(long exhale)
(mysterious tribal music)
(deep sobbing)
(melancholy piano melody)
♪ Baby, baby, I'm mournin'
♪ I'm mournin', I'm mournin', mournin' ♪
- [Male Speaker] Mama, tell me about my,
tell me about my fa- my father.
- [Female Speaker] Oh baby, read this.
- [Male Speaker] "Notes on the state of Virginia,"
by Thomas Jefferson.
The first difference which strikes us, is that of color.
♪ The first difference which strikes us ♪
♪ is that of color
- [Male Speaker] Whether the black of the skin precedes
from the color of the blood, the color of the bile,
or from that of some other secretion,
the difference is fixed in nature.
♪ Mm, black of the color.
- [Male Speaker] And is this difference of no importance?
Is it not the foundation of a greater
or less share of beauty in the two races?
Are not the expressions of every passion
and the color of white preferable to that eternal monotony,
that immovable veil of black,
which covers all of the emotions of the other race?
Superior beauty.
Superior beauty is thought worthy of attention
in the propagation of our horses, our dogs,
and other domestic animals.
Why not of that in man?
It appears to me that, in memory,
they are equal to whites.
In reason, much inferior.
And in imagination, they are dull, tasteless, and anamolous.
They are at least as brave, and more adventuresome,
but this may precede from want of forethought.
They are more ardent for their female.
Love seems with them to be more an eager desire
than a tender, delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation.
Their griefs are transient.
They seem to require less sleep.
♪ We hold, we hold, we hold, we hold ♪
♪ we hold these truths to be self-evident ♪
- [Male Speaker] This unfortunate difference of color,
and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle
to the emancipation of these people.
♪ To be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be ♪
- [Male Speaker] Deep-rooted prejudices entertained
by the whites, ten thousand recollections by the blacks
of the injuries sustained, new provocations
will divide us and produce convulsions
across this nation, which will probably never end,
but in the extermination of one by the other.
♪ We hold these truths to be self-evident ♪
♪ that all men are created equal ♪
- [Male Speaker] Mama, read this.
- [Female Speaker] I tremble for my country
when I reflect that God is just,
that his justice cannot sleep forever.
- [Male Speaker] I tremble for my country
when I reflect that God is just,
that his justice cannot sleep forever.
(upbeat soulful music)