Us and Them (Full Episode) | The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman

[Music] I'm proud to call myself a Mississippian I've always felt a profound sense of belonging here it's not just the land the people we talk food we eat [Music] foreign the way we treat one another [Music] that doesn't mean that I agree with everybody who lives here this state was segregated it was us and them [Music] Jim Crow may be long behind us but the state still separate still divided culturally politically it's as if the whole country even the whole world is polarizing into separate camps that disagree with one another can barely even talk to one another is this tribalism just part of human nature or can we bridge the gap that separates us from them Fusion how can you hate me when you don't even know me what makes hatred turn deadly Mass killing a thousand people at a time can we find a path towards Unity after all the years that I spent doing destructive things I want to try to repair it the real lesson of our history is that when you expand the circle the story of us can also include them this is my journey to discover the ties that bind us this is the story of us foreign ourselves into us and them in many different ways by nationality religion gender or which team you support some of these divisions are harmless but others expose the darkest side of human nature divisions that once seemed consigned to history are still with us in fact they appear to be on the rise I want to understand how so I'm traveling to Maryland to meet musician Daryl Davis he spent his life trying to heal a hateful divide [Music] yeah man thank you music is the thing thank you it brings people together man you made yourself some very interesting friends yeah I'm telling you why why well you know in the fourth grade I was one of two black kids in the entire School consequently all of my friends were white most of my guy friends were members of the Cub Scouts and they invited me to join so I joined the Cub Scouts on Scout day we had a March from Lexington to Concord to celebrate the ride of Paul Revere and I was the only black Scout in this March and somewhere down the parade route there was a small group of white Spectators a couple kids couple adults and all of a sudden I began getting hit with uh bottles and soda pop cans and rocks debris from the street by this particular group of white spectators and my first inclination was oh those people over there don't like the scouts so when I got home my mom and dad who were not at the March asked me how did you fall down and get all scraped up I told them I didn't fall down I told them exactly what happened for the first time in my life my parents sat me down and explained to me what racism was I literally thought they were Liars I did not believe it I could not get my head around the idea that someone who had never laid eyes on me would want to inflict paint upon me for no other reason than the color of my skin it made no sense and I formed a question in my mind and that question was how can you hate me when you don't even know me so I figured in my adult life who better to ask than someone who would join an organization whose whole premise is hating those who do not look like them and who do not believe as they believe so I began seeking out members of the Ku Klux Klan okay now listen but how do you know where to go to find these people I mean they're not nothing absolutely but you know what when they had a uh a rally in a public park yeah they have to apply for a permit yeah so that's public information yeah so I can go there and get the name get the number and calls and ask for a meeting how many people have called you crazy everybody but it's a good kind of crazy because you know what if I can walk away with changed hearts we all need to be crazy how do you know that a person who has had one set of beliefs has changed that set of beliefs when a Clans one or plans woman sheds that clothing they have shed their ideology and given that Robin Hood to their enemy a black man yeah they're done look at me they've done that to you yeah I I have a bunch of rose and hoods man so these are a couple of the clan robes that I have in my collection I have quite a few more this clan robe Grand dragon robe was owned by a fellow named Bob White Robert White and he was sent to prison for four years for conspiring to bomb a synagogue and went back to prison for three years for assault with intent to murder two black men with a shotgun he went on to become one of my best friends his day job Baltimore City police officer now the gentleman behind you here uh chairman gentleman Loosely all right how did this come to be a way of life well because we all have to have a belief you got to change that culture you know and show them other things that they can believe in they can be somebody without believing that I need all this around me the mindset of racists seems so entrenched it's hard for me to believe they could ever really change like so I'm traveling with Daryl to Memphis to meet one of his exkk friends Scott Shepherd my friend Morgan Freeman yeah nice to meet you sir Scott why don't you happen to get involved with the Ku Klux Klan being from Mississippi Delta you know with clansing all around me I didn't have any self-confidence and I got sucked in buy some of their recruitment tactics you know that they use to get young people in that are troubled just like gangs in the big cities from the very beginning when I joined and and took the oath there was an immediate feeling of importance how long were you involved almost 20 years do you think that period in your life it was a way to get attached find a home yes sir a meaning I grew up in a really A Dysfunctional Family a alcoholic father where he was very violent but I can't blame it on that I take full responsibility for the decisions I made the clan absolutely Bound by the rules of November no blacks and no homosexuals no Jews did you have any sense that that wasn't quite the way it should be I always had an internal internal battle within myself because I was raised by a black lady so many of us in the South were yes Rebecca raised my mother my brother my sister all of us and you know I I distanced myself from her and it was constant battle Within Myself knowing that I really wasn't doing right put me to break from the KKK I left the restaurant one night from having dinner and the police pulled me over I feel the sobriety test at third me into the court system well when I got inside an alcohol and drug treatment center there was people in there of all color religions sexual preferences I mean just you know the whole gamut of different people and I got to know them sat down we had intimate conversations with each other talked about our lives they say to been planted I was changing nice to meet Daryl that was stuck between a rock and a hard spot you know trying to figure out where my life was and I needed guidance I sent him my phone number and said sure you know I'll be happy to talk with you I had heard about Daryl and saw what he was doing and of course I told him before I thought it was a nut case you know I have an obligation he's looking for somebody to trust so why would I turn my back on someone who's looking to trust me to looking for something different and I've always believed if you sit down with your worst enemy for five minutes you will find something in common if you sit down with them for 10 minutes you'll find even more in common and if you build upon those commonalities in that relationship it will turn into a friendship and then those things that you have in contrast such as trivial things like skin color will begin to matter less and less I felt trust I felt trust with you know Daryl and what he said it made sense you look back on that what do you think of it what do you think of them as an organization I despise them and would do anything I can to break down the racial barriers in this country but there definitely is still a threat we can legislate Behavior but we cannot legislate how they think the day we legislate it for glass to stood on the bus after the Rosa Parks bus boycott did not change the mindset that came over time through Grassroots conversation thank you I'm on your side Scott welcome home I appreciate it I'm glad to be home been a long journey Daryl Davis has proven that when you open your heart to someone you give them the opportunity to open their heart to you [Music] and an open heart it's an open mind if more of us had the courage to get to know the people who claim to hate us I believe we could Bridge The Divide between us and Them look around today and it's hard to have hope a new generation is joining the hate groups and they no longer feel the need to hide behind hoods and Roads [Applause] and around the world leaders are coming to power who promise division not Unity we need only to look at history to see the horror of where we might be headed [Music] I've come to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo a city where three different cultures have lived side by side for Generations there are Orthodox Christian serbs Catholic croats and Muslims but in 1992 that piece came to an end Civil War and ethnic violence rage across newly independent Bosnia and Herzegovina despite all ASAP as of the European community for 50 years Bosnia has been a part of the communist state Yugoslavia but in the early 1990s Yugoslavia broke apart into five separate states Serbia's leader Slobodan milosevic saw the breakup as an opportunity to capture territory from Bosnia Elizabeth used his state-controlled media to spread anti-muslim and anti-crowad propaganda encouraging serbs living inside Bosnia to turn on their neighbors the war that followed took the lives of a hundred thousand people Morgan I'm meeting with come up here prominent Muslim TV journalist who lived through the war this is spectacular I see maybe a dozen minarets out there that's unusual for European city isn't it Ottoman Empire founded the Sarajevo in the 15th century we have more than 100 mosques but we have seven Catholic churches for Orthodox churches and for synagogues [Music] Broadcasting in 1992 and you predicted that war would come how did you know I had the interviews with every president of iOS of Republic everyone knew but I am first who said over average after three days April 5 war starting in Israel we were sleeping citizens media politicians when we're starting you mean you had Serbian tanks and stuff in the streets here overnight first organized from this position it's a snipers directly attack on the city front line around Sarajevo and we stay on the siege four years the Bosnian Serb Army backed by milosevic hoped to divide sarajevil's ethnic groups but to besieged Citizens continued to see one another as friends and neighbors no matter what their ethnicity Cena used his television show to make sure a Voice of Unity could still be heard um we was together together Serbian all creation Jewish from sarajeva all Bosnian or Muslims together cannot even tried to end the war when his studio phone rang live on air a little of Washington said call me live in program and I said I have one question for you you are leader of serbians can you call or Serbian who hold guns to stop fire surreal and he said okay okay after that I I said live in program president of Bosnia can you call us and he called and I asked him can you call your Bosnian people with the guns to stop fire and he said okay and we have two days piece of peace some called Senate peace this is this is good two days we have we have peace but the piece did not pass outside of Sarajevo the device of bretovic of slobanon milosevic was tearing Bosnia apart ethnic cleansing began and soon there came the horror of genocide to see the devastation cause when a country splits into Us and Them selves is taking me into the Bosnian Countryside it was here in a town called treveniza that the clash between ethnic groups will be remembered for Generations it's now the final resting place of at least eight thousand Muslim Fathers and Sons all killed in July 1995. they were all civilians just like Saint odd and his son Faja today I'm here in Savannah with you with my son pleasure hi Morgan it's a pleasure to meet you pleasure welcome what in the world happened here so Morgan uh what actually happened here it's a genocide this border of Serbia is near very very close they came here they wanted to kill everybody and just together to give this territory to separate it from Bosnia and pass it to SAC to serve yeah the Serbian Army collected all women men and children into these factories over there and from there they were separated and Men boys they were they took them all around these mountains to kill them and they show them from there they started to the mass killing you know a thousand people at a time that's graveyard last soon after NATO bombing helped end the war but it was too late to save the victims of treveniza so you were five six years old I was six years old and there were a lot of boys my age that were killed that they hear and I still can't believe like how is it possible for people to be blind because of their own belief and how can they not see this Humanity for me it's like unimaginable that exists people who can do this kind of at the Clancy the entire family lions were wiped out here the Serbian nationalists hoped to kill off the very idea that Bosnia could be a Melting Pot of ethnic groups but that belief is still alive in zenad and his son feija this is flower of celebrity and this represents mothers around one coffin of a small child so this is like the mothers from the top with the scarves yeah and these are like their hands on the car on the car this is actually my first time here so it's even harder for me to handle all of this I'm crying I just can't imagine that you can go through this and then come out whole on the other side you have to learn to live with it yeah but also you can't forget it at one point you can forgive but not forget you have to forgive each other not say forget yeah yeah forget you'll do it again yeah the heart-wrenching story of Bosnia shows the Dark Side of humanity people who once shared a common Yugoslav identity began to see their neighbors as the source of their problems because they could no longer see their Humanity but there is hope amid the horror that happened there there are people like sinat he's proud of his Bosnian Muslim identity sees himself as a global citizen happy to live alongside surge croax Christians and Muslims and he's using his voice in the media to promote that belief that's the kind of voice the world needs one that inspires us to believe in our common Humanity looking back to Bosnian War now seems like a turning point [Applause] the beginning of a backlash against the global Merchant of cultures and economies that have erosed ways since World War II across Europe the Middle East and the Americas nationalism is on the rise we've got our country back can we hope to escape this fractious tribalism to find out I'm headed to Manhattan speak with a man with a rare Insight on National and global politics the 42nd President of the United States William Jefferson Clinton it seems like at one point the world was kind of coalescing coming together the other hand we're getting out towards a kind of tribalism what's going to happen I don't know depends in general we're experiencing a period of this kind of tribal nationalism you see all over the planet we don't need you here people think that I can't stand all this change that's understandable it was never going to be that simple to build a so-called New World Order dominant groups whether ethnic or racial or religious or economic tend to see the world in zero-sum games that is if somebody gets more I must be given less and nobody gives ground willingly I believe the real lesson of our history is that when you expand the circle of opportunity you have multiplication not just addition and when you shrink it you don't just have subtraction you get division then you in the end do ray worse President Clinton gives the example of Europe a continent devastated by the bit of rivalries that caused two world wars is now a prosperous United economy former enemies have turned their back on Division and embraced Unity the motto of the United States of America a Pluribus Unum means out of many one one nation rises from a diverse collection of states and today many Americans regard their country's ethnic diversity with pride we are now probably the most diverse community on the planet I would say I mean in terms of people who can call themselves American and I believe it is made us a lot stronger Queens for example we're doing this interview in New York City in Manhattan Queens is now the most diverse urban center with more than two and a half million people in the world and we have many many American counties with people from a lot of countries but as you know we have many people who feel threatened by all these immigrants coming in boy that's always been the case though hadn't it always but it's never stopped us no not yet we're still here and we are thriving because at every critical juncture when we could have gone back we found a way to go forward looking outside America do you think the whole world will ever come together I do but I think we have to do it in steps people need personal experience with the other so that the story of us can also include them and that's not going to happen literally billions of times this is not going to be an easy deal Martin Luther King's words The Arc of history as long but it bends toward Justice it also bends toward growth inclusion intelligence but it's a rocky road always has been and all of us have a complicated way of our identifying Who We Are who is we who is us who is them it's the oldest question in human society President Clinton's words resonate with me who are we and who are we not could be the most ancient and most difficult questions societies ask themselves One Tribe living deep in the Central American jungle may have found the balance between tribalism and globalism I'm in Panama headed up River from Panama City and into a different world I've learned of an indigenous group that has developed an unusual balance between us and Them the emperor live in and around the rugged and inhospitable area that separates North and South America the Darien Gap the group I am meeting today lives less than three hours in Panama City but their way of life remains largely as it always has been [Music] here I'm very good me too yeah my name is Nelson Nelson yes how do you get a name like Nelson um when I born yeah yes my teacher gave me that name Nelson Brown Nelson Mandela yeah perfect yeah yeah how come you speak English there is a missionary School outside from here near the city stay for four years there very good yeah Morgan this is my Village here up on this hill and let's go and see it what kind of thing yes [Music] how many structures we are around 134 people here between kids and adults so it's around 28 houses each house is one family ah life here may look to be free of Western influence but look deeper and you find signs of contact The Village has a thriving jewelry and carving industry that caters to weekly visits from tourist boats it looks like we're busy right now he's carving a lot of boats A Little Canoe this kind of wood is we call a cocobolo it's kind of like a Rosewood yeah but the ambra regular tourist business is a sign that their culture is valued by others and worth maintaining is also a source of Revenue with which to buy a handful of Western Goods that make their lives easier you don't have a lot of modern conveniences but you got those 200 horsepower outboard engines yes in the old days we use um we call palanca see the current I don't imagine it'd be hard to get up River yes now we have motor and it's more easy of course yeah on the other hand unlike many other indigenous cultures in Central and South America the emperor have not taken to western clothing their loin cloth is not only practical in this climate it's also part of their identity I asked Nelson to introduce me to a village Elder to understand how the emperor managed to live Between Two Worlds all right now there's a big city not too far down river cars big hotels tall buildings paved streets how come you don't want to go there yeah hey one of the big things that the emperor people have is the Emperor of people like to live in the in the jungle you know live together like a family because he can eat he can work in the jungle and all the people here they love each other you know what traditions you have that you're holding on to that we wouldn't see in the city this is one of them hey we use these many years ago the fruits that we call agua which is this one tattoo you can see and also this can work for mosquito net for some blood for your hair we use these Paints the ink for the baby or the baby can be safe enough on the different tops around that's fantastic better too it's amazing to me that every culture particularly in yours you have knowledge of plants what they're good foreign you know everything is here [Music] this is a culture that trusts the jungle to provide including remedies for its ills like the fever that has Afflicted this girl the emperor Dogwood checked Western medicine when people are seriously injured they take them to the hospital in Panama City but for most ailments the MRI do what they have done for Generations They Call On Healing spirits and prepare remedies from healing plants [Music] [Applause] [Music] not bad not bad not bad it's a blending of us and them that has worked for the emperor for centuries they take what they need from the outside world but they cherish and maintain that traditional way of life are completely connected to the natural world around them Forest River living percent is surrounded by the jungle they've developed a deep spiritual connection it's while you're still in here primal [Music] even as the modern world creeps closer and closer our modern world is a mosaic of different tribes each with its own customs and belief systems in many places those tribes live shoulder to shoulder the challenge we face is learning how to accept those who are not like us [Music] I come to Los Angeles to meet someone who has faced that challenge head on CE Roper was born into the Westboro Baptist Church a religious cult notorious for its hate written interpretations of the Bible tolerance of homosexuality Megan grew up indoctrinated into these divisive beliefs [Music] what did Westboro Baptist Church come from it was started by my grandfather in 1955. God hates facts except you repent you sure your grandfather started this movement right so we thought it was our duty to go out and warn people when we saw them sinning to rebuke them so that they wouldn't go on in their path to hell [Applause] anybody who came out against what we were saying we thought they were coming out against the word of God so we started protesting churches we started protesting the government we thought that God was punishing America by killing her soldiers in battle we thought we have to go to these families at these funerals and say this is a curse God has cursed you because you're fighting for a nation that has made God its number one enemy thank you it's of course we believe that Outsiders were all evil or delusional and so the Megan hot stop a minute they're about 80 people in your church and you think 80 people are right and maybe seven billion are wrong right yeah Megan Phelps real poop is one of the strongest Advocates of the hateful ideology of the Westboro Baptist Church she spent her days greeting division condemning those outside her occult to damnation in hell is to wear this shirt and others like it are you going to all these places holding up these signs and stuff yeah we protested every single day in Topeka but we were also traveling across the country we believe that the nation had been promoting this lifestyle that God calls abomination decides who God loves not you and I believed that I was doing good I believed that I was doing what God wanted went on Twitter yourself right just done spreading the word of right church right so in 2009 I started tweeting for the church it seemed like it was a growing body of people that I could preach to one of the very first people that I attacked was a man named David abbottball who ran a Blog called jewlicious I was trying to find ways of explaining to him that he was wrong that to reject Jesus was going to land him in hell for eternity he kind of at first responded with sarcasm and anger and hostility but almost immediately he sort of changed tactics he started asking me questions about westborough's picket signs and I started asking him questions about Jewish theology so throughout this conversation I was seeing his interactions with his friends and photos of his life in Jerusalem where he was living and coming to understand him and see him as human as as a person with good intentions who was trying to do what he believed was right this conversation you know it became much more friendly and then did he asked me a question that I didn't have an answer for what was the question he was asking me about one of our picket signs that said death penalty for and that you know comes from Romans 1 32 that was a penalty prescribed and David said didn't Jesus say let he who is without sin cast the first stone and I responded we're not casting Stones we're preaching words and he said yeah but you're advocating that the government cast stones and I was kind of you know shocked at that point because I had never connected that if you kill somebody you completely cut off the opportunity to repent and be forgiven and that's what we were advocating we were telling people to repent so as time goes on and more of these situations come up the weight of that of all these contradictions over time became so heavy well now that's not going to make you leave the church it's just makes you start to think exactly I stopped holding the sign but it was the first time that I thought that the church could be wrong about something it became more terrifying to stay and less terrifying to leave so now you're in a quandary right you're sort of happy in and half out the day that I actually first thought of leaving it was just it was agonizing and excruciating I mean just imagine if you thought you were going to lose everyone that you loved and cared about to go to a world that was full of people who hated you for all the things that you've been doing to hurt them there were so many things I think our family recipes and photos and home movies and are the yeah yeah so it's like trying to collect these like once you leave you're gonna lose everything and everyone and it was like where am I gonna go yeah where am I going to be yeah the idea of of losing all of them and it was just it was it was awful it was terrifying not long after I left I actually met David abbottball and he told me about this idea this concept in Judaism it's too see the Brokenness in the world and to help repair it in as many ways as you can find and he said you and your family have added to the Brokenness of the world and you should try to do what you can to repair it after all the years that I spent doing destructive things I know I can't undo it but I want to try to repair it Megan went through a complete reversal of her lifelong mindset the key to her turn around she says was the lack of hostility in conversations with people like David abbottball the fact that people are being kind and understanding and compassionate to me that contradicted what I had been taught to believe about Outsiders they didn't seem to be the demons that I'd been taught that they were like what's the first thing that happens when someone approaches you with hostility how do you get hostile back kindness is powerful and I think it's more powerful than hostility aggression or anything else it's so important for us to learn how to reach out across these intense divides I think we can do that your story will help a lot I really do I hope so [Music] today we are inundated by news stories that make us feel divided by how a different political and religious beliefs I will compulsion to sharing news on social media only seems to make those issues wider but Megan's story is encouraging it shows that we can harness the power of social media for good that it can be a medium for General and patient conversation that can help us to find our shared Humanity [Music] foreign has shown me how dangerous it can be to divide into Us and Them but the people I've met give me hope that these divides are not impossible to bridge we are a species that thrives on working together I mean look at the city around me buildings at least for the sky a diverse population living shoulder to shoulder and new technologies that help us connect in a heartbeat all created out of a spirit of cooperation contain humility understanding respect for our differences and time but I believe there is room for everyone in the story of us [Music] [Music]

Channel: National Geographic

Views: 232,868

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, culture, documentary, perpetual planet nat geo, photography, full episodes, Morgan Freeman, The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman, The Story of Us, story of god morgan freeman, journey, story, story of morgan freeman, coming together, story of gods, Us and Them, Story of Us with Morgan Freeman

Id: 8ku-XWZuwH0

Length: 47min 24sec (2844 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 16 2023