Black-ish (2014) s02e16 Episode Script
Hope
1 Dre: It's a big world.
And from place to place, it's pretty different.
[Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" plays.]
But no matter where we're from, the experiences, conversations, and images we see have an effect on us.
They make us curious.
As a child, it's only natural that that curiosity makes us question what's going on in the world.
So we bring those questions, some of them hard questions, to our parents.
As a parent, dealing with those hard questions used to be a lot easier.
Turn the damn TV off, boy.
Yeah, me wanna holler But now, things have changed.
Between gossip blogs, the Internet, and 24-hour news, it's become impossible to control what our kids see.
And they're naturally curious.
Trigger-happy policing So at some point, whether we like it or not, our kids are going to ask questions that we have to answer.
Why are these people so mad? Ohh, make me want to holler The way they do my life Yeah, make me want to holler The way they do my life Ohh, yeah Because the police are damn thugs.
Not all police.
Yeah, only 92%.
The other 8% are advisors on "Law & Order" episodes.
Okay! Guys, why don't you go to the kitchen, get some to-go menus, and see if you can find us something good to have for dinner tonight.
Why even bother? We're just gonna end up at Chipotle again.
We cannot let that happen.
Well, why don't you go find something good, then? [Sighs.]
See what we can find, huh? Thank you.
You know, you can try and mask the problems of this world in savory barbacoa meat and floury tortillas if you choose, Rainbow, but it doesn't change the fact the police in this country have a problem with Black folks.
Thank you, Mama.
It's a little more nuanced than that, Dad.
Thank you, Junior.
I can't wait until a cop gets ahold of your ass.
Police definitely have a place in society, but with almost 1,000 police-related fatalities and billions of dollars - in misconduct settlements - Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
There might be some issues.
Boom! That's my boy.
Ha-ha! I taught him that.
What? [All grumbling.]
No, you didn't.
I got most of what I learned from Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Well, he probably got it from me.
Just because I didn't write it down Or say it out loud.
Or ever think it.
What's going on? Oh, they're about to say whether there's gonna be an indictment in the McQuillan case.
Oh, I think I heard about that.
What do you mean, you think you heard about that? It's been all over the news.
It's the one where they shot the kid in the middle of the street, right? Mnh-mnh, mnh-mnh.
That was Chicago.
Oh, is this the guy that got shot in front of the college at the traffic stop? No, that was Charleston.
- Charleston? - No, Charleston was the unarmed guy who got shot in the back.
- Cincy was the traffic stop.
- Oh, yeah.
Well, wait, then what was New York? Oh, New York was the unarmed guy who was selling cigarettes - that got choked.
- Cigarettes! Yeah, this is the unarmed guy who was selling DVDs that got tased 37 times.
Wow.
Is he okay? He got tased 37 times, so, you know, he's not great.
- Mm.
- And I'm not in any way saying that this justifies what happened, but I think it's important that you know the only two movie titles that he had were "Trainwreck" and "Chi-Raq," so Oh, my God, I loved "Trainwreck.
" Loved? Are you kidding me? That Marv Albert scene? - So funny, right? - Crazy.
What movie was that from? Well first, LeBron was And don't even get me started on the plot holes.
Would you two shut up?! Thank you! "Chi-Raq" is clearly the reason the boy was tased.
- Ruby! - Horrible movie.
[Laughs.]
Just awful.
Come on, now.
Zoey: All right, then.
Well, I will be in my room, doing my Spanish homework before my teacher tases me.
What? Excuse me, baby.
That is not funny.
And no.
This is important.
We're all going to sit and watch it together.
- Dad, I don't - Ah, ah, ah! - Sit down! - Okay.
Lemon: So with accusations of officer misconduct rising from coast to coast, crowds around the country are tensely awaiting the decision regarding an indictment.
Is anyone gonna explain to us what's happening? Uh, hey, you got to keep looking through those menus.
Are you done? No.
Okay.
Hey, Dre, can I talk to you for a second? Yeah, babe.
So, find us something really good, and no Indian.
Oh, hey, or Chinese.
- I can't do Italian.
- I'm a no-go on sushi.
I am so tired of playing this game.
We all know where we're going! Dre, what are we gonna tell them? The truth.
They're children.
They're not just children, Bow.
- They're Black children.
- Oh, boy.
And they need to know the world that they're living in.
Come on, Bow.
Think.
Dre, I'm not clueless here.
All right, the twins are just still so little.
And I'm not ready for them to think and see the world the way you do.
I mean, come on.
Jack still thinks that when you swallow a piece of gum, it grows a gum tree in your stomach.
[Chuckles.]
Gum tree.
- Yeah.
- Kids.
But it does take seven years for it to digest, right? Oh, my God.
But that Pop Rocks kid, he He's dead, right, Bow? Man.
I can't believe these cops saying they thought this kid had a gun.
Um, he actually did have a gun, Pops.
It wasn't loaded, and it was in the trunk, but he did have one.
Well, regardless, those dirty cops still didn't have no damn good reason to pull him over in the first place.
You mean other than the fact that he was driving 90 miles an hour? 90? Pssh.
I was driving 90 miles an hour with a gun in my trunk last week.
What's the point of being 25 if you can't make a few mistakes? He's 17.
Pops, do you know anything about this case? I'm old enough to know when I'm hearing the same story told a different way.
Police beating up on an unarmed Black man that's a story I've been hearing all my life.
Yeah.
Coates says that the violence and police brutality isn't new it's just that the cameras are.
Well, this fella Coates sounds like he knows what he's talking about.
Now, hold up.
I said the exact same thing five minutes ago.
Police are acting like this is something new! The only thing new is that people are recording this! I don't remember that.
You remember that? Yeah, it's not really ringing a bell for me, Dad.
Zoey, back me up! Dad, I'm trying to make sure this P.
F.
Chang's menu doesn't get any traction.
[Groans.]
Pops, all I'm saying is the boy reads one book, and all of a sudden, he's an expert on all things Black.
Boy, you did the same thing when you was his age.
Or don't you remember "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"? We didn't land on Plymouth Rock! Plymouth Rock landed on us! Malcolm X was a revolutionary.
There would be no Ta-Nehisi whatever his name is had there not been a Malcolm X! Well, there wouldn't be no funny-named colored boys if it wasn't for good old James Baldwin.
He was talking about the same stuff we're talking about now 50 years ago.
Who's James Baldwin? Yeah, see? This is what not giving out surprise ass-whoopings gets you, this right here.
Listen, son.
I'm glad to see that you're taking an interest in the world and what's going on in it, man, but just having a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
All right, you need to take the time and get the full picture.
All right, this is serious stuff, son.
Kids are dying in the street! Hold up.
Kids are dying? We're kids! [Sighs.]
Why is everybody acting surprised that we can hear the conversation? I mean, they're right there.
Basically inches away.
Zoey, can you take them into the dining room and look at the menus in there? Sure.
Maybe we should just go look at them in the garage.
All right, okay.
Or how about we go to a neighbor's house? That's as good a place as any to pretend we can't hear things being shouted across the room.
Okay.
Go in there.
Yeah.
Thank you.
What are you guys doing? Here comes Rae Dawn Chong.
Hey, can we please not freak the kids out without giving justice a chance to be served? And what's that supposed to mean? Look, I know that a lot of stuff has let us down recently, but the evidence in this case is pretty clear.
And? And maybe if we take a beat and let the system work, we can hold off on having to unpack all of this ugliness for two kids that have plenty of time to see all of that and more.
Look, here, sweetheart, you're my daughter-in-law, and you know I love you.
I think you're just about the prettiest, smartest woman I know.
- Thank you.
- And I'm often at a loss as to why you married my son.
I'm sure you had plenty of offers athletes, doctors.
Pops.
There were like three.
Were you trying to get to something? Oh, yes.
Bow, if you're asking us to lie to Jack and Diane, - I can't support you on that, darling.
- Mnh-mnh.
I'm not asking you to lie to them.
I just want to give them a little faith in the world.
You know, help them hold on to their innocence and be kids for a little while longer.
[Chuckles.]
See, you want to soft-pedal the real.
I didn't soft-pedal the real with you, Dre, and you turned out just fine.
Ma, who's Jeffrey Dahmer? Ma, who's Lorena Bobbitt? Ma, who's Peabo Bryson? I celebrate You're right.
So we will do this your way for now.
Because Lord knows I did not need to know about Peabo Bryson.
Yeah.
Well, Peabo turns me on.
[Chuckles.]
It's all I'm saying.
It appears a decision about the indictment has been made and is about to be announced.
What's an indictment? - Well - Oh, okay, well, listen.
It seems as if some people that were supposed to protect us didn't do the right thing.
But it doesn't happen very often.
It happens all the time.
It doesn't happen very often.
But this time, it did.
And if it did, then they're gonna get in trouble.
So, the cops are the bad guys? - Yes.
- No.
No.
Some of them are.
- It's a gray area.
- Yeah.
Charcoal gray.
Basically black.
The point is that if something bad happened, then that's why we have laws and trials, and we just let the justice system do its job.
- Yeah.
- Come on, come on, come on.
Lemon: We take you now to the courthouse.
Man: Good evening.
The grand jury has had a chance to review the case and the evidence and have decided against the idea - that either the arguments - You've got to be - What the hell?! - Or the evidence supported the filing of - Come on! Any criminal charges against any of the officers in this Turn it off.
Turn it off! Kids, this is your justice system doing its job.
Pops: Same old story.
I don't understand.
Yeah, how did this happen? [Sighs.]
And how did P.
F.
Chang's get back in the mix? I thought I threw this away.
Won't you help to sing? Dre: Hope is what keeps us as a people and a country moving forward.
And, sadly, the best way to end that movement is to take away that hope.
That hope, at its core, is all we really have to give our children, a belief in something better.
Redemption song But when everything around them is doing its best to squash that belief, what do you do? I cannot believe this keeps happening.
I can't believe you're surprised it keeps happening.
I know that this is bad.
But, you guys, despite its flaws, we still have the best justice system in the whole world.
We just have to have faith that it's gonna work itself out.
Yeah, right.
Right.
And And And And why should we listen to you, again, Bow? Because you just assured us that these men would be brought to justice.
Because I hoped that they would.
Why, Bow? Wh-When has it ever worked for us, huh? When do we ever get a win? How about O.
J.
? Oh, there it is.
That's low even for you, Rainbow.
Dre: No, Ma, no.
Not at all.
You know, this is actually a perfect example.
It shows how Black people were so desperate for a win that we had to root for this idiot.
- Whoo! - Before then, we were 0-10 million.
And, you know, let's not forget that the glove didn't fit.
- Exactly.
- Did not fit.
- No! - Yeah, but, no I'm just trying, for the sake of our children, to find a silver lining here.
And you know what? Let's not forget that statistically speaking, the system works more than it doesn't.
Well, according to these statistics, 25% of police shootings in L.
A.
County from 2010 to 2014 were of unarmed suspects.
What? The police are shooting people with no arms? Why am I just now hearing about this? No, Jack, "unarmed" means he didn't have a weapon.
Of course he didn't have a weapon.
He had no arms.
[All groaning.]
You know, I-I got this one.
I got this one, guys.
Jack, Jack.
You ever think how lucky you are to be born with two healthy arms? - Yeah.
- Okay.
Can I just play Devil's Advocate here for a second? Bow, why must you always advocate for the Devil? He does not need help with his legal team.
Lucifer's curly-haired lawyer.
Okay, obviously I am anti-police brutality.
But that doesn't mean I have to be anti-the-police.
Look, 25% of these suspects are unarmed, which is horrible.
- Mm-hmm.
- But that means that 75% of them were armed.
The police have to deal with that every day.
Oh, Lord.
I guess what you're saying makes sense, - but isn't that their job, Mom? - Yeah.
I mean, if you killed one out of every four of your patients, wouldn't that make you a pretty bad doctor? You mean she doesn't kill one out of every four of her patients? Look here, my Daddy told me every morning I left the house there's only two kind of people you got to worry about the police and thugs.
I wasn't worried about the thugs.
Hell, I married one.
Well, all I know is that I'm still terrified of the police.
Well, that's very interesting, coming from a man who is on a first-name basis with all the cops that patrol our neighborhood.
Officer Joe? Officer Joe: Speaking.
Hey, it's me Dre.
What's wrong now, Dre? I heard a noise.
Really? Again? Yes, again.
[Groans.]
All right.
Could you come out here and check it out? - Now? - Just use your key.
I have a sneaker collection to protect.
And it looks like we're getting word now of protests across the country becoming violent.
Reports of small fires and looting in Los Angeles.
It's gonna be a long night.
I'm gonna go get some food.
I am assuming it is Chipotle.
All: Yes.
Uh-huh.
Where's the Chipotle? I canceled the order.
[All grumbling.]
All right, listen, listen, listen.
I heard on the radio it's really getting bad out there.
Now, trust me, I've been in my share of riots, okay? And you don't want to be eating Mexican food during a lockdown.
Made that mistake during the Lakers championship riot.
You want bland-palate items that keep the toilets moving, binding foods rice, government cheese vodka to drink and to wash your hands with.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah, I see all that over there.
W-W-What's this? Riot cash.
What? These are filled with silver nickels and gold charm bracelets from past lovers.
Now, trust me, precious metals and sexual favors are the only currency during times of civil unrest.
Damn, woman, I taught you well.
[Laughs.]
You get the rest of the stuff? Oh, yeah.
In the trunk.
[Coin bags thud.]
- Kevlar vests.
- Mm-hmm.
- Tear gas.
- Mm-hmm.
- Hollow-tipped ammunition.
- Mmm.
I got nails and 2x4s to secure the entrances.
Outstanding.
Now, don't get me wrong, Rainbow.
Part of me is hoping folks come in here and steal some of this hideous furniture.
But I still got to protect my grandkids.
Junior: Turn it up, Dad.
Who's this? Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Coates: the long history of criminalizing Black people Oh.
In this country, which did not begin with Eric Garner - What's he saying? - which did not begin with Tamir Rice, which did not begin with John Crawford.
This is a very, very old tradition.
Unbelievable.
Where is CNN when I'm saying that stuff? The same place Def Jam is when you're rapping in the shower.
You think you dope, soap? You got no hope, soap Shampooing is what I'm doing You can't cope, nope The point is, these protestors have the right idea.
You're right, Dad.
- I'm going down there.
- What? No, you're not.
- That's my boy.
- Hey, hey! You are not going anywhere.
Sit down.
Oh, I see.
Now that you got yourself a little something, it's okay for other people's children to go fight the battle, but not yours? Junior: Yeah, Dad.
You're always telling me, don't talk about it be about it.
I'm trying to be about it.
Stop using my quotes against me.
In my day, when you wanted to make change happen, you put your feet to the pavement and you got yourself out there.
Pops, please.
The only place you got out to was the speakeasy.
What you talking about, Andre? You know I was a Panther.
You were a Bobcat.
What's a Bobcat? We were Panther-adjacent, still part of the radical cat family.
It's just Look, the Panther uniform just wasn't conducive to Southern California weather patterns.
Shh, shh, shh.
The lawyer's speaking.
It's important in the midst of all the public vilifying of the police department, whose members acted completely within procedure, to remember Mr.
McQuillan was no angel.
- What? - What does that mean? - I can't believe they said that.
- Why would they even say that? What does that even mean? They're talking about somebody's child.
That can easily be one of these children here.
That could have been one of us? - Yes.
- No, sweetie, no, no.
Because if you get stopped by the cops, you are gonna do exactly what they say, okay? She's right.
Listen to me.
If you have to talk to the cops, there's only seven words you need to know.
"Yes, sir.
" "No, sir.
" And "Thank you, sir.
" Exactly.
You make sure you live to fight your case in court, you hear me? Bow! Mama! Enough! Wake up.
Let's say they listen to the cops and get in the car.
Look what happened to Freddie Gray.
Yeah, and what if they make it all the way to the station? - Mm-hmm.
- You remember Sandra Bland? And let's say they do make it to trial.
- Mm-hmm.
- You see where that gets us.
Don't you get it, Bow? The system is rigged against us.
Maybe it is, Dre.
But I don't want to feel like my kids are living in a world that is so flawed that they can't have any hope.
Oh, so you want to talk about hope, Bow? Obama ran on hope.
Remember when he got elected, and and we felt like maybe, just maybe, we got out of that bad place and made it to a good place? That the whole country was really ready to turn the corner.
You remember that amazing feeling we had during the inauguration? I was sitting right next to you.
And we were so proud.
And we saw him get out of that limo and walk alongside of it and wave to that crowd.
Tell me you weren't terrified when you saw that.
Tell me you weren't worried that someone was gonna snatch that hope away from us like they always do.
That is the real world, Bow.
And our children need to know that that's the world that they live in.
Come on.
Let's finish watching it.
Let's see what they're gonna say next.
[Clanging spoon.]
Rice is up! Come on, come on, come on.
Let's go! Just plain rice? Yep.
Can we at least put some salt in it? Nope.
Salt is no good during a riot.
Neither is butter.
Now, here, take this vodka.
Go wash your hands before you eat.
Ruby, you know we have other food in the fridge, right? - Maybe we can just - Rainbow.
Sit down and eat your rice.
Okay.
That food in the refrigerator is now part of our weapons arsenal.
Frozen fruit [Loud smack.]
Oh! Deadly.
You don't want to get hit upside the head with a frozen apple.
It'll knock your block off.
See this dent? Granny Smith.
I need you to cover for me.
Cover for you? Why? I'm going down to the protest.
No, I'm not covering for that.
Well, I'm going, so Why? Tell me why you want to go down there so bad.
So you can end up in the hospital? Or Or worse, get killed? Do you Do you want our parents up at that podium? This is insane! What is wrong with all of you people? Okay, baby girl.
It's gonna be all right.
Yeah, Zoey, I'm sorry.
I didn't even realize you cared like that.
Of course I care.
You're You're my brother.
And I care about this stupid case, too.
I know.
Bow, what are you smiling about? I'm just so happy there's some depth inside of her.
I was worried.
I was really, really worried.
But you've been texting all night.
Yeah.
About this.
I'm pretty sure I saw a "dying laughing" and heart-eyes emoji.
No, I mean, not all about this.
But a lot.
You think I don't care just because I don't yell stuff out like everyone here does, but I do.
I I'm just confused.
I'm confused, too.
That's what made me read Coates in the first place.
But I don't need some book to tell me how I'm supposed to feel.
I know what I feel, and it's lost.
This is my generation, and these are kids our age.
Point is, I care.
I just don't know what to do.
Zoey, that's why it's important that we talk about it.
Well, I don't want to talk about it.
What's the point? Everybody I love has been here, talking about it all night, and none of you know what the answer is.
Honestly, I don't even know what the point is sometimes.
I just feel hopeless.
But you're not going to give up, right? Yeah.
You're the only one in this house we actually trust.
- Excuse me? - What? Sorry, everybody.
I'm just keeping it real.
If you give up, who's gonna fix it for us? Okay, come here, babies.
Come on.
Nobody's giving up, okay? All right, look.
Here's the deal.
This is the world that we live in.
A whole lot of White, a whole lot of Black, but mostly gray.
But as a family, we're gonna figure it out together.
That's right.
That's right.
You know what? I think we should all go down there together, as a family.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
You know, I-I I don't think the world is as broken as you do, Dre, but something's got to change.
It's scary, but I think we should go down there.
Let's go.
And I'll never give up.
You're right to only trust me.
Hm.
- Hey, Ma? - Yeah? Will you stay with the little ones and hold down the fort? I'll hold down the fort.
Dre: As a parent, it's hope that we pray we can pass to our children.
But sometimes, it's your children that give you hope.
If you hear this message Wherever you stand Calling every woman, calling every man We're the generation Can't afford to wait The future started yesterday And we're already late - Be careful, okay? - Dre: All right, Mama! All right! Mm-hmm.
Hey, hey, hey Come on Bring it on, boys.
And from place to place, it's pretty different.
[Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" plays.]
But no matter where we're from, the experiences, conversations, and images we see have an effect on us.
They make us curious.
As a child, it's only natural that that curiosity makes us question what's going on in the world.
So we bring those questions, some of them hard questions, to our parents.
As a parent, dealing with those hard questions used to be a lot easier.
Turn the damn TV off, boy.
Yeah, me wanna holler But now, things have changed.
Between gossip blogs, the Internet, and 24-hour news, it's become impossible to control what our kids see.
And they're naturally curious.
Trigger-happy policing So at some point, whether we like it or not, our kids are going to ask questions that we have to answer.
Why are these people so mad? Ohh, make me want to holler The way they do my life Yeah, make me want to holler The way they do my life Ohh, yeah Because the police are damn thugs.
Not all police.
Yeah, only 92%.
The other 8% are advisors on "Law & Order" episodes.
Okay! Guys, why don't you go to the kitchen, get some to-go menus, and see if you can find us something good to have for dinner tonight.
Why even bother? We're just gonna end up at Chipotle again.
We cannot let that happen.
Well, why don't you go find something good, then? [Sighs.]
See what we can find, huh? Thank you.
You know, you can try and mask the problems of this world in savory barbacoa meat and floury tortillas if you choose, Rainbow, but it doesn't change the fact the police in this country have a problem with Black folks.
Thank you, Mama.
It's a little more nuanced than that, Dad.
Thank you, Junior.
I can't wait until a cop gets ahold of your ass.
Police definitely have a place in society, but with almost 1,000 police-related fatalities and billions of dollars - in misconduct settlements - Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
There might be some issues.
Boom! That's my boy.
Ha-ha! I taught him that.
What? [All grumbling.]
No, you didn't.
I got most of what I learned from Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Well, he probably got it from me.
Just because I didn't write it down Or say it out loud.
Or ever think it.
What's going on? Oh, they're about to say whether there's gonna be an indictment in the McQuillan case.
Oh, I think I heard about that.
What do you mean, you think you heard about that? It's been all over the news.
It's the one where they shot the kid in the middle of the street, right? Mnh-mnh, mnh-mnh.
That was Chicago.
Oh, is this the guy that got shot in front of the college at the traffic stop? No, that was Charleston.
- Charleston? - No, Charleston was the unarmed guy who got shot in the back.
- Cincy was the traffic stop.
- Oh, yeah.
Well, wait, then what was New York? Oh, New York was the unarmed guy who was selling cigarettes - that got choked.
- Cigarettes! Yeah, this is the unarmed guy who was selling DVDs that got tased 37 times.
Wow.
Is he okay? He got tased 37 times, so, you know, he's not great.
- Mm.
- And I'm not in any way saying that this justifies what happened, but I think it's important that you know the only two movie titles that he had were "Trainwreck" and "Chi-Raq," so Oh, my God, I loved "Trainwreck.
" Loved? Are you kidding me? That Marv Albert scene? - So funny, right? - Crazy.
What movie was that from? Well first, LeBron was And don't even get me started on the plot holes.
Would you two shut up?! Thank you! "Chi-Raq" is clearly the reason the boy was tased.
- Ruby! - Horrible movie.
[Laughs.]
Just awful.
Come on, now.
Zoey: All right, then.
Well, I will be in my room, doing my Spanish homework before my teacher tases me.
What? Excuse me, baby.
That is not funny.
And no.
This is important.
We're all going to sit and watch it together.
- Dad, I don't - Ah, ah, ah! - Sit down! - Okay.
Lemon: So with accusations of officer misconduct rising from coast to coast, crowds around the country are tensely awaiting the decision regarding an indictment.
Is anyone gonna explain to us what's happening? Uh, hey, you got to keep looking through those menus.
Are you done? No.
Okay.
Hey, Dre, can I talk to you for a second? Yeah, babe.
So, find us something really good, and no Indian.
Oh, hey, or Chinese.
- I can't do Italian.
- I'm a no-go on sushi.
I am so tired of playing this game.
We all know where we're going! Dre, what are we gonna tell them? The truth.
They're children.
They're not just children, Bow.
- They're Black children.
- Oh, boy.
And they need to know the world that they're living in.
Come on, Bow.
Think.
Dre, I'm not clueless here.
All right, the twins are just still so little.
And I'm not ready for them to think and see the world the way you do.
I mean, come on.
Jack still thinks that when you swallow a piece of gum, it grows a gum tree in your stomach.
[Chuckles.]
Gum tree.
- Yeah.
- Kids.
But it does take seven years for it to digest, right? Oh, my God.
But that Pop Rocks kid, he He's dead, right, Bow? Man.
I can't believe these cops saying they thought this kid had a gun.
Um, he actually did have a gun, Pops.
It wasn't loaded, and it was in the trunk, but he did have one.
Well, regardless, those dirty cops still didn't have no damn good reason to pull him over in the first place.
You mean other than the fact that he was driving 90 miles an hour? 90? Pssh.
I was driving 90 miles an hour with a gun in my trunk last week.
What's the point of being 25 if you can't make a few mistakes? He's 17.
Pops, do you know anything about this case? I'm old enough to know when I'm hearing the same story told a different way.
Police beating up on an unarmed Black man that's a story I've been hearing all my life.
Yeah.
Coates says that the violence and police brutality isn't new it's just that the cameras are.
Well, this fella Coates sounds like he knows what he's talking about.
Now, hold up.
I said the exact same thing five minutes ago.
Police are acting like this is something new! The only thing new is that people are recording this! I don't remember that.
You remember that? Yeah, it's not really ringing a bell for me, Dad.
Zoey, back me up! Dad, I'm trying to make sure this P.
F.
Chang's menu doesn't get any traction.
[Groans.]
Pops, all I'm saying is the boy reads one book, and all of a sudden, he's an expert on all things Black.
Boy, you did the same thing when you was his age.
Or don't you remember "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"? We didn't land on Plymouth Rock! Plymouth Rock landed on us! Malcolm X was a revolutionary.
There would be no Ta-Nehisi whatever his name is had there not been a Malcolm X! Well, there wouldn't be no funny-named colored boys if it wasn't for good old James Baldwin.
He was talking about the same stuff we're talking about now 50 years ago.
Who's James Baldwin? Yeah, see? This is what not giving out surprise ass-whoopings gets you, this right here.
Listen, son.
I'm glad to see that you're taking an interest in the world and what's going on in it, man, but just having a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
All right, you need to take the time and get the full picture.
All right, this is serious stuff, son.
Kids are dying in the street! Hold up.
Kids are dying? We're kids! [Sighs.]
Why is everybody acting surprised that we can hear the conversation? I mean, they're right there.
Basically inches away.
Zoey, can you take them into the dining room and look at the menus in there? Sure.
Maybe we should just go look at them in the garage.
All right, okay.
Or how about we go to a neighbor's house? That's as good a place as any to pretend we can't hear things being shouted across the room.
Okay.
Go in there.
Yeah.
Thank you.
What are you guys doing? Here comes Rae Dawn Chong.
Hey, can we please not freak the kids out without giving justice a chance to be served? And what's that supposed to mean? Look, I know that a lot of stuff has let us down recently, but the evidence in this case is pretty clear.
And? And maybe if we take a beat and let the system work, we can hold off on having to unpack all of this ugliness for two kids that have plenty of time to see all of that and more.
Look, here, sweetheart, you're my daughter-in-law, and you know I love you.
I think you're just about the prettiest, smartest woman I know.
- Thank you.
- And I'm often at a loss as to why you married my son.
I'm sure you had plenty of offers athletes, doctors.
Pops.
There were like three.
Were you trying to get to something? Oh, yes.
Bow, if you're asking us to lie to Jack and Diane, - I can't support you on that, darling.
- Mnh-mnh.
I'm not asking you to lie to them.
I just want to give them a little faith in the world.
You know, help them hold on to their innocence and be kids for a little while longer.
[Chuckles.]
See, you want to soft-pedal the real.
I didn't soft-pedal the real with you, Dre, and you turned out just fine.
Ma, who's Jeffrey Dahmer? Ma, who's Lorena Bobbitt? Ma, who's Peabo Bryson? I celebrate You're right.
So we will do this your way for now.
Because Lord knows I did not need to know about Peabo Bryson.
Yeah.
Well, Peabo turns me on.
[Chuckles.]
It's all I'm saying.
It appears a decision about the indictment has been made and is about to be announced.
What's an indictment? - Well - Oh, okay, well, listen.
It seems as if some people that were supposed to protect us didn't do the right thing.
But it doesn't happen very often.
It happens all the time.
It doesn't happen very often.
But this time, it did.
And if it did, then they're gonna get in trouble.
So, the cops are the bad guys? - Yes.
- No.
No.
Some of them are.
- It's a gray area.
- Yeah.
Charcoal gray.
Basically black.
The point is that if something bad happened, then that's why we have laws and trials, and we just let the justice system do its job.
- Yeah.
- Come on, come on, come on.
Lemon: We take you now to the courthouse.
Man: Good evening.
The grand jury has had a chance to review the case and the evidence and have decided against the idea - that either the arguments - You've got to be - What the hell?! - Or the evidence supported the filing of - Come on! Any criminal charges against any of the officers in this Turn it off.
Turn it off! Kids, this is your justice system doing its job.
Pops: Same old story.
I don't understand.
Yeah, how did this happen? [Sighs.]
And how did P.
F.
Chang's get back in the mix? I thought I threw this away.
Won't you help to sing? Dre: Hope is what keeps us as a people and a country moving forward.
And, sadly, the best way to end that movement is to take away that hope.
That hope, at its core, is all we really have to give our children, a belief in something better.
Redemption song But when everything around them is doing its best to squash that belief, what do you do? I cannot believe this keeps happening.
I can't believe you're surprised it keeps happening.
I know that this is bad.
But, you guys, despite its flaws, we still have the best justice system in the whole world.
We just have to have faith that it's gonna work itself out.
Yeah, right.
Right.
And And And And why should we listen to you, again, Bow? Because you just assured us that these men would be brought to justice.
Because I hoped that they would.
Why, Bow? Wh-When has it ever worked for us, huh? When do we ever get a win? How about O.
J.
? Oh, there it is.
That's low even for you, Rainbow.
Dre: No, Ma, no.
Not at all.
You know, this is actually a perfect example.
It shows how Black people were so desperate for a win that we had to root for this idiot.
- Whoo! - Before then, we were 0-10 million.
And, you know, let's not forget that the glove didn't fit.
- Exactly.
- Did not fit.
- No! - Yeah, but, no I'm just trying, for the sake of our children, to find a silver lining here.
And you know what? Let's not forget that statistically speaking, the system works more than it doesn't.
Well, according to these statistics, 25% of police shootings in L.
A.
County from 2010 to 2014 were of unarmed suspects.
What? The police are shooting people with no arms? Why am I just now hearing about this? No, Jack, "unarmed" means he didn't have a weapon.
Of course he didn't have a weapon.
He had no arms.
[All groaning.]
You know, I-I got this one.
I got this one, guys.
Jack, Jack.
You ever think how lucky you are to be born with two healthy arms? - Yeah.
- Okay.
Can I just play Devil's Advocate here for a second? Bow, why must you always advocate for the Devil? He does not need help with his legal team.
Lucifer's curly-haired lawyer.
Okay, obviously I am anti-police brutality.
But that doesn't mean I have to be anti-the-police.
Look, 25% of these suspects are unarmed, which is horrible.
- Mm-hmm.
- But that means that 75% of them were armed.
The police have to deal with that every day.
Oh, Lord.
I guess what you're saying makes sense, - but isn't that their job, Mom? - Yeah.
I mean, if you killed one out of every four of your patients, wouldn't that make you a pretty bad doctor? You mean she doesn't kill one out of every four of her patients? Look here, my Daddy told me every morning I left the house there's only two kind of people you got to worry about the police and thugs.
I wasn't worried about the thugs.
Hell, I married one.
Well, all I know is that I'm still terrified of the police.
Well, that's very interesting, coming from a man who is on a first-name basis with all the cops that patrol our neighborhood.
Officer Joe? Officer Joe: Speaking.
Hey, it's me Dre.
What's wrong now, Dre? I heard a noise.
Really? Again? Yes, again.
[Groans.]
All right.
Could you come out here and check it out? - Now? - Just use your key.
I have a sneaker collection to protect.
And it looks like we're getting word now of protests across the country becoming violent.
Reports of small fires and looting in Los Angeles.
It's gonna be a long night.
I'm gonna go get some food.
I am assuming it is Chipotle.
All: Yes.
Uh-huh.
Where's the Chipotle? I canceled the order.
[All grumbling.]
All right, listen, listen, listen.
I heard on the radio it's really getting bad out there.
Now, trust me, I've been in my share of riots, okay? And you don't want to be eating Mexican food during a lockdown.
Made that mistake during the Lakers championship riot.
You want bland-palate items that keep the toilets moving, binding foods rice, government cheese vodka to drink and to wash your hands with.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah, I see all that over there.
W-W-What's this? Riot cash.
What? These are filled with silver nickels and gold charm bracelets from past lovers.
Now, trust me, precious metals and sexual favors are the only currency during times of civil unrest.
Damn, woman, I taught you well.
[Laughs.]
You get the rest of the stuff? Oh, yeah.
In the trunk.
[Coin bags thud.]
- Kevlar vests.
- Mm-hmm.
- Tear gas.
- Mm-hmm.
- Hollow-tipped ammunition.
- Mmm.
I got nails and 2x4s to secure the entrances.
Outstanding.
Now, don't get me wrong, Rainbow.
Part of me is hoping folks come in here and steal some of this hideous furniture.
But I still got to protect my grandkids.
Junior: Turn it up, Dad.
Who's this? Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Coates: the long history of criminalizing Black people Oh.
In this country, which did not begin with Eric Garner - What's he saying? - which did not begin with Tamir Rice, which did not begin with John Crawford.
This is a very, very old tradition.
Unbelievable.
Where is CNN when I'm saying that stuff? The same place Def Jam is when you're rapping in the shower.
You think you dope, soap? You got no hope, soap Shampooing is what I'm doing You can't cope, nope The point is, these protestors have the right idea.
You're right, Dad.
- I'm going down there.
- What? No, you're not.
- That's my boy.
- Hey, hey! You are not going anywhere.
Sit down.
Oh, I see.
Now that you got yourself a little something, it's okay for other people's children to go fight the battle, but not yours? Junior: Yeah, Dad.
You're always telling me, don't talk about it be about it.
I'm trying to be about it.
Stop using my quotes against me.
In my day, when you wanted to make change happen, you put your feet to the pavement and you got yourself out there.
Pops, please.
The only place you got out to was the speakeasy.
What you talking about, Andre? You know I was a Panther.
You were a Bobcat.
What's a Bobcat? We were Panther-adjacent, still part of the radical cat family.
It's just Look, the Panther uniform just wasn't conducive to Southern California weather patterns.
Shh, shh, shh.
The lawyer's speaking.
It's important in the midst of all the public vilifying of the police department, whose members acted completely within procedure, to remember Mr.
McQuillan was no angel.
- What? - What does that mean? - I can't believe they said that.
- Why would they even say that? What does that even mean? They're talking about somebody's child.
That can easily be one of these children here.
That could have been one of us? - Yes.
- No, sweetie, no, no.
Because if you get stopped by the cops, you are gonna do exactly what they say, okay? She's right.
Listen to me.
If you have to talk to the cops, there's only seven words you need to know.
"Yes, sir.
" "No, sir.
" And "Thank you, sir.
" Exactly.
You make sure you live to fight your case in court, you hear me? Bow! Mama! Enough! Wake up.
Let's say they listen to the cops and get in the car.
Look what happened to Freddie Gray.
Yeah, and what if they make it all the way to the station? - Mm-hmm.
- You remember Sandra Bland? And let's say they do make it to trial.
- Mm-hmm.
- You see where that gets us.
Don't you get it, Bow? The system is rigged against us.
Maybe it is, Dre.
But I don't want to feel like my kids are living in a world that is so flawed that they can't have any hope.
Oh, so you want to talk about hope, Bow? Obama ran on hope.
Remember when he got elected, and and we felt like maybe, just maybe, we got out of that bad place and made it to a good place? That the whole country was really ready to turn the corner.
You remember that amazing feeling we had during the inauguration? I was sitting right next to you.
And we were so proud.
And we saw him get out of that limo and walk alongside of it and wave to that crowd.
Tell me you weren't terrified when you saw that.
Tell me you weren't worried that someone was gonna snatch that hope away from us like they always do.
That is the real world, Bow.
And our children need to know that that's the world that they live in.
Come on.
Let's finish watching it.
Let's see what they're gonna say next.
[Clanging spoon.]
Rice is up! Come on, come on, come on.
Let's go! Just plain rice? Yep.
Can we at least put some salt in it? Nope.
Salt is no good during a riot.
Neither is butter.
Now, here, take this vodka.
Go wash your hands before you eat.
Ruby, you know we have other food in the fridge, right? - Maybe we can just - Rainbow.
Sit down and eat your rice.
Okay.
That food in the refrigerator is now part of our weapons arsenal.
Frozen fruit [Loud smack.]
Oh! Deadly.
You don't want to get hit upside the head with a frozen apple.
It'll knock your block off.
See this dent? Granny Smith.
I need you to cover for me.
Cover for you? Why? I'm going down to the protest.
No, I'm not covering for that.
Well, I'm going, so Why? Tell me why you want to go down there so bad.
So you can end up in the hospital? Or Or worse, get killed? Do you Do you want our parents up at that podium? This is insane! What is wrong with all of you people? Okay, baby girl.
It's gonna be all right.
Yeah, Zoey, I'm sorry.
I didn't even realize you cared like that.
Of course I care.
You're You're my brother.
And I care about this stupid case, too.
I know.
Bow, what are you smiling about? I'm just so happy there's some depth inside of her.
I was worried.
I was really, really worried.
But you've been texting all night.
Yeah.
About this.
I'm pretty sure I saw a "dying laughing" and heart-eyes emoji.
No, I mean, not all about this.
But a lot.
You think I don't care just because I don't yell stuff out like everyone here does, but I do.
I I'm just confused.
I'm confused, too.
That's what made me read Coates in the first place.
But I don't need some book to tell me how I'm supposed to feel.
I know what I feel, and it's lost.
This is my generation, and these are kids our age.
Point is, I care.
I just don't know what to do.
Zoey, that's why it's important that we talk about it.
Well, I don't want to talk about it.
What's the point? Everybody I love has been here, talking about it all night, and none of you know what the answer is.
Honestly, I don't even know what the point is sometimes.
I just feel hopeless.
But you're not going to give up, right? Yeah.
You're the only one in this house we actually trust.
- Excuse me? - What? Sorry, everybody.
I'm just keeping it real.
If you give up, who's gonna fix it for us? Okay, come here, babies.
Come on.
Nobody's giving up, okay? All right, look.
Here's the deal.
This is the world that we live in.
A whole lot of White, a whole lot of Black, but mostly gray.
But as a family, we're gonna figure it out together.
That's right.
That's right.
You know what? I think we should all go down there together, as a family.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
You know, I-I I don't think the world is as broken as you do, Dre, but something's got to change.
It's scary, but I think we should go down there.
Let's go.
And I'll never give up.
You're right to only trust me.
Hm.
- Hey, Ma? - Yeah? Will you stay with the little ones and hold down the fort? I'll hold down the fort.
Dre: As a parent, it's hope that we pray we can pass to our children.
But sometimes, it's your children that give you hope.
If you hear this message Wherever you stand Calling every woman, calling every man We're the generation Can't afford to wait The future started yesterday And we're already late - Be careful, okay? - Dre: All right, Mama! All right! Mm-hmm.
Hey, hey, hey Come on Bring it on, boys.