# #" "[car horns honking] [sirens wail]" "[pensive music]" "# #" "Subtitles by LeapinLar"