Cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] narrator a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood in the middle of the 20th century. When you look for a house, what are you looking for . What do you see . Fine,eople live in square, ample houses [inaudible] stand, many torn down for rebuilding of the dispersal of people and neighborhoods, away being made for the projects. Signs of change in all the redes, and still the dark blindness of walls pretty walls. The cities reach out. Ghettos burst open, ghettos of all kind, pushing out to the new country, awaiting the builders. Some of us still live in uniformity, but the sifting has begun. And when you look further and you look for a house and you see the citys reach, what are you looking for . A place to live, your warmth, your love, your work, your rest from work, your quiet and the sounds you like, your privacy, friends, a good place for children, a place to grow, easy to keep clean, a place we can afford, the right place for us. Car, we try tohe guess, what is there for us . Doors . Es behind these on this quiet street, who lives here . Could this be it . This one . Take another look. I know what i am going to do. On theing to get dick phone right away. Nicetor nice street in a neighborhood where things are taken care of well. Why do people come here . All the regular reasons. [phone call being placed] [ringing] this room, this is what i mind leaving the most. So many little things. Seeing jenny and her Wedding Dress chair for the first time. The night we got back from the hospital after lori was born. Suddenly we were grandparents. Christmas is. Birthdays. Dont you feel that way about the rooms . Sure i do. Like tonight, when i was burning the leaves, i felt that again. It is not just about the room or the house, but the whole neighborhood. Something about the people here, i just take to pull out. We havent moved for ages. When you think about the way people move all the time. Do you remember the year jenny was born . Three places we lived that year. [applause] [phone ringing] yes . This is misses candy. Here must be some mistake it was about those people that were here today. You mean because of i knew it. I knew it the minute they got out of that car. I knew somebody was going to throw a fit. But who in gods name would do a thing like that . You . Re very upset, arent can i get you something . Maybe just a bath. Was it that bad . Worse. What gets into a person like that . Do you know what he said . Tom, how have you been . Fine. You. No complaints. Are you going to the Lodge Meeting . I always do, dont die . Youont understand, have always been a regular guy and a credit to the neighborhood. I am the same guy i have always been. Something is bothering you. Why dont you say it . I guess we dont know you as well as i thought. Nobodys going to get away with the stuff youre trying to handoff. Look here. You look here. Nobody is threatening you. There is never going to be violence in this part of town. We are peaceful people. You have friends here. I am your friend. We want to know what you think it is you are doing to us . Narrator a quiet street. A quiet neighborhood. Never any trouble here, none at all. So i got off that bus and came straight here. There is nothing to worry about, ed, nothing at all. Everybody knows you as the ideal citizen. But let me give you a little friendly advice. Take that sign down. Your house is a desirable property. We will find the right buyer for you. I hear what you are saying, but dont turn on the bedside manner. You strike me as upset. Tom elder was upset. Tom elder didnt walk in my door. Dont blame tom, people get nervous and worried. It was probably all a mistake. We know you wouldnt do anything out of line. Out of line . What in heavens name are you talking about . People came to look at my house. They were negroes. I havent done anything. Take it easy, ed. Face it. If you want to sell your house, i want to sell it for you. That is my business. But there are some things we just cant do. That sign is a terrible thing. It is an open invitation to anybody. You have been here long enough to know we dont do things that way. Now listen i had a dozen people in here who would have taken your place. I have to consider the community. A lot of us are going to be here for a long time. Now take a tip from an old friend, forget this whole thing and let me take care of your house. Out of line . That is ted for you. You either see things his way, or you are out of line. When none of those people showed up, i knew there was going to be talked, but what was i supposed to do . Slam a door in their face . Where is lori . She is outside with bobby. He got a new bike and promised to give her a ride. How about some fishing saturday . Nothing doing, dad. Bob promised to put up the wallpaper in the dinette weeks ago, but he has been finding the darndest excuses. This saturday, the wallpaper goes up. I will help you with the wallpaper. We can get it done in a few hours with these two outoftheway. [child yelling] narrator never to be the same again. The first sign of the first family, the street responds with the old questions. Why do they go where they are not wanted . Cries, running values down, and our girls. Up, murder,ise rape, images of violation, fears that lie deep in peoples lives. And a man stands suddenly alone. [childrens voices] have been talking about is our house. Ours too. When it comes to ramon, your home is different. They cant force us to live with them. Not on my block. We can do something about it, cant wait . We will. Narrator they play. They play, and of course, they are all different. When onedoes it mean color, one group, when grownups think of one kind of people shutting out the rest, even here playing. Are they cut off from part of life . Are they cut off from part of themselves and refusing to touch the variety, the richness, the texture of reality that is always there for us . Place. Hildren and this if he goes through with this, land values here wont be worth a nickel. Do you know what he has provoked . I heard some young idiots thought they had to protect the honor of the community. If you want to hide her head, ok, but i cant. I have had a steady stream of complaints since we opened. That is good, shows a fine spirit. The paint splashing was a real violation of his place. No, no, complaints against him. I see. Well, a flood you say . Maybe i exaggerated. Tom elder, very substantial. Anyone else . Miss wesson. Er . Wess we have both known her for years paid what did she say . Well it wasnt what she said. When you are dealing with complaints, it is precisely that. What did she say . She said she couldnt stand the smell. I have nothing against those people, but why go looking for trouble . Property values in this neighborhood will go to pot if we dont stop what ed is doing. Im a practical man. I dont you dont work for this bank very long if you are. I have to talk you from two position, positions, from my own and from the banks. They are not necessarily the same. We cant have people like tom elder and ms. Wesser throwing us in a panic . Land values dont have to go down, not if the people in the community believe in themselves. Here is an article that says experts find that land values actually gone up in this type of situation. Come on, ralph. You can do anything with figures, you know that. The important thing is, we dont want anything like that to happen here. I have got two daughters. What is the point, ted . I would like the bank to get word around, no, strike that out. I hope that you and the bank will reach policy decisions on real estate loans that will reassure the homeowners of this community, and the merchants, and the service companies. Quite a package. Ted, i dont make the decisions around here. I tell you what. I will call downtown and see what they say. , if not on my side of the fence, at least sit on it, ok . We will see. It is hard to know what is right and what is wrong, it is the most difficult thing we ever faced, not just ed and me but for lori and bob and my daughter, and all the friends we have made. After all, this is our community too. I was thinking about that. Ery thing what i cant bear is, ed things i am so lovely, so full of morality. I look at that little girl and all her sweetness and blackness and i thought just of that. Just what . Black. That is what i thought, black like them. And everything i heard as a child came back to me. Dont go there, dont go with one even who you know, you will be killed, lying in a ditch dead. Or worse. Stain was black. They are not really black, are they . When i looked up the window in the car drove up and he got out i thought, no, you know how i was brought up, narrow. A matter ofd, as fact, not much soul and no visible body. Enormousy, just blindness of very good material. Something in me went no. I was shocked at myself. Why would you say that was . Some shred of prejudice. And a spark of human feeling. Isnt that awful . Were you ashamed . No. That first moment, i didnt want them to even look at the house. Then we got talking, and i began to like them. After all, it is a house they want and can afford. Tragicallyhen a loris dress, something happened. I want them to have the house. That is the first awful thing you have said, carol. But i want them to be like anybody else, have a house they want and can pay for. The reason, the fact it is your anger and resentment at what happened to lori, it is your hatred that wants them to live here. That is not a motive. I say. How does the church stand, where do you stand . The church sees it as a challenge. Ourave a chance to affirm deepest beliefs in the spirit, and the variousness of man end unity of the spirit. Not all the church thinks this way. Not all, but enough of us. Look at this, a declaration of conscience, a statement of principles used as a focal point by people in the community who refuse to allow ignorance and fear and take to wreck their neighborhood. This problem is the greatest challenge of the church has had to meet in a long time. Sy is not always eaa meeting challenges, but this sort of thing can help us meet our responsibility. It is a place to begin. What is the answer . Understand this is an informal statement, not to be taken as a statement of bank policy. It is concerned only with that aspect of the problem, if it is a problem, that affects us at the financial institution. Ofs bank is in the business making sound loans properly secured. Period. Sound loans. What does that mean . If this happens here, there wont be many loans worth making, and you know it. I think there will, and others in the Community Think so too. Weatherman pays his debts has nothing to do with the color of his skin or where he came from. What would happen in your opinion . This is a fact. The better element will leave and we will have a slum on our hands. I think that depends on us. All right, ralph. Now we know where we stand. Banko ahead and talk about policy, but i will tell you one thing. When Something Like this gets started, you dont stop it. If anybody around here is going to sell any real estate, it is going to be ted. Itsator one house, neighbors, confusion of the street. They will try to keep it from flaring up, but each of them has fears that rage and threaten, threats that seem to come from outside. When you were a child, what was it . The irish, italians, chinese . These fears are real. About their homes . Yes. Is there money threatened . They believe it is. Their social standing . They think so. And the law is beginning to recognize it. You cant legislate that. You cant force tolerance by law. Of course you can. But this has nothing to do with tolerance, this has to do with practice. You can buy law prevent men from committing crimes against others , and in reality, crimes against themselves. Thats what laws are for. That is fine, but how are we going to keep this neighborhood good . We dont want undesirables. We dont want land values to take a nosedive. You know as much about land values as i do. They dont have to nosedive at all. Anis afternoon i waved article on Property Values in teds face. This is what it had to say. Theas a study from university of california on nine San Francisco neighborhoods in which negroes had brought homes and bought homes since 1940. I suppose you are going to tell us Property Values went up . Exactly. Property values go up, not down come over time. Now i have heard everything. I am a banker by profession. No hard, very limited had, a meds home is his castle, that kind of imagination. A med is a desirable neighbor if he is financially all right and doesnt throw beer cans all over his front lawn. It has nothing whatever to do with the color of his kin or religion or his parents come from. It has to do with the worth of a person. That is sound economics. Are a man of you good judgment. Would you say these people are nice people . You are the first person that asked me that. Yes, they were nice people. Youandy, what grudge got going against this place anyway . If anybody is damaging this community, it is not ed candy. Im leaving. We are not getting anywhere. Nobody wants to do anything about it. Just a second, tom. What has happened here is happening in other places. It is always to somebodys advantage to stir things up. That is ted coming up the whole real estate profession. Tet, not the whole real estate profession. It is about how people handle themselves. When they act like human beings, the value is as silver as a dollar. Thehaad went up and down street ringing doorbells and giving a sales talk. But ted has maybe 10 new commissions. Couldnt you walk up and down elm street and tell them . We might put out our own signs, Something Like we are not selling, we believe in our community. I dont know how we can be good neighbors. Even if the land values stay the same, the street is going to be different. Doesnt that depend on us . Did any of us choose each other as neighbors . But how long can we keep the door closed without locking ourselves and . Ourselves in . Is key from learn poisoning ourselves with fear and barriers and ghettos. Dont even ghettos anymore. Look at the housing projects in the city. They are not ghettos. Course they are, anywhere where anyone is shut up because of their skin are ghettos. I didnt think much about it then, but they are ghettos. Mr. Candy, it is up to you alone whether the sale will be made. Wrong, ted. What i do isnt nearly as important as what you do. That is what this is all about tonight. He is right. We cant duck it. Eds decision is his own, but it is no longer important. It is about what we do that counts. This isnt about one man and his house, this is about us as a each in himself. Now it has been said, the community is engaged. As a move toward this beginning, there is a quickening of the pace. You can see it and these people as they face of two their problem. From oururselves freed old slaverys and exclusions. We are fighting for a sense of community. We must to have that, look at what we have been excluded. We need ourselves in all our pride of differences. The way we meet differences as people, this can give us strength. The range we have, this is a source of power always when it is met well and used. This possibility is very great just now. It is whatever we feel and you and think when we go out of here and go home tonight. It is deep in what we have prepared to give, what we feel surely and the people around us, in ourselves. All the way home