1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:15,796 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:19,276 --> 00:00:26,516 Speaker 2: The following podcast contains explicit language. 3 00:00:28,876 --> 00:00:33,076 Speaker 3: I knew him, man O Jang goes in, He danced 4 00:00:33,116 --> 00:00:33,396 Speaker 3: for you. 5 00:00:36,596 --> 00:00:40,076 Speaker 4: And worn not shoes. 6 00:00:42,476 --> 00:00:45,556 Speaker 2: Sammy Davis Junior was one of the world's greatest entertainers. 7 00:00:45,956 --> 00:00:48,916 Speaker 2: He was Sammy the way Cher was Cher or Elvis 8 00:00:48,956 --> 00:00:52,796 Speaker 2: was Elvis, five foot five, barely skinny as a pencil, 9 00:00:53,156 --> 00:00:57,916 Speaker 2: oversized sunglasses, jewelry hanging off him like Christmas ornaments. He 10 00:00:57,996 --> 00:01:01,356 Speaker 2: lived off nicotine and Vermuth, never wore the same suit twice, 11 00:01:01,636 --> 00:01:04,236 Speaker 2: made a fortune, died, broke that kind of life. 12 00:01:04,276 --> 00:01:12,756 Speaker 5: Then he would likely judge now. 13 00:01:12,196 --> 00:01:16,596 Speaker 2: A singer, a dancer, a master impressionist, with a famous 14 00:01:16,796 --> 00:01:21,476 Speaker 2: exaggerated laugh that unfolded in three acts, the eyes closed 15 00:01:21,476 --> 00:01:25,676 Speaker 2: in delight, the full body convulsion, the three step stagger. 16 00:01:29,516 --> 00:01:32,196 Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy two, at the height of his fame, 17 00:01:32,716 --> 00:01:36,116 Speaker 2: Sammy went to the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. 18 00:01:36,356 --> 00:01:39,076 Speaker 2: Flew there on a private jet owned by an oil company, 19 00:01:39,436 --> 00:01:43,636 Speaker 2: took a suite at the Playboy Hotel. On the opening 20 00:01:43,716 --> 00:01:46,556 Speaker 2: night of the convention, he sat in the private box 21 00:01:46,596 --> 00:01:51,676 Speaker 2: of the Republican presidential nominee, Richard Nixon. On a second 22 00:01:51,756 --> 00:01:54,396 Speaker 2: night of the Convention, Davis pled a concert for the 23 00:01:54,436 --> 00:01:57,756 Speaker 2: Republican Youth in a shirt opened to his navel and 24 00:01:57,796 --> 00:02:02,396 Speaker 2: skin tight pants. He was halfway through his set when 25 00:02:02,436 --> 00:02:11,156 Speaker 2: suddenly people started chanting four more years. The cheers were 26 00:02:11,156 --> 00:02:15,476 Speaker 2: for Nixon, fresh from accepting the Republican nomination. He was 27 00:02:15,516 --> 00:02:19,316 Speaker 2: crashing the party. Davis held up his hand acquiet the crowd, 28 00:02:19,836 --> 00:02:24,436 Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen. The President and the future President of 29 00:02:24,516 --> 00:02:29,076 Speaker 2: the United States of America p pneumonia. 30 00:02:33,236 --> 00:02:35,756 Speaker 6: I am opposed to bussing for the purpose of achieving 31 00:02:35,836 --> 00:02:39,436 Speaker 6: racial balance in our schools. I have spoken out against 32 00:02:39,436 --> 00:02:42,116 Speaker 6: bussing scores of times over many years. 33 00:02:43,356 --> 00:02:46,916 Speaker 2: Richard Nixon was, in nineteen seventy two, the leading practitioner 34 00:02:46,956 --> 00:02:50,556 Speaker 2: of what was known as the Southern Strategy, the attempt 35 00:02:50,636 --> 00:02:53,716 Speaker 2: to use racist appeals to win over Southern white voters 36 00:02:53,716 --> 00:02:57,236 Speaker 2: to the Republican Party. He nominated two Southerners to the 37 00:02:57,276 --> 00:03:01,356 Speaker 2: Supreme Court, men who were such committed segregationists and so 38 00:03:01,516 --> 00:03:05,676 Speaker 2: deeply unqualified that the Senate wouldn't confirm them. In the 39 00:03:05,716 --> 00:03:08,876 Speaker 2: privacy of the Oval office, Nixon referred to black people 40 00:03:08,876 --> 00:03:12,516 Speaker 2: as niggers and jigaboos. He did his best to delay 41 00:03:12,556 --> 00:03:16,116 Speaker 2: the integration of American public schools. He once complained to 42 00:03:16,116 --> 00:03:19,116 Speaker 2: one of his aides that the anti poverty programs established 43 00:03:19,116 --> 00:03:22,756 Speaker 2: by his predecessors were a waste of money because African 44 00:03:22,756 --> 00:03:26,876 Speaker 2: Americans were genetically inferior. It was just four years since 45 00:03:26,916 --> 00:03:29,916 Speaker 2: Martin Luther King Junior was shot in Memphis, and the 46 00:03:29,956 --> 00:03:33,636 Speaker 2: president seemed bent on reversing everything the civil rights movement 47 00:03:33,916 --> 00:03:38,356 Speaker 2: had fought for black people in nineteen seventy two. Did 48 00:03:38,436 --> 00:03:44,156 Speaker 2: not like Richard Nixon, that is, except for one of 49 00:03:44,156 --> 00:03:47,596 Speaker 2: the most famous black men in the country, Sammy Davis Junior, 50 00:03:47,996 --> 00:03:51,436 Speaker 2: who sat in the Nixon family box, performed at the 51 00:03:51,516 --> 00:03:55,596 Speaker 2: Nixon coronation, and who crossed the stage and rapped one 52 00:03:55,636 --> 00:03:59,116 Speaker 2: of the most famously chilly and awkward of all presidents 53 00:03:59,276 --> 00:04:06,716 Speaker 2: in a joyful, excited, loving hug. Let me read to 54 00:04:06,756 --> 00:04:10,556 Speaker 2: you Will Haygood's description of that moment in his biography 55 00:04:10,596 --> 00:04:14,596 Speaker 2: of Sammy Davis Junior. The public had rarely seen Nixon 56 00:04:14,676 --> 00:04:18,116 Speaker 2: in such an embrace, even with his own wife and 57 00:04:18,236 --> 00:04:23,036 Speaker 2: Nixon letting loose with a slow, widening grin towering over Davis, 58 00:04:23,396 --> 00:04:26,476 Speaker 2: wrapping his arms across his own chest, so awkwardly and 59 00:04:26,596 --> 00:04:30,716 Speaker 2: yet tenderly like some flushed teenage kid and all those 60 00:04:30,756 --> 00:04:34,956 Speaker 2: white delegates and all those Nixon placards, and Davis leaning 61 00:04:34,956 --> 00:04:38,956 Speaker 2: on the president's shoulder as if Nixon were kid. Nixon 62 00:04:39,196 --> 00:04:45,156 Speaker 2: and Sammy in full embrace. When people remember Sammy Davis Junior, 63 00:04:45,516 --> 00:04:48,796 Speaker 2: that's what they think of the photograph of that moment. 64 00:04:49,796 --> 00:04:56,116 Speaker 2: Sammy never got over it. My name is Malcolm Gladwell. 65 00:04:56,756 --> 00:05:00,556 Speaker 2: You're listening to Revisionist History, my podcast about Things Forgotten 66 00:05:00,836 --> 00:05:10,356 Speaker 2: and Misunderstood. This episode is about Sammy David and what 67 00:05:10,516 --> 00:05:14,676 Speaker 2: happened on that stage in Miami Beach, because that moment 68 00:05:14,756 --> 00:05:19,316 Speaker 2: raises questions about obligation and loyalty that still haven't been resolved, 69 00:05:20,356 --> 00:05:32,476 Speaker 2: or maybe have been resolved in the wrong way. 70 00:05:36,596 --> 00:05:38,836 Speaker 7: To understand this, you have to go back to what 71 00:05:39,196 --> 00:05:43,316 Speaker 7: young brother here referred to as the House Negro and 72 00:05:43,396 --> 00:05:46,836 Speaker 7: the Field Negro. Back during slavery. 73 00:05:47,276 --> 00:05:50,836 Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty three in Detroit, Malcolm X gave one 74 00:05:50,836 --> 00:05:52,396 Speaker 2: of his most famous speeches. 75 00:05:53,076 --> 00:05:55,676 Speaker 7: There was two kind of slaves. There was the House 76 00:05:55,756 --> 00:05:58,596 Speaker 7: Negro in the field Negro. The house Negro. They lived 77 00:05:58,636 --> 00:06:03,076 Speaker 7: in the house with Master. They dressed pretty good. They 78 00:06:03,236 --> 00:06:07,476 Speaker 7: ate good because they eat his food. They would give 79 00:06:07,556 --> 00:06:11,516 Speaker 7: their life to save them Master's house quicker than the 80 00:06:11,556 --> 00:06:15,836 Speaker 7: master would the house Negro. If the master said we 81 00:06:15,876 --> 00:06:18,476 Speaker 7: got a good house here, the house negroes say, yeah. 82 00:06:18,156 --> 00:06:19,356 Speaker 6: We got a good house here. 83 00:06:20,116 --> 00:06:22,956 Speaker 7: Whenever the master said we, he said we. That's how 84 00:06:22,996 --> 00:06:24,236 Speaker 7: you can tell a house Negro. 85 00:06:26,196 --> 00:06:28,476 Speaker 2: Malcolm X was trying to win his audience over to 86 00:06:28,516 --> 00:06:31,396 Speaker 2: the cause of black nationalism. He was a separatist. 87 00:06:32,076 --> 00:06:35,756 Speaker 7: He identified himself with his master more than his master 88 00:06:35,876 --> 00:06:39,116 Speaker 7: identified with himself. And if you came to the house 89 00:06:39,196 --> 00:06:44,956 Speaker 7: Negro and said let's run away, let's escape, let's separate 90 00:06:46,116 --> 00:06:48,996 Speaker 7: that house, Negro would look at you and say, man, 91 00:06:49,076 --> 00:06:52,996 Speaker 7: you christ, what you mean separate? Where is there a 92 00:06:53,036 --> 00:06:56,716 Speaker 7: better house than this? Where can I wear better clothes 93 00:06:56,916 --> 00:07:00,076 Speaker 7: than this? Where can I eat better food than this? 94 00:07:00,436 --> 00:07:01,836 Speaker 7: That was that house Negro. 95 00:07:03,636 --> 00:07:06,476 Speaker 2: Malcolm X was talking about African Americans who he felt 96 00:07:06,476 --> 00:07:10,196 Speaker 2: had betrayed their community, who had ACHIEVEDSS by turning their 97 00:07:10,236 --> 00:07:13,436 Speaker 2: backs on where they'd come from. He was talking about 98 00:07:13,436 --> 00:07:15,396 Speaker 2: people like Sammy Davis Junior. 99 00:07:15,836 --> 00:07:21,676 Speaker 4: I gotta be me, gotta be me. 100 00:07:24,836 --> 00:07:28,596 Speaker 2: Davis was an epic talent. He was Michael Jackson. Before 101 00:07:28,596 --> 00:07:32,196 Speaker 2: Michael Jackson. He was the first black person in history 102 00:07:32,436 --> 00:07:35,396 Speaker 2: who could sell out performances around the world. A charter 103 00:07:35,556 --> 00:07:38,436 Speaker 2: member of Frank Sinatra's rat Pack, a staple in the 104 00:07:38,476 --> 00:07:40,196 Speaker 2: tabloids for forty years. 105 00:07:40,556 --> 00:07:43,156 Speaker 3: The Dream of Life flat fears. 106 00:07:44,156 --> 00:07:46,716 Speaker 2: There's a sequence I Love from a gala in Sammy's 107 00:07:46,756 --> 00:07:50,156 Speaker 2: honor in nineteen eighty nine, marking his sixtieth anniversary in 108 00:07:50,196 --> 00:07:55,236 Speaker 2: show business, Gregory Hines, a legendary tap dancer, does a 109 00:07:55,316 --> 00:07:57,716 Speaker 2: number for Sammy, who's sitting in the front row. 110 00:08:09,316 --> 00:08:10,876 Speaker 8: Last Stop Time, Stop Time. 111 00:08:11,076 --> 00:08:14,396 Speaker 2: Then Heines invites Sammy up to join him. Sammy's just 112 00:08:14,436 --> 00:08:17,196 Speaker 2: had his hip replaced. He'll be dead from cancer within 113 00:08:17,236 --> 00:08:20,676 Speaker 2: the year. He puts on his tap shoes, hobbles on stage, 114 00:08:20,996 --> 00:08:23,356 Speaker 2: and the two of them do a dance off. I 115 00:08:23,436 --> 00:08:25,716 Speaker 2: swear to God, if you don't believe me, look it 116 00:08:25,796 --> 00:08:32,676 Speaker 2: up for yourself. Sammy blows him away. At the end, 117 00:08:33,156 --> 00:08:36,636 Speaker 2: Hines gets down on his knees and kisses Sammy's shoes. 118 00:08:49,676 --> 00:08:52,756 Speaker 2: Davis was born in Harlem. He started playing the vaudeville 119 00:08:52,796 --> 00:08:55,356 Speaker 2: circuit as a three year old with his uncle Will 120 00:08:55,396 --> 00:08:59,356 Speaker 2: Maston and his dad, Sammy Davis Senior. He never had 121 00:08:59,396 --> 00:09:03,156 Speaker 2: any formal schooling or any childhood to speak of the 122 00:09:03,236 --> 00:09:06,636 Speaker 2: three of them travel Jim Crow America, performing for white 123 00:09:06,676 --> 00:09:09,676 Speaker 2: audiences in one hotel, then sleeping on the other side 124 00:09:09,676 --> 00:09:14,596 Speaker 2: of the tracks in a colored hotel. During the Second 125 00:09:14,636 --> 00:09:17,356 Speaker 2: World War, when he was drafted into the army, his 126 00:09:17,516 --> 00:09:20,676 Speaker 2: nose was broken so many times in fights that it's 127 00:09:20,756 --> 00:09:25,116 Speaker 2: flat for the rest of his life. Sammy was taunted, harassed. 128 00:09:25,636 --> 00:09:28,316 Speaker 2: At one point, a couple of white soldiers pinned Sammy 129 00:09:28,396 --> 00:09:33,036 Speaker 2: down right coon in white paint across his forehead. There's 130 00:09:33,036 --> 00:09:37,356 Speaker 2: an almost unbearable moment in Sammy's autobiography Why Me. He 131 00:09:37,476 --> 00:09:40,916 Speaker 2: described standing under the shower in the latrine for hours 132 00:09:41,116 --> 00:09:44,396 Speaker 2: trying to get the white paint off his body. I 133 00:09:44,476 --> 00:09:47,836 Speaker 2: stood under the hot water, rubbing until rashes of blood 134 00:09:47,916 --> 00:09:51,556 Speaker 2: trickled to the surface, brushing until I'd scraped the last 135 00:09:51,556 --> 00:09:56,676 Speaker 2: speck of white out of my skin. I got into bed. Nobody, 136 00:09:57,196 --> 00:10:00,476 Speaker 2: nobody in this world is ever going to do this 137 00:10:00,676 --> 00:10:05,676 Speaker 2: to me again. I'll die first. But Sammy's answer to 138 00:10:05,836 --> 00:10:08,556 Speaker 2: never letting anyone do this to him again wasn't to 139 00:10:08,636 --> 00:10:12,596 Speaker 2: fight like Malcolm X wanted black people to do. Sammy's 140 00:10:12,636 --> 00:10:17,796 Speaker 2: solution was to join. He moved very publicly into the 141 00:10:17,836 --> 00:10:22,036 Speaker 2: Master's house. He dated white women blondes. He married the 142 00:10:22,036 --> 00:10:25,756 Speaker 2: stunning Swedish actress May Britt at a time when interracial 143 00:10:25,756 --> 00:10:29,436 Speaker 2: marriages were almost unheard of. When he moved to Los Angeles, 144 00:10:29,556 --> 00:10:32,916 Speaker 2: he didn't move to Baldwin Hills, where middle class blacks lived. 145 00:10:33,196 --> 00:10:36,316 Speaker 2: He moved into a lily white section of the Hollywood Hills. 146 00:10:37,276 --> 00:10:42,756 Speaker 7: This modern house. Negro loves his master. He wants to 147 00:10:42,796 --> 00:10:45,876 Speaker 7: live near him. He'll pay three times as much as 148 00:10:45,876 --> 00:10:49,196 Speaker 7: the house is worth just to live Negro's master, and 149 00:10:49,276 --> 00:10:51,636 Speaker 7: then brag about I'm the only Negro out here. 150 00:11:01,796 --> 00:11:03,716 Speaker 6: I'm the only one on my job. 151 00:11:04,516 --> 00:11:06,316 Speaker 7: I'm the only one in this school. 152 00:11:06,396 --> 00:11:08,316 Speaker 9: You nothing but a house Negro. 153 00:11:15,876 --> 00:11:18,556 Speaker 2: If I play a Dave Chappelle routine for you without 154 00:11:18,596 --> 00:11:21,676 Speaker 2: telling you that it's him or Richard pryor bit from 155 00:11:21,676 --> 00:11:24,836 Speaker 2: the nineteen eighties, you'd know right away the Chappelle and 156 00:11:24,876 --> 00:11:29,516 Speaker 2: Prior are black. They code black. But listen to this 157 00:11:30,116 --> 00:11:33,236 Speaker 2: Sammy Davis on The Dick Cabot Show, talking about what 158 00:11:33,316 --> 00:11:36,436 Speaker 2: he learned from the old Bush Belt comedians who used 159 00:11:36,436 --> 00:11:39,436 Speaker 2: to hang out at Hanson's drug Store just up Broadway 160 00:11:39,676 --> 00:11:40,836 Speaker 2: in the nineteen forties. 161 00:11:41,676 --> 00:11:44,636 Speaker 10: All the impressionist will hang out on the corner and 162 00:11:46,396 --> 00:11:48,516 Speaker 10: I'd say, hey, I get one. I think I got one. 163 00:11:48,636 --> 00:11:51,276 Speaker 3: I think I finally got Jimmy Stewart man, you know, 164 00:11:51,316 --> 00:11:53,676 Speaker 3: and will Or Larry Storch would say, no, you haven't 165 00:11:53,676 --> 00:11:55,076 Speaker 3: got it man, That is, I. 166 00:11:55,276 --> 00:11:56,756 Speaker 4: Gotta be up here. 167 00:11:57,756 --> 00:12:00,036 Speaker 10: You got a tool, law, I want your door. 168 00:12:00,196 --> 00:12:04,236 Speaker 6: You gotta have a sort of a draw behind that. 169 00:12:05,836 --> 00:12:06,356 Speaker 10: Disappear. 170 00:12:07,996 --> 00:12:10,916 Speaker 2: Cavitt then asked me if he also does Laurence Olivier, 171 00:12:11,476 --> 00:12:15,396 Speaker 2: which you think is just Cavot being mischievous, because Olivier 172 00:12:15,516 --> 00:12:18,716 Speaker 2: was the greatest Shakespearean stage actor of his day, the 173 00:12:18,756 --> 00:12:21,916 Speaker 2: son of a high Church Anglican clergyman, about as far 174 00:12:21,916 --> 00:12:24,356 Speaker 2: from Sammy as you can get in theory. 175 00:12:24,836 --> 00:12:26,796 Speaker 11: Of course you do Olivier. 176 00:12:26,916 --> 00:12:29,116 Speaker 5: Yes, really, what would you like to hear me do 177 00:12:29,236 --> 00:12:30,476 Speaker 5: from a. 178 00:12:30,516 --> 00:12:32,356 Speaker 2: Couple acts from King Lear would be nice? 179 00:12:33,476 --> 00:12:36,116 Speaker 10: Well, he only did Leir once? How about Richard the Third? 180 00:12:36,396 --> 00:12:37,676 Speaker 9: I'll settle for Dick the Third? 181 00:12:37,836 --> 00:12:45,436 Speaker 1: Okay, now is the winter of our discontent made Gloria 182 00:12:45,596 --> 00:12:49,556 Speaker 1: summer in this sun of York. Since I cannot buy 183 00:12:49,756 --> 00:12:53,556 Speaker 1: the rightful claim my way to the throne, I shall 184 00:12:53,636 --> 00:12:56,076 Speaker 1: lack and heal my way instead. 185 00:12:56,356 --> 00:12:57,116 Speaker 9: Oh that's great. 186 00:13:01,556 --> 00:13:04,236 Speaker 2: If I didn't tell you that Sammy was black. Would 187 00:13:04,276 --> 00:13:07,436 Speaker 2: you know he could as easily be white, he could 188 00:13:07,476 --> 00:13:10,636 Speaker 2: be Jewish. In fact, he was. He's Jewish. He converted 189 00:13:11,036 --> 00:13:13,796 Speaker 2: the lone black person at Temple Israel in Hollywood. 190 00:13:14,476 --> 00:13:19,156 Speaker 9: Sammy's mind worked like this, whatever it takes to survive, 191 00:13:19,916 --> 00:13:21,236 Speaker 9: I have to do it. 192 00:13:21,956 --> 00:13:24,116 Speaker 2: That's Will Haygood, Sammy's biographer. 193 00:13:24,996 --> 00:13:29,796 Speaker 9: Now, many of my friends are Jewish and they love 194 00:13:29,916 --> 00:13:36,476 Speaker 9: me and they support me. Huh, So that's interesting. I 195 00:13:36,516 --> 00:13:39,676 Speaker 9: think I'm going to go to Israel. I think I'm 196 00:13:39,716 --> 00:13:43,636 Speaker 9: going to become Jewish, and then I'm going to make 197 00:13:43,676 --> 00:13:47,116 Speaker 9: some jokes about it, and I know people will laugh. 198 00:13:48,036 --> 00:13:52,796 Speaker 9: But right now, in this moment, this is where my 199 00:13:52,876 --> 00:13:53,396 Speaker 9: heart is. 200 00:13:59,876 --> 00:14:03,756 Speaker 2: Sammy meets Nixon in nineteen fifty four. Nixon was the 201 00:14:03,836 --> 00:14:06,596 Speaker 2: vice president at that point, and Sammy was playing the 202 00:14:06,636 --> 00:14:09,796 Speaker 2: Kopa when the copa was the hottest ticket Manhattan. 203 00:14:10,156 --> 00:14:14,836 Speaker 9: So he got Nixon in his wife seats up front 204 00:14:15,396 --> 00:14:20,036 Speaker 9: and they never forgot it. Shortly thereafter, Sammy gets invited 205 00:14:20,116 --> 00:14:24,196 Speaker 9: to the White House to visit Vice President Nixon. Now 206 00:14:24,316 --> 00:14:28,716 Speaker 9: just think of that, a kid born poor, who had 207 00:14:28,756 --> 00:14:32,076 Speaker 9: been scuffling out on the road, who had been playing 208 00:14:32,876 --> 00:14:37,156 Speaker 9: nasty looking nightclubs, who never had a teacher, who never 209 00:14:37,236 --> 00:14:43,676 Speaker 9: had classmates, all of a sudden, sliding around the White. 210 00:14:43,476 --> 00:14:48,476 Speaker 2: House, they stay in touch. When Nixon becomes president in 211 00:14:48,556 --> 00:14:51,236 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight, he asks Sammy to join a White 212 00:14:51,236 --> 00:14:55,356 Speaker 2: House advisory Council. When the gospel singer Mahelia Jackson died, 213 00:14:55,716 --> 00:14:58,916 Speaker 2: Nixon asks Sammy to represent him at the funeral and 214 00:14:58,996 --> 00:15:01,836 Speaker 2: sent a government jet. Nixon asked Smmy to go to 215 00:15:01,956 --> 00:15:09,556 Speaker 2: Vietnam and entertain the troops. Sammy puts together a massive 216 00:15:09,676 --> 00:15:25,116 Speaker 2: traveling entourage and plays his heart out. If you look 217 00:15:25,156 --> 00:15:28,756 Speaker 2: at the back cover of Sammy's autobiography, Why Me, there's 218 00:15:28,756 --> 00:15:32,556 Speaker 2: a blurb from Alex Haley, who wrote Roots, another from 219 00:15:32,596 --> 00:15:35,236 Speaker 2: Aaron Spelling, the creator of nine O two one zero 220 00:15:35,476 --> 00:15:39,676 Speaker 2: among a million other things. Another from Frank Sinatra and 221 00:15:39,716 --> 00:15:43,116 Speaker 2: Michael Jackson and Liza Minelli. It's maybe the greatest blurb 222 00:15:43,156 --> 00:15:47,636 Speaker 2: lineup in the history of publishing. And then there's Richard Nixon, 223 00:15:47,956 --> 00:15:51,636 Speaker 2: who writes, Sammy is one of the great living Americans. 224 00:15:52,076 --> 00:15:55,836 Speaker 2: It wouldn't matter what color he was. With his intelligence, 225 00:15:56,076 --> 00:16:01,276 Speaker 2: he could make it at anything anywhere. It wouldn't matter 226 00:16:01,356 --> 00:16:04,796 Speaker 2: what color he was. That sounds like something you would 227 00:16:04,796 --> 00:16:08,956 Speaker 2: say about someone who comes from privilege to flatter them 228 00:16:08,956 --> 00:16:12,796 Speaker 2: into thinking they would have succeeded even without their privilege. 229 00:16:12,956 --> 00:16:15,516 Speaker 2: It wouldn't matter if Mark Zuckerberg were an orphan from 230 00:16:15,516 --> 00:16:18,476 Speaker 2: a remote village in the Himalayas. He's so smart he 231 00:16:18,476 --> 00:16:22,556 Speaker 2: would still be a billionaire. It's totally nuts to say 232 00:16:22,916 --> 00:16:26,396 Speaker 2: it wouldn't matter if he hadn't had those privileges about 233 00:16:26,396 --> 00:16:29,036 Speaker 2: a black man born in Harlem in nineteen twenty five 234 00:16:29,436 --> 00:16:34,556 Speaker 2: who never had any privileges. Sammy comes to Nixon pretending 235 00:16:34,596 --> 00:16:38,596 Speaker 2: he isn't black, and Nixon comes to Sammy forgetting he's black. 236 00:16:39,356 --> 00:16:47,676 Speaker 2: Their relationship is a kind of delusional post racial fantasy. 237 00:16:49,076 --> 00:16:52,876 Speaker 2: So Nixon says, come to Miami for the convention. We'll 238 00:16:52,916 --> 00:16:55,716 Speaker 2: put you up at the Playboy Hotel. Why not play 239 00:16:55,756 --> 00:16:58,516 Speaker 2: for the kids at the youth rally. Of course, Sammy 240 00:16:58,556 --> 00:17:01,916 Speaker 2: says yes, and Nixon stands in front of the crowd 241 00:17:02,356 --> 00:17:06,036 Speaker 2: on National TV and starts talking about how Sammy's critics 242 00:17:06,076 --> 00:17:08,836 Speaker 2: accuse him of selling out by being a Nixon supporter. 243 00:17:09,756 --> 00:17:11,516 Speaker 2: That Nixon says, you're. 244 00:17:11,396 --> 00:17:17,276 Speaker 12: Gonna you're gonna buyd by enjoying something. 245 00:17:22,636 --> 00:17:25,796 Speaker 2: Nixon waits for the applause to die down, he's looking 246 00:17:25,876 --> 00:17:30,036 Speaker 2: the other way. Sammy sneaks up from behind, wraps his 247 00:17:30,196 --> 00:17:37,636 Speaker 2: arms around him. The hate mail Sammy gets over the 248 00:17:37,676 --> 00:17:41,236 Speaker 2: next few months is so vicious that he hands over 249 00:17:41,316 --> 00:17:44,956 Speaker 2: some of the letters to the FBI. Eartha Kit comes 250 00:17:45,036 --> 00:17:48,796 Speaker 2: up to him and hisses, did you have to kiss him? 251 00:17:49,076 --> 00:17:53,396 Speaker 2: Sammy is blindsided. He's desperate to salvage his reputation. He 252 00:17:53,476 --> 00:17:56,156 Speaker 2: calls up Jesse Jackson, who every year has a big 253 00:17:56,196 --> 00:17:59,516 Speaker 2: conference in Chicago for his civil rights group, Operation. 254 00:17:59,196 --> 00:18:07,756 Speaker 6: Push Um Somebody, Alm Somebody. 255 00:18:08,436 --> 00:18:11,916 Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy two, Jackson had lined up virtually every 256 00:18:11,996 --> 00:18:16,396 Speaker 2: motown and gospel star, The Temptations, Marvin Gay, the Ojys, 257 00:18:16,676 --> 00:18:22,116 Speaker 2: Curtis Mayfield, ROBERTA. Flack. Sammy says, I want to perform. 258 00:18:22,996 --> 00:18:27,236 Speaker 2: Jackson says yes, brings him out on stage. 259 00:18:27,676 --> 00:18:31,676 Speaker 3: I am here because I have come home as a 260 00:18:31,716 --> 00:18:36,796 Speaker 3: black man. Disagree if you will, with my politics, but 261 00:18:37,636 --> 00:18:43,116 Speaker 3: I will not allow anyone to take away the fact 262 00:18:43,316 --> 00:18:45,996 Speaker 3: that I am black. Now, That's all I can say, 263 00:18:46,036 --> 00:18:47,556 Speaker 3: except that I would like to sing. 264 00:18:47,916 --> 00:18:51,436 Speaker 2: But who is he kidding? It's September twenty eighth, nineteen 265 00:18:51,556 --> 00:18:54,396 Speaker 2: seventy two, a little over a month since he was 266 00:18:54,516 --> 00:18:58,236 Speaker 2: hugging the enemy in Miami. For the rest of his life, 267 00:18:58,436 --> 00:19:00,356 Speaker 2: Sammy would be haunted by his reception. 268 00:19:00,916 --> 00:19:02,596 Speaker 11: He said, maybe one of the worst things that happened 269 00:19:02,596 --> 00:19:05,276 Speaker 11: to you, I read was being booed by people, and 270 00:19:05,316 --> 00:19:06,716 Speaker 11: she was. I think it was in Chicago. 271 00:19:07,476 --> 00:19:09,836 Speaker 2: This is Sammy in an inch of few years later 272 00:19:09,916 --> 00:19:12,916 Speaker 2: with Tom Caddle on the Boston ABC affiliate. 273 00:19:13,196 --> 00:19:14,756 Speaker 10: Hey, but the first time that I had ever been 274 00:19:14,796 --> 00:19:16,996 Speaker 10: rejected by my own by my own people, because it 275 00:19:17,116 --> 00:19:18,476 Speaker 10: was predominantly. 276 00:19:17,836 --> 00:19:21,156 Speaker 11: A black audience, because of your embracing her. 277 00:19:21,276 --> 00:19:26,956 Speaker 10: Yeah, they embracing her. Nixon and Jesse was there as 278 00:19:26,956 --> 00:19:30,356 Speaker 10: he always had been before prior tone as he's been since, 279 00:19:30,796 --> 00:19:34,596 Speaker 10: to be supportive as a friend. And I was about 280 00:19:34,636 --> 00:19:37,556 Speaker 10: ready to run or literally run off the stage, and 281 00:19:37,596 --> 00:19:40,236 Speaker 10: he said no, and he made me stay, and he 282 00:19:40,396 --> 00:19:46,076 Speaker 10: talked to the audience and made me perform. 283 00:19:46,196 --> 00:19:47,396 Speaker 2: And what did Sammy sing? 284 00:19:48,476 --> 00:19:50,636 Speaker 10: Whether I'm right. 285 00:19:52,316 --> 00:19:57,356 Speaker 2: Or whether I wrong, You can't make this up. 286 00:19:57,356 --> 00:20:02,076 Speaker 3: Whether I find a place in this world or never belong. 287 00:20:04,396 --> 00:20:09,476 Speaker 3: I gotta be me, got me? 288 00:20:12,716 --> 00:20:13,956 Speaker 6: What else skin? 289 00:20:14,436 --> 00:20:19,796 Speaker 10: But the hurt I'm being booeded. So I know I 290 00:20:19,916 --> 00:20:21,596 Speaker 10: want to experience that kind of hurt again. 291 00:20:22,196 --> 00:20:28,236 Speaker 4: I want to live not merely survived. 292 00:20:29,356 --> 00:20:32,636 Speaker 2: Afterwards, Sammy went home and got drunk. 293 00:20:36,276 --> 00:20:39,516 Speaker 13: Well, now you had a twentieth century tight coin. 294 00:20:39,596 --> 00:20:42,676 Speaker 7: He grow today a twentieth century Uncle Tom. 295 00:20:43,116 --> 00:20:45,076 Speaker 6: He's dead as much an Uncle. 296 00:20:44,876 --> 00:20:47,196 Speaker 7: Town today said, Uncle Tom was one. 297 00:20:47,156 --> 00:20:48,596 Speaker 10: Hundred and two hundred years ago. 298 00:20:48,876 --> 00:20:50,476 Speaker 9: Oh, he's a modern Uncle Tom. 299 00:20:50,676 --> 00:20:52,716 Speaker 6: Then Uncle Tom wore a handkerchief around his head. 300 00:20:52,716 --> 00:20:54,796 Speaker 10: This Uncle Tom were a tap had. 301 00:20:59,036 --> 00:21:02,316 Speaker 2: Sammy sold his own people out in the middle of 302 00:21:02,316 --> 00:21:04,716 Speaker 2: a life and death struggle. He put on a top 303 00:21:04,756 --> 00:21:09,556 Speaker 2: hat and tap danced for the master. And there's nothing 304 00:21:09,636 --> 00:21:15,716 Speaker 2: so unforgivable as that, is there, Except I'm not so sure. 305 00:21:28,236 --> 00:21:32,636 Speaker 12: I had been given at the opportunity through a company 306 00:21:32,676 --> 00:21:36,676 Speaker 12: that I was consulting to to interview the first women 307 00:21:37,036 --> 00:21:38,236 Speaker 12: entering their sales force. 308 00:21:38,636 --> 00:21:42,396 Speaker 2: That's Rosabeth Canter. She's a professor at the Harvard Business School, 309 00:21:42,796 --> 00:21:45,116 Speaker 2: talking about a research project she did back in the 310 00:21:45,196 --> 00:21:49,756 Speaker 2: nineteen seventies. It was for a big industrial firm headquartered 311 00:21:49,756 --> 00:21:52,116 Speaker 2: at the time in New York City. They had a 312 00:21:52,116 --> 00:21:55,836 Speaker 2: sales force of three hundred people, all men, and they 313 00:21:55,996 --> 00:21:57,476 Speaker 2: just hired twenty women. 314 00:21:57,916 --> 00:22:00,676 Speaker 12: And so here was a batch of people who all 315 00:22:00,796 --> 00:22:04,836 Speaker 12: had advanced degrees and were very technically talented, and yet 316 00:22:04,836 --> 00:22:08,236 Speaker 12: they were walking into technical sales in a place that 317 00:22:08,316 --> 00:22:10,356 Speaker 12: had never seen people like them before. 318 00:22:13,116 --> 00:22:16,516 Speaker 2: The women were struggling. That's why the company brought in 319 00:22:16,596 --> 00:22:20,356 Speaker 2: Cantor to diagnose the problem. She showed up with her 320 00:22:20,396 --> 00:22:24,196 Speaker 2: notebook and began talking with the new hires, and after 321 00:22:24,236 --> 00:22:28,436 Speaker 2: many interviews, Canter tells the company, the reason the women 322 00:22:28,476 --> 00:22:31,756 Speaker 2: you hired aren't doing well is that you haven't hired 323 00:22:32,036 --> 00:22:36,196 Speaker 2: enough of them. This isn't about the women and their abilities, 324 00:22:36,836 --> 00:22:42,156 Speaker 2: this is about numbers. The company had its salesforce spread 325 00:22:42,196 --> 00:22:46,236 Speaker 2: across the country. A typical office was eight people, which 326 00:22:46,276 --> 00:22:50,076 Speaker 2: meant seven men and only one woman. And Canter's point 327 00:22:50,276 --> 00:22:52,996 Speaker 2: was that it's really really hard to be the lone 328 00:22:53,116 --> 00:22:54,996 Speaker 2: woman in an office of eight people. 329 00:22:56,036 --> 00:22:59,316 Speaker 12: And I thought, that's really the issue. Are you alone 330 00:23:00,116 --> 00:23:02,236 Speaker 12: or are there many of you like you? 331 00:23:03,716 --> 00:23:06,836 Speaker 2: Kant wrote up her findings in a classic essay called 332 00:23:07,276 --> 00:23:11,516 Speaker 2: Some Effects of Proportion on Group Life. Being the only 333 00:23:11,556 --> 00:23:15,036 Speaker 2: one of your kind, she said, being a token creates 334 00:23:15,116 --> 00:23:19,316 Speaker 2: a special set of problems for both sides, for the 335 00:23:19,316 --> 00:23:24,156 Speaker 2: majority and for the token. The women told Canter that 336 00:23:24,276 --> 00:23:26,316 Speaker 2: the minute they showed up in a room, the men 337 00:23:26,356 --> 00:23:30,156 Speaker 2: on the sales team would become almost exaggerated versions of themselves, 338 00:23:30,676 --> 00:23:34,156 Speaker 2: telling dirty jokes, war stories, being aggressive, as if the 339 00:23:34,156 --> 00:23:37,756 Speaker 2: presence of an outsider reinforced what they all had in common. 340 00:23:39,236 --> 00:23:42,636 Speaker 2: At the same time, the women felt their behavior changing. 341 00:23:43,356 --> 00:23:47,596 Speaker 2: They felt scrutinized not as individuals, but as members of 342 00:23:47,636 --> 00:23:53,636 Speaker 2: their category, which left them self conscious uneasy. In one 343 00:23:53,756 --> 00:23:56,956 Speaker 2: brilliant section of her paper, Canter talks about the four 344 00:23:57,076 --> 00:24:01,076 Speaker 2: roles that token women get pushed into, the mother, the pet, 345 00:24:01,436 --> 00:24:05,876 Speaker 2: the seductress, and the iron maiden. They couldn't be themselves, 346 00:24:06,516 --> 00:24:08,996 Speaker 2: not until the proportions of the group turned more of 347 00:24:09,196 --> 00:24:09,756 Speaker 2: their favor. 348 00:24:10,356 --> 00:24:14,596 Speaker 12: So you put that same lone woman in a group 349 00:24:14,676 --> 00:24:17,996 Speaker 12: that has more women in it, and she can relax. 350 00:24:18,076 --> 00:24:21,076 Speaker 12: She's not on the spot. She can be friends with some. 351 00:24:21,516 --> 00:24:23,916 Speaker 12: She doesn't have to be friends with all of them. 352 00:24:24,156 --> 00:24:26,516 Speaker 12: She can find things in common with the men. 353 00:24:27,516 --> 00:24:30,956 Speaker 2: To fit in. The token has to pass a loyalty test, 354 00:24:31,556 --> 00:24:37,156 Speaker 2: Kenta writes. If tokens collude, they make themselves psychological hostages 355 00:24:37,236 --> 00:24:40,796 Speaker 2: of the majority group. For token women, the price of 356 00:24:40,876 --> 00:24:43,756 Speaker 2: being one of the boys is a willingness to turn 357 00:24:43,756 --> 00:24:48,676 Speaker 2: occasionally against the girls. The token woman, in other words, 358 00:24:49,036 --> 00:24:53,556 Speaker 2: is required to sell out her own kind required. That 359 00:24:53,756 --> 00:24:56,996 Speaker 2: was the cost of admission to the Master's house. Being 360 00:24:57,236 --> 00:25:00,596 Speaker 2: one of the boys was not who they were, it 361 00:25:00,756 --> 00:25:03,996 Speaker 2: was what they were forced to be. So why is 362 00:25:04,036 --> 00:25:06,476 Speaker 2: Sammy Davis Junior's position any different? 363 00:25:08,316 --> 00:25:12,636 Speaker 9: In his mind, he was pushing aside white black for 364 00:25:12,756 --> 00:25:14,756 Speaker 9: green green bean money. 365 00:25:15,196 --> 00:25:17,716 Speaker 2: Will Haygood, Sammy's biographer. 366 00:25:17,836 --> 00:25:22,316 Speaker 9: He started his career with really literally having to put 367 00:25:22,436 --> 00:25:26,996 Speaker 9: food on the table to keep his daddy surviving and 368 00:25:27,036 --> 00:25:31,516 Speaker 9: to keep will Maston surviving. He did not want to 369 00:25:31,636 --> 00:25:36,996 Speaker 9: let them go. And so who would Sammy talk to 370 00:25:37,716 --> 00:25:42,516 Speaker 9: every day? Who signed his checks? White businessman? 371 00:25:43,436 --> 00:25:46,556 Speaker 2: And who was in the audience in those Las Vegas nightclubs, 372 00:25:47,436 --> 00:25:52,316 Speaker 2: rich white people. Sammy does Laurence Olivia impressions because that's 373 00:25:52,396 --> 00:25:56,316 Speaker 2: what white audiences wanted to hear. He becomes friends with 374 00:25:56,436 --> 00:25:59,996 Speaker 2: Richard Nixon, and who is Richard Nixon? Richard Nixon is 375 00:26:00,036 --> 00:26:03,836 Speaker 2: the political embodiment of those people in his Las Vegas audience. 376 00:26:04,476 --> 00:26:07,036 Speaker 9: He didn't know the kind of judges who Nixon was 377 00:26:07,076 --> 00:26:10,676 Speaker 9: appointing to the federal courts or to the Supreme Court. 378 00:26:11,036 --> 00:26:15,876 Speaker 9: He didn't know Nixon's Southern strategy to divide and conquer 379 00:26:16,436 --> 00:26:22,956 Speaker 9: all Sammy knew was Nixon welcomed me wherever I was at. 380 00:26:23,436 --> 00:26:26,836 Speaker 2: By the way, Sammy campaigned for John Kennedy ten years 381 00:26:26,876 --> 00:26:30,596 Speaker 2: before he campaigned for Nixon. But did Kennedy ever invite 382 00:26:30,636 --> 00:26:33,316 Speaker 2: him to stay at the White House like Nixon did. No, 383 00:26:33,796 --> 00:26:38,196 Speaker 2: Kennedy disinvited him from his inauguration because he worried about 384 00:26:38,236 --> 00:26:40,676 Speaker 2: what it would look like if Sammy brought his white 385 00:26:40,796 --> 00:26:44,676 Speaker 2: wife to the White House. Sammy had to make strategic 386 00:26:44,796 --> 00:26:49,916 Speaker 2: decisions out of necessity. These are the steps the token 387 00:26:50,036 --> 00:26:58,436 Speaker 2: takes to survive, but they aren't who he is. Sammy 388 00:26:58,476 --> 00:27:02,116 Speaker 2: marched on Washington, he marched at Selma. He shut down 389 00:27:02,156 --> 00:27:05,316 Speaker 2: a Broadway show to make the trip. Will Haygood says 390 00:27:05,596 --> 00:27:09,516 Speaker 2: that when he interviewed Harry Belafonte, Bellefonte made up point 391 00:27:09,596 --> 00:27:12,956 Speaker 2: of stressing how generous Sammy was to the civil rights movement. 392 00:27:15,436 --> 00:27:22,356 Speaker 9: Whenever Keen was in trouble or was jailed, or whenever 393 00:27:22,596 --> 00:27:28,556 Speaker 9: Keen needed bail money, Martin would turn to me and 394 00:27:28,636 --> 00:27:34,436 Speaker 9: he would say, get Sammy, and the next day Sammy 395 00:27:34,516 --> 00:27:39,796 Speaker 9: Davis Junior would wire them ten thousand dollars or seven 396 00:27:39,836 --> 00:27:44,196 Speaker 9: thousand dollars or however much money Keen needed. You know, 397 00:27:44,276 --> 00:27:46,636 Speaker 9: and that was a lot of money. Back in the sixties. 398 00:27:49,116 --> 00:27:51,836 Speaker 2: When Sammy Davis comes on stage at the Push Expo, 399 00:27:52,436 --> 00:27:55,716 Speaker 2: what does Jesse Jackson say, in an attempt to quiet 400 00:27:55,756 --> 00:28:00,956 Speaker 2: the crowd, Brothers, if it wasn't for people like Sammy Davis, 401 00:28:01,476 --> 00:28:05,236 Speaker 2: you wouldn't be here. We wouldn't have Push today. Now, 402 00:28:05,436 --> 00:28:08,356 Speaker 2: I expected some foolish people who are going to react 403 00:28:08,396 --> 00:28:10,716 Speaker 2: like this because this man hugged the President of the 404 00:28:10,796 --> 00:28:14,916 Speaker 2: United States. So what Look at what this gigantic little 405 00:28:14,916 --> 00:28:20,356 Speaker 2: man has committed himself to over all these years, Sammy 406 00:28:20,436 --> 00:28:23,636 Speaker 2: saying I gotta be me. But the minute you listen 407 00:28:23,716 --> 00:28:26,596 Speaker 2: to any of his interviews from that tortured stretch of 408 00:28:26,636 --> 00:28:31,036 Speaker 2: his career, you realize that he couldn't be me. That 409 00:28:31,196 --> 00:28:32,236 Speaker 2: was the price he paid. 410 00:28:33,796 --> 00:28:36,036 Speaker 11: Was there a period, though, Sammy, where you felt I 411 00:28:36,156 --> 00:28:39,996 Speaker 11: must prove something to a certain group of people. They've 412 00:28:40,036 --> 00:28:41,516 Speaker 11: got to know something about me. 413 00:28:43,396 --> 00:28:46,796 Speaker 4: I guess the first forty five years of my life 414 00:28:47,396 --> 00:28:48,396 Speaker 4: you were doing just that. 415 00:28:48,396 --> 00:28:52,236 Speaker 10: That's all I was doing. Ladies and gentlemen. 416 00:28:52,596 --> 00:28:54,596 Speaker 7: From the Celebrity Room of the Grand. 417 00:28:54,316 --> 00:28:58,356 Speaker 14: Hotel, Dean Martin honors our Man of the Hour, Sammy 418 00:28:58,476 --> 00:29:02,876 Speaker 14: Davis Junior, with to night guest Ready brim. 419 00:29:02,916 --> 00:29:07,956 Speaker 2: First came the hug, then came the booing and Operation Push, 420 00:29:08,316 --> 00:29:10,236 Speaker 2: then came to roast. 421 00:29:10,956 --> 00:29:15,076 Speaker 14: And Tonight's very special Man of the Hour, Sammy Davis. 422 00:29:14,796 --> 00:29:21,476 Speaker 2: Junior, the singer and comedian Dean Martin, did a regular 423 00:29:21,516 --> 00:29:24,836 Speaker 2: series of celebrity roasts from Las Vegas during the nineteen seventies. 424 00:29:25,756 --> 00:29:30,236 Speaker 2: They were broadcast on NBC on Thursday nights National Television. 425 00:29:30,956 --> 00:29:33,836 Speaker 2: The featured guests were a who's who of that era, 426 00:29:34,436 --> 00:29:38,836 Speaker 2: Muhammad Ali, Ralph Nader, Frank Sinatra, Truman Capoti. It was 427 00:29:38,876 --> 00:29:43,076 Speaker 2: a ritual of comic humiliation. The guests took their medicine 428 00:29:43,476 --> 00:29:47,516 Speaker 2: the country watched in mock horror. In April of nineteen 429 00:29:47,596 --> 00:29:52,716 Speaker 2: seventy five, it was Sammy Davis Junior's turn at the microphone. 430 00:29:53,036 --> 00:29:56,876 Speaker 2: Is the host Dean Martin of rat Pack Fame, big tall, 431 00:29:56,956 --> 00:29:59,996 Speaker 2: handsome guy. His stick was that he always pretended he 432 00:30:00,036 --> 00:30:01,876 Speaker 2: was drunk even when he was. 433 00:30:02,676 --> 00:30:06,556 Speaker 6: And then recognition of one of the great black men 434 00:30:06,596 --> 00:30:11,276 Speaker 6: of our time. Even the NBC peacock is wearing an airfro. 435 00:30:15,036 --> 00:30:18,596 Speaker 2: Why does Sammy agree to this for the same reason 436 00:30:18,676 --> 00:30:22,636 Speaker 2: he hugged Richard Nixon. Because the world represented by the 437 00:30:22,716 --> 00:30:26,236 Speaker 2: roast was the world Sammy has been trying his whole 438 00:30:26,236 --> 00:30:29,876 Speaker 2: life to join. It's the club. And what is a 439 00:30:29,876 --> 00:30:34,276 Speaker 2: celebrity roast. It's a ritual of initiation. The target of 440 00:30:34,316 --> 00:30:37,916 Speaker 2: the roast agrees to be roasted because being roasted is 441 00:30:38,076 --> 00:30:42,756 Speaker 2: proof that you belong. Only what does this roast prove 442 00:30:44,236 --> 00:30:46,796 Speaker 2: that Sammy isn't one of them? 443 00:30:47,476 --> 00:30:50,796 Speaker 6: The first booking he got was in Atlanta. As Sami 444 00:30:50,876 --> 00:30:53,236 Speaker 6: stepped off the plane, he was met by the governor 445 00:30:53,716 --> 00:31:01,756 Speaker 6: and a rope. Even the kreuplus Klan took notice of Sammy. 446 00:31:02,076 --> 00:31:11,556 Speaker 6: They voted him most likely to be next. He proves 447 00:31:11,596 --> 00:31:15,116 Speaker 6: that a black man could heat in white restaurants, check 448 00:31:15,156 --> 00:31:19,196 Speaker 6: into white hotels, date white women, and be carried away 449 00:31:19,196 --> 00:31:20,396 Speaker 6: in a white ambulance. 450 00:31:25,756 --> 00:31:29,236 Speaker 2: Then Deeed Martin pretends to read telegrams from well wishers. 451 00:31:29,756 --> 00:31:32,276 Speaker 6: Here's one I think you're going to be very proud of. 452 00:31:32,356 --> 00:31:37,076 Speaker 6: There's Sammy Davis. We'd like you to pose for a 453 00:31:37,156 --> 00:31:41,596 Speaker 6: new centerfold in our magazine, signed the National Geographic. 454 00:31:45,076 --> 00:31:49,316 Speaker 2: It goes like this on National TV for an hour. 455 00:31:53,276 --> 00:31:55,916 Speaker 2: Sammy had done everything he could to join the club, 456 00:31:56,276 --> 00:31:58,836 Speaker 2: and yet what are the jokes about that day at 457 00:31:58,876 --> 00:32:03,676 Speaker 2: the mgm Grand that he doesn't belong, that he's black, 458 00:32:03,916 --> 00:32:08,676 Speaker 2: and he'll always be black. Sammy sold out, But you 459 00:32:08,676 --> 00:32:10,956 Speaker 2: can only sell out if someone's buying. 460 00:32:11,836 --> 00:32:12,556 Speaker 5: You took your glass. 461 00:32:12,596 --> 00:32:16,196 Speaker 8: You're getting tired, Sammy. I want to take a watermelon break. 462 00:32:17,796 --> 00:32:21,596 Speaker 2: That's Milton Burrel, supposedly one of Sammy's oldest friends. 463 00:32:21,916 --> 00:32:24,396 Speaker 8: The reason I say that is because Sammy hasn't been 464 00:32:24,396 --> 00:32:27,316 Speaker 8: feeling well lately. Last month he had an operation on 465 00:32:27,356 --> 00:32:29,596 Speaker 8: his throat and that had a problem that had a 466 00:32:29,676 --> 00:32:34,036 Speaker 8: roll over and flour to find his mouth. Sam the 467 00:32:34,076 --> 00:32:35,676 Speaker 8: last time you had cash in your hand, this is 468 00:32:35,716 --> 00:32:37,636 Speaker 8: when you bought your freedom from Scarlet O'Hara. 469 00:32:39,316 --> 00:32:41,276 Speaker 6: Sammy has always been for civil rights. 470 00:32:41,516 --> 00:32:44,236 Speaker 1: One time in Mississippi, he told the bus driver that 471 00:32:44,316 --> 00:32:46,196 Speaker 1: he wanted to be on the front of the bus, 472 00:32:46,396 --> 00:32:47,956 Speaker 1: so the driver tied him to the bumper. 473 00:32:53,476 --> 00:32:56,916 Speaker 2: Next up Foster Brooks, a man with a brief moment 474 00:32:56,916 --> 00:33:00,836 Speaker 2: of celebrity based entirely on his ability, born of experience, 475 00:33:01,156 --> 00:33:05,156 Speaker 2: to impersonate a drunk Sammy Davis had more talent in 476 00:33:05,196 --> 00:33:09,836 Speaker 2: his pinky finger than Foster Brooks. But sam isn't a 477 00:33:09,876 --> 00:33:14,716 Speaker 2: member of the club, and Brooks is messidius. 478 00:33:17,316 --> 00:33:21,596 Speaker 6: You are a great performer. The excitement you create and 479 00:33:21,716 --> 00:33:28,836 Speaker 6: an audience is increditable. There they sit spell bounds, wondering 480 00:33:28,876 --> 00:33:34,556 Speaker 6: if someone in your entourage is ransacking their room. 481 00:33:34,596 --> 00:33:38,716 Speaker 2: Cut to Sammy cracking up on the dais then giving 482 00:33:38,796 --> 00:33:43,476 Speaker 2: Brooks a big semi style hug, arms wrapped around him. 483 00:33:43,916 --> 00:33:48,716 Speaker 6: I'm dancing for pennies to that magnificent moment when Frank's 484 00:33:48,836 --> 00:33:51,876 Speaker 6: not reformed down to the lobby and said, send the 485 00:33:51,916 --> 00:33:53,756 Speaker 6: colored kid after dance while I shave you. 486 00:33:58,356 --> 00:34:02,236 Speaker 2: Remember what Rooseabeth Kanter wrote for token women. The price 487 00:34:02,316 --> 00:34:05,076 Speaker 2: of being one of the boys is a willingness to 488 00:34:05,116 --> 00:34:09,876 Speaker 2: turn occasionally against the girls. And then she writes a 489 00:34:09,916 --> 00:34:12,636 Speaker 2: line that I couldn't stop thinking about as I watched 490 00:34:12,676 --> 00:34:18,516 Speaker 2: that roast. Tokens thus find themselves colluding with dominance through 491 00:34:18,716 --> 00:34:29,196 Speaker 2: shared laughter. At the end of the evening, Sammy gets 492 00:34:29,236 --> 00:34:31,716 Speaker 2: up and there's a moment when you think he's going 493 00:34:31,796 --> 00:34:35,036 Speaker 2: to lash out, to stand up to the humiliations of 494 00:34:35,076 --> 00:34:39,396 Speaker 2: the previous hour. But we only think that because it's 495 00:34:39,556 --> 00:34:44,676 Speaker 2: now The doors are now open to black entertainers, So 496 00:34:44,716 --> 00:34:48,756 Speaker 2: that's what would happen today. Can you imagine how Chris 497 00:34:48,836 --> 00:34:51,836 Speaker 2: Rock or Dave Chappelle or Wanda Sykes or Tiffany Hattish 498 00:34:51,876 --> 00:34:55,276 Speaker 2: would respond to an evening like that, I mean a bloodbath. 499 00:34:56,196 --> 00:35:00,636 Speaker 2: But Rock has Chappelle, and Chappelle has Sikes, and Sikes 500 00:35:00,676 --> 00:35:04,476 Speaker 2: has Hattish and one hundred others. And when you have numbers, 501 00:35:04,596 --> 00:35:10,556 Speaker 2: you have power. But Sammy, Sammy was the first. He 502 00:35:10,596 --> 00:35:14,476 Speaker 2: didn't have numbers. It's the second generation that gets to 503 00:35:14,516 --> 00:35:16,596 Speaker 2: defend itself, not the first. 504 00:35:18,476 --> 00:35:23,476 Speaker 4: Thank you, I would first of all, I have to 505 00:35:23,596 --> 00:35:27,556 Speaker 4: thank man that I love very very much for giving 506 00:35:27,596 --> 00:35:32,036 Speaker 4: me this honor, mister Dean Martin. 507 00:35:39,116 --> 00:35:42,156 Speaker 2: He turns to Dean Martin, who's sitting next to him. 508 00:35:42,476 --> 00:35:46,316 Speaker 2: Dean Martin reaches up and places his hand on top 509 00:35:46,316 --> 00:35:48,436 Speaker 2: of Sammy's. 510 00:35:48,476 --> 00:35:51,156 Speaker 5: One of the great joys of being forty five years 511 00:35:51,156 --> 00:35:55,436 Speaker 5: in this business is to have people who love you 512 00:35:56,276 --> 00:36:00,116 Speaker 5: make fun of you. That is one of the great joys. 513 00:36:00,596 --> 00:36:04,596 Speaker 5: Because the day they don't make fun of you, that 514 00:36:04,716 --> 00:36:09,076 Speaker 5: means they don't give a damn about you. 515 00:36:10,956 --> 00:36:14,476 Speaker 2: The token succeeds at the cost of his own dignity. 516 00:36:14,996 --> 00:36:18,116 Speaker 4: Hi, thank you, that's it. 517 00:36:18,596 --> 00:36:51,876 Speaker 2: A Revisionist History is a Panoply production. The senior producer 518 00:36:51,956 --> 00:36:56,316 Speaker 2: is Mia Lobel, with Jacob Smith and Camille Baptista. Our 519 00:36:56,436 --> 00:37:00,276 Speaker 2: editor is Julia Barton. Flon Williams is our engineer. Fact 520 00:37:00,316 --> 00:37:04,236 Speaker 2: checking by Beth Johnson. Original music by Luis Skierra, Special 521 00:37:04,276 --> 00:37:06,956 Speaker 2: thanks to Andy Bauers and Jacob Weisberg. 522 00:37:07,756 --> 00:37:20,396 Speaker 14: I'm Malcolm Glavo, and on stage we can see a 523 00:37:20,436 --> 00:37:22,956 Speaker 14: manager who seems to be waiting for the president and 524 00:37:23,036 --> 00:37:25,636 Speaker 14: waiting to get signals when mister Nixon will ride here. 525 00:37:26,276 --> 00:37:28,516 Speaker 14: He keeps looking at Sammy Davis Junior. 526 00:37:28,276 --> 00:37:31,596 Speaker 13: With a very prolonged look, shaking his hand saying no, 527 00:37:31,716 --> 00:37:35,076 Speaker 13: he's not here yet. So we continue to stand by. 528 00:37:35,196 --> 00:37:38,036 Speaker 13: The young people here have not run out of enthusiasm, 529 00:37:38,636 --> 00:37:42,196 Speaker 13: and certainly once again we are seeing that young people 530 00:37:42,236 --> 00:37:44,716 Speaker 13: of this country may differ on politics. They may be 531 00:37:44,836 --> 00:37:48,476 Speaker 13: Democrats or Republicans, but when you put a fast, hardbeat 532 00:37:48,516 --> 00:37:51,516 Speaker 13: to music, that is the universal song of politics for 533 00:37:51,556 --> 00:37:55,676 Speaker 13: the young people of this country.