Rebirth in America

(This chapter was revised at the suggestion of classmate Nie Lan. It may have been edited in a hurry, so please just make do with it.)

The host was a little embarrassed when he saw this situation. He is not racist per se, but he knows that the consequences of doing so will probably cost him his job. However, when the Carpenters were asked to participate in the filming of the show, they accidentally forgot to remind them.

"Stop! Stop! We can't let these niggas come up." The recording staff immediately came out to stop them.

One of them was a person who looked like a program director. He said very angrily: "Who asked a nigger to appear on my program! Who is it?"

There are already TV station staff standing aside with their arms folded. They plan to use a passive attitude to force those niggas to leave. Others planned to call the building's security to come over and drive these black people out of the building.

"No wonder the air seems to be getting bad. It turns out that some niggas have sneaked into our midst."

"Shh! Don't talk, let's see how they deal with it."

"I would rather die than work with these dirty people."

"Get out! Get out of here!"

The Carpenters were dumbfounded. There were many black people where they lived, and there were also many black people among Bart's former colleagues. To them, apartheid was a joke and simply not realistic. They thought it was just an accompaniment and there would be no problem, but they didn't expect it would cause such a big reaction.

The black people who were stopped all stood there, looking at people with contempt. Some people were at a loss, some were so excited that they clenched their fists, their fingernails pricked their palms with blood, and some looked at the people around them blankly, not knowing what they were thinking.

Bart stood up coldly and said: "They are my friends! I asked them to come over and accompany me!"

The program director said angrily: "You tell these niggas to get out of my way. I will never let any niggas appear on camera."

"Then I won't record this show!" Bart said without giving in. He grew up in a foreign country and knows what it feels like to be discriminated against. Fortunately, he met some good people while growing up, so he didn't become too extreme.

However, Bart still feels the same way about this kind of discrimination. He feels that those people are really unreasonable. There is no difference between black people, white people, and yellow people. They are not all human beings. Everyone must meet God after death. To him, skin color makes no difference.

Some TV station staff stood on the director's side, some showed sympathy, and most were silently neutral. All in all, the recording of the program has stopped, and it seems that the recording will not continue.

“In accordance with my rights under U.S. law, I demand that racial segregation be strictly enforced in the workplace by citing the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson!”

The director of the TV show spoke righteously, as if he were a revolutionary martyr, and wanted to expel the Carpenters and their black friends. Especially when he mentioned the Plessy v. Ferguson case, he received bursts of cheers from some of the white people present.

"Yes, we demand strict compliance with the law!"

"Yes, that's right! Everyone must abide by the law."

This "Plessy v. Ferguson case" refers to the case that on June 7, 1892, Homer A. Plessy, who was one-eighth black, deliberately boarded the East Louisiana Railway. A train just for white people.

According to a Louisiana law passed in 1890, whites and colored races must ride in equal but segregated carriages. Under this law, Plessy was identified as a "colored race" and was arrested and imprisoned.

So he took the Louisiana government to court, accusing it of violating his rights under the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. However, Judge John Howard Ferguson ruled that the state had the right to enforce the law within the state. Plessy ultimately lost the case and was fined $300 for violating the segregation law.

Plessy then challenged Judge Ferguson's decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court, but the court upheld Ferguson's original conviction. Even so, Plessy remained unconvinced and continued to appeal. The case lasted for several years.

In 1896, Plessy appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 18, the Supreme Court ruled by a 7:1 majority: "Louisiana's law does not violate the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution because 'separate but equal' does not mean discrimination against blacks, but only Acknowledging the differences between whites and blacks due to differences in skin color.”

Since then, U.S. law has allowed states to provide segregated facilities. This system of segregated facilities included schools, hospitals and train cars, football fields, drinking fountains and toilets, etc. In short, isolate everything as much as possible.

The other party has brought out weapons like the law. Due to emotion and reason, the Carpenters have no room to refute.

During this period, Alex wanted to say a few words several times, but he knew that he was a soft-spoken person and anything he said would be useless. So he kept silent.

Bart stood up with a sullen face. He looked at the program director and other staff, then pulled Richard and Angel and walked out. Alex also walked away angrily, and the black band followed them.

When I came out of the studio, I saw people waiting for the Carpenter family outside. These people are all from Carpenter Records, and they came along to cheer. I was supposed to be sitting in the audience, but I didn't expect to see such a scene.

Rudy also came over. He opened his mouth and looked at the Carpenters with wide eyes. He said with trembling lips: "You, you are all crazy! Do you know the influence of CBS in the record industry?"

Richard said confusedly: "Isn't CBS a broadcasting company?"

"FUCK! They are a group company, not only in music and television, but also in movies! They can crush us to death as long as they stretch out their fingers!" Rudy cursed, and he sighed and said: "I We also want to cooperate with CBS and use their sales channels to sell our records all over the world."

Bart's anger was gone at this time. He touched his head and said, "Since we can't record the show, let's go back."

Alex shrugged and said, "Sooner or later we will be able to do something as big as theirs, sooner or later!"

Angel said with some regret: "If the recording of the show is successful, we will really become famous."

The black people also looked embarrassed after hearing this. Strictly speaking, the Carpenters didn't have to go out with them. They could just use a white band to accompany them. They were the ones dragging down the Carpenter family, which resulted in the show's demise.

Originally they thought the matter would just go away. Unexpectedly, after the president of CBS heard about it, he immediately asked someone to stop Carpenter and the others. At that time, they had already reached the gate and were about to find a car to go back.

"Accompaniment is okay, but the only condition is that black people cannot appear in the camera." The president of CBS said.

Bart and the others were indignant about this incident and did not want to agree to CBS's request. They insist on their demands and never give in. Just when the negotiations were about to break down, Rudy was almost crazy with anxiety, and he kept putting pressure on them.

"Oh my God! Are you stupid? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If I can have such an opportunity, I would be willing to dress up as a woman."

"Really? Are you really willing to pretend to be a woman?"

"It's fake! If I really pretend to be a woman, how can I raise my head in front of other people in the future?"

"Tch, I also want to say that if you pretend to be a woman, we will agree to each other's conditions."

In the end, they agreed to CBS's request that their band not appear on camera, but they had to be allowed to play live. As for those staff members who had racial discrimination, they were replaced by CBS and asked employees who did not discriminate against black people to record the program.

CBS agreed, and the Carpenters returned to the show. This time, they found that after the staff of the show were changed, the atmosphere at the scene was much better. The staff members who were replaced all smiled respectfully at them, and there were even a few black people inside. It seemed that these were the goodwill released by CBS to them.

These black people were all temporarily transferred from work in another place. You enter through different doors, take different elevators, and use different offices. They do the same work and get different wages.

Some of the black people passed by them and whispered: "We think your family is very brave, really!"

To such words, they all responded with a smile. In the 1950s, black rights consciousness gradually awakened, but it was still suppressed by the white-dominated society. Even if there are riots, they are small and scattered. There is no trend that can affect society. Black people just bury this resentment secretly in their hearts and dare not express it.

Social turmoil is not caused by class differences. Just like slave societies, feudal societies, etc., they also had periods of stable development. The reason for the turmoil is that the ruled party has gained power, and the independent consciousness of pursuing power has begun to awaken.

The real civil rights movement had to wait until the 1960s. By then, American society was truly in turmoil, with smoke everywhere. At that time, the contradiction between black and white was extremely acute, and the slightest conflict would develop into bloody violence. If the Carpenters had dared to be like this at that time, they might have been stabbed by extremists in the white community.

Those who threw stones at residences, poured gasoline and burned them were considered minor. In that era, countless people sacrificed their lives for the civil rights movement. They were kidnapped, assassinated, burned to death, disappeared, etc. There were endless criminal incidents.