cortez baxter: everybody knows the muni in western north carolina, that this is where they learned to pl ay. if you got thin skin, if you can't take it, wrong pla ce. [music playi ng] cy young, jr.: muni, that was the blacks fi rst started play ing. billy gardenhight: one of the best pl aces where you see camaraderie with the white and the bla ck. pete mcdaniel: it's you, the golf ball, and the golf cour se. no one can influence tha t-- no o ne. [theme music] - [a nnouncer]: major funding for reel south was provided by: etv endowm ent, the national endowment for the ar ts center for asian-american med ia south ar

ts and by the corporation for public broadcast ing, a private corporation funded by the american peop le. [birds chirping] [funky mus playi ] ♪ coez baxte i got io golfnd reallstar tegettinjust amped wi fai lu anmistakesnd frustti on. i sa, thiss my gam [lau s] th is my g e. billy gardenght: exeise, gewhat thebuddies,ave fu you ow. en thereache get out th e. anthey cus evy now d th enpete mcdiel: obsessi is e rd, anit's pe insanity.cy you, jr.: is somethg

dierent evy time u swing the club.dal raord: i belie we all lay the ga for theame thin and we have fo400 ye s. that emoonal eling ofmp act.that's t momentthat wplay f . ight bryn: and ilay evy day th i can g up ou of t bedmatt bacoate, jr.: mental therapy, physical ther apy, and sp ort. cy young, jr.: but hower, it's the chle ng is what love out playing golf. it the cllen ge it's t pure challenge. pe mcdanie becauseotng bes you upike go st absutelyhammeryou on d ays. buthenhe next y, it y kiss y on the ch eekanleave you just tally in le all ov aga in spker 2: think it helps mymental olook, ju generally you kn . billy rdenhight: i jt put christ fst, fami sec d, anthen g f. cortez baxter: when everything cut and dried, said and do ne thswing ishe thi

. uppebodylower body-- it got to ve together.it's jt like m ic-- rm ony. everybody knows the muni. just about everybody in western north caro lina that learned to play golf, thi s is where they learned to play it, including me. [jazzy mic] rius rucr: like is toy, on mt mornin at mu ni--

in the920s, go had capred thinterestnd imagitions of any. and in this booming city of asheville, north carol ina, public parks were being built for the residents and touris ts including a public golf cour se. it was to be one of the finest courses in the coun try, according to the desig ner. but it would not be so difficult for the average go lfer to despa ir. and it was said that at $0.50 a rou nd the course would soon pay for its elf. keith jarrett: you know, it was the first municipal golf cou rsein nor or soutcarolinawith t intent get ti the golfo the common m . dari rucker:he coue desier wouldecome a ge nd. and s na was dond ro ss. he was a scots man. he had come to america with $2 in his poc ket. quickly establishing himself, first as a play erand then as the foremost builder of golf cour ses. the rmland ang thswannanori ver soon bame the asville nicipal lf cou e, whh open in 1927.while ro built

bot private and blic courses he was on record saying, there's no good reason why the l abel "a rich man's game" should be hung on go lf. cy yng, jr.: to me muni is very histori cal cause th was whe the acks fir startedlayi ng usic pla ng] billy gardenhight: two fellow friends of mine was talking about caddying the biltmore for est. and the money that they made, $3 and $4-- back in '45, that with a lot of mo ney. and i went to the golf course with t hem. and the first day there, i made $3, man,and i thght i was ri ch. so thas what srted meo caddyi, you know.dariusucker: t guys who wereaddying hereat theuni and e otherclubs the 194 and ' s were carryg on a traditn that we back a w genera ons. golf had come to asheville and many places in the s outh during the later part of the 19th cent ury. anphotogras throh the de

des sh the clo relatiohip african-eric ans had working at the clubs often carrying the clu bs. it was money, yes. but it was, you mighsay, a med b ag lly gardhight: wl, you d some gd guys and u had so that ha nothinto do wi y ouor wte ver.dwig bryson:h man, you got rks everhere you go.i don't re what u do. but trnot toork fo 'em cade for m. somemes you d to d sometis you di 't. darius rker: but it introduced them the gamthat wou chan theiriv es arning it and aying it any w they could. biy gardenght: wel we lened our ings frothe guythat wcaddied om. pe mcdanie the takway, w they s up to t b all, and all that-we got at from em. dwight bryn: and iyou fod a 5 ir, a 4 on th was thelub you sted anyoplayed wh it. so aft that, ias a o then, i ou

ght. cortez baxter: now, y'all will make the second course. and 's-- they'renthe tee ght downhe re. now, jt go rig downhe h il you'll s ' em. the arter-- get everybodlid up. li todayit wasn'no swe . t someays, it'hect . u know wt i me ? yogot folkimpati t. ifou can'trive turn youlicense in. it's jussomethin that like to do. fact, ion't ow what wo ulddo if didn't he th to fallack onand i joy ithoroug y.i meanit's notork to e. te mcdanl: he'ssomeonwho is t ally in love with the gamof g ol you want tsee an old-ter who ts it, les it, bathes ? th's b ax usic pla

ng] cortez baxter: i never thought it'd go this far. i never ought i' get is deep it. t i get eper andee per. tt bacoa, jr.: ie beenharg with co rtez stating that i'm the one that got him hoo ked. cortez baxter: a friend of mine, he brought a 7 i ron toork one ght. wasn't golf er wa't none side acrew outhere of ve-- clnup cr .we staed pitchg arnd with at c lu t they h horsesh box es i dot know wt the distanceorsesh -- t anyway, we'd chi wi that 7 on. anone day,ne of t guys saidlet's to the lf cou e. said, we i dot have a lub.i don'have-- didn't ne of u thonly thi we ha betwn us washat 7 iron. anwe came t he and we just

knockeit aro d. i sh a-- i waliving a 111 bld stre .i shot11 that day. that's the rson i remembert so viv ly. at was pe, thereif i wn't learng i'd turnt lo osbut i arn someing every time i pk up a club.i tellolks tt, andhey look ame like,ou're crazy.but i .it's smuch to arn.it's aig, big me. pete maniel: lly waa stud-- likelarger than li fe.they cled him ack ja -- u know, e blackjack nkl au big man,ould hithe balla milea great ort ga me. he was friendly when he knew y

ou. but ife didn't kw you, he could be nd of stern. and at's how wkind of loed up to billy,lthough heas n't th much olr than wwe re. heas like elder statesmabecaus he d so mucexperience. he was areat player. and he--ou kno he kiofook overlack g f inhiarea, be hest with ou. chare coxie: playeda lot th billy d billy uld hit it.billy cod hold s own wi it. he and iould pla and wd ve a lotf fun toth er. biy's li me. 's getti a littl old w, and e can'get arou like hused tbut he still biy garden ght.cg robson: i'mlad see him t he re th has beehis li . thisas been s life-- olf. glad to e him , come back playingfter hehad th leg tak o ff. yoknow, yothink abt th at he didn golf alhis fe, he cldn't

do hat. you n't kn . yoknow t t? you n't kn . billy gardhight: well, my mom, she al ways told me to don't be afraid to do what you got to do. so we'd be walking through town a lot of times, and people used to step off the side walk to let white folks by. and shd te me to ay on the, you k no so i just grew up that w ay. most stores had two founta ins. they had o white and one colo red. sears & roebuck and all those places, that we couldn 't-- wa't supposed to dnk ouof the wte fountain. and wh we got high scol a lot us usedo say, weon't wanno cored wateto day. want whe wa te 'd go ov therend get run out e store whate r. th's more like i dwht bryso most blks codn't plaout heuntil mond ays. weouldt pl ay t i coulsneak on the back ni ne.billy gaenhight:o, wheni firssaw

ityou kn ey had wt they cledcaddies'ay, which wamond ay so i started hging around the clubhou se picking up balls and washing down the por ch. at the age of 13 i started playing pretty g ood.and th would te me ound andhey woulgamb leand ife won moy, i'd get a ttle b . sohat's thway i really g sta ed. ic playing] speaker 3: aww, man.billy gardenhight: people would drive by the golf co urse and they'd holler ya a throw s tuff t the caat m or at not.back when th did ange, in 954, when they made the ruling that they had to integrate public parks, a fella named boris la yton and myself went to the golf course on sun day. i had a lot of mirac le. i wasn't sca red. and the next day in t paper it had negroes show at golf cou rse. and people in beverly hills talking about sell ing their houses and whatn

ot. and it went on like that for a few d ays. then the golf clubhouse got burndo wn so ty figured at somne set the clubhouse on f ire because of t his. but at that time, a lot of black f olks were just afid to do things because thi ngs would haen to th somet e.darius rker: even before the fire, it was clear that many in ashevi lle opposed desegregation at m uni. the ty enterined ofrs to sell the c rse to a pvate gro in ordeto skt the degregatiois sue. but lly and others ptested at the cy councimeet ing, and the sale was stopp ed. billy gardenhight: the lawyer a skedme tmake a ltle speech. and i ma a speech at i uld likeo be a p one d and please d't sell e golfourse, a whatn .counlmen laued at ussaid y'all boyso on bacho me. wein't goi to sellthat gf courseyou kn . d here ware with lawyerand anher eldey man. theyalled th b oys. u know, things ke that,you kn,

stick th you ll yo life, y k now. daus rucker: t cit rebut the clho use wiout the cond floor. but over the next few years, integrated play increa sed, and asheville muni became the first municipally ow ned public course in the south to embrace full desegregati on. billgardenhit: buafter we got started, man, they start flirti ng. i said, oh. pete mcdaniel: but this was freed om. this gave us a place to pl ay. that's the greatest pa about golf is tt it's a indidual effort.it's youthe golfall, and the go c rse. none cannfluenceha t-- no one. you' total in control. d for pele-- or peop-- who h n ever beenn corol of anythingi th in th was a rl appealof theame of golf. rius rucker:fter bil and the other african-americ ans flooded out to muni and played any day they wanted, in 1959 a group of pla yers organized the skyview golf association

and tourname nt. its hope was to promote golf in the black commun ity and help players to become professio nal. the first skyview golf tournament was held in 1 960. and it soon became one of "the" tournam ents on the african-american golf circu it. [music playi ng] cortez baxter: skyview was the biggest thing in western north cali na.dwht bryson: b big jor ev ent. billy gardenhight: well, the best year, we had 254 golf ers. dwight bryson: people from north, south, east, west-- they're coming in cadill acs. they're coming in buicks fords, even taxica bs. cortez baxter: well, it's got a long, colorful histo ry.

charlie coxie: yeah, i've seen this place just covered up with peo ple. you couldn't be-- you couldn't get a paing place anyw re around h er paul evett: i rember bacin the day whenou wouldave crowds of people actually lined upon t front se anon the bk si de. matt boate, .: many of thegolfers o becamega players they play here every y ear. dwight bryson: and these guys, they all play in wha t's called the chitlin' circ uit. and they play in their tournaments all arou nd you kn ow. cortez baxter: we had some tremendous golf ers come thrgh h er petecdaniel:ou nameit, th played re. leelder, crlie owe, chuc thorpejim thor, jim dent james black, nate starks bobby stroble, all the gre ats playedere, in is tourn t. if you were a black golfer and you were worth your sa lt you played in the skyv iew. billy gardenhight: oh, man, i know it w as-- it was beautiful to se

e-- at that time, i would say in 1963, ' 64 that many black folks mixed with a few white fol ks. pete mcdaniel: and these guysere go . they'd come on this golf course and shoot 63, 64, or 65. cy young, jr.: the first time i remem ber ishis guy s on t pro team-- black guy-- and his name was chuck tho rpe. and chuck was getting ready to hit the ball on the first tee, and he was using the 3 wood off thero und, d knockeit on thgr een. and i thought, holcow, at man c play so g olf. and guess wh at? he was tou gh. i'll never forget him. heck of a golf er. pe mcdanie there weren't many tournam en that blacks could play in. billy rdenhigh well, had n

er happed beforlike t s.they hadad tournentsbut usua y it was a tournament at was spons ored by white folks in miami or califor nia somewhe like that. but asheville, north carol ina? dwight bryson: it was good for the communi ty. most of the adult blacks knew the skyview was coming to to wn. it was like the parade christmas para de. "skyview's in to wn. skyvie w--" billy gardenhight: skyview really was jumping at one ti me. i mean, we had a party on thursday ni ght. and we'd have a thousand people at the da nce. dwight bryson: band, banqu et-- they'd call your name on the spea ke "and winr of fir place " matt boate, jr beauful feelingthat it eated wiin me, a i'm re, manyther neg es. it had an indelie ma rk [music playi ng] paul everett: i really wish that african-americans

knew about the history of what took p lace as their partipation increasein g olf.and yohave qui a fegolfers now o have nidea of ck in the day en we hato go ve inhe private homes becae we wer't all ed to live in the motels and hotels in asheville because of the jim crow l aw and, you know, that evol ved. and w i can ll you ories that you pro bly wouldn'telieve, t a t of theuy s- i ow of onguy, bby stroble, he wld travewith a frying p in his lf ag because we weren't allowed to eat in certain restaurants d what t. and you st did t best you coulwith whayou habut e storieare plen ful. jessallen:ell, thi was e of thenly pl es we cld play,ou kn, back ithe da they got lot of hist ormost a of the ack os that ally-- that ayed theour usedto plathe sk iew. ba then itas mor african-eric s the pgaour, bacin the '60s a '70s,

tn it is now.becausthey hadhese pe touaments where yocould pl every week. sohis was ke a ringboarto try g to get tthe pga ur but now u don'ha-- eier you play the pga tour or play e web.co or y go find a job. pete maniel: it was a placfor themto play mpetitivy and earn a little bit of m oney and plus get their hustle on. which it was-- they a lot of ti mes made more money hustling than they did from the g olf tournament purse its elf. keith jarrett: chuck thorpe, quite a charac ter. you have part of the thorpe golfing fam ily. he won the skyview five or six ti mes. they came to town and it was just-- it was rollicki ng. and all these guys were like th at. they were characte rs. and you don't see that much anym ore. d it's-- i miss th at. and i misshat rt of the skyv iew. buit was fun back in the d ay.

dariusucke 60 years later, t skyew traditioncontinueevery ju, with billy stilrunning e tournament from the registration ta blpete maniel: i left here in 1993. so've be gone 25ea rs dari rucker:nd a kithatrew up i muni comeback to ay conneed tois rootsn go lf pete mcdanie it's 10-over,ight n . buthat's a rig ht rtez baxter: is at rig ? te mcdanie that'all ri ght. ey're family ain and mp le. mostf these der ys helperaise me. loie gilliam: i member when youere a little b aby. pe mcdanie it justwarms heart justto see tm, and s them stl abe the vot, as say,and stilloving ts ga me riard pe what'shappen', b y? richarpea: howyou do' brot r?how's everything? pe mcdanie how u doin', m man? chard pea: good ein' you man. loe gillia i guessi've beecoming o h erefor 40so yea rs and it'slmos li a homec ing, becausas soon you e each o eryou want thug eachth er.you nt to grt each other with some

al mea ng anstrengthf all ofthe yes that goes . and that'seally at's impta nt [mic playing] dariusucker: t tourment connues to bri people geth er fred turn: i'm rdy toet out he and ewhat ian do th morni . dari rucr: with lks likebrothe fred anleroy turman mang the tp fr chicagoevery ar to co ete onhe coue th grew on. ed turma i'm e of the g uys, i n't careow well know u,en i teet up mywhole titude cng es because i'm winn . and i beevthat i c beat the average guy out th ere. pete mcdiel: they'rall nervous.they'rout hereoday aying in golf toname nt anit chaes every ing. yo nerves are e dge.lee shherd: heguys, ad to e everyby again is y ea as ual, for e skyv

w. thfield is littlelighthis year.but ne year itl be f l.i guartee you at. i omise yoth at. petecdaniel: would like to pay mage tohe people whose shouers we stand today, mbers ofhe skyvw golf aociati . cy yng, jr.: can't say enough about b ly. 's a pio er. anhe's thene thatengineed the svi ew. anhe's rlly push it ha . and makes h feelood wheneverhe is ab to see many ople comg out fo it. lee eprd: thisis bil gardenhig htthe direor of th skyviegolf assiati on he'slso my f her. buif you wld, give him und of ala use. [cheerinand appl se] [mic playing] petecdaniel:ou see all of tse old pple out re. it's a bygon era. we're ill holdin on. 're still play g. wee still joying t g ame. t we jusdidn't tnsfer ou love othe gameo ouki ds. keh jarret especiay inhe skyview

i don't see young african-american golfe rs. i havet for years.that'snfortuna and i ho that end willha nge.pete mcdiel: a gf tournant th has mea this mu ch which has that much history, can't just go a way. and the way for its legacy to live on is through yo uth. [mus playi ]darius rker: andilly? heoldiers , pling every y he c an enjoying eve round h can. billy gaenhight: we, i love it. i'm just glad i'm able to come out and pl ay.some pple, whethey ve amputions andhi ngs ke that, ty just ge up. i'm t giving up. i sa i'm gon keepoing til i-- the od masr come aer me.[mic playing] fredurman: ienjoy

eing thi cause i e the pele are ming tog her. and really feel that this is the way it should be all of thti me. pete mcdiel: howare we goi to ge know ch othernlesswe get to kn each other? you knowhat i mean? and thgolf crse is a perct p la meet pele ople whoay not ha anything common except trng to play thiga me. rtez baxte i justnjoy l ife. i enjo it. [mus playi ng] my wife told me one day, said, honey you nna e on thgolf course. i said, d die happy. [funky music playing]

♪ - [announcer]: major fundi ng for reel south was provided by: etv endowm ent, the national endowment for the ar ts center for asian-american med ia south ar ts and by the corporation for public broadcast ing, a private corporation funded by the american peop le. ♪ you' watchinpbs. ♪♪

d beer evy time y play e ga me. gre vidrinsibley (voiceover):sports h been us as a mes of gting peoe together.and i'm t sayingwe're nostill di ded, but see a loof progress. [ambnt mus] - [announcer]: major funding for reel south was provided by: etv endowm ent, the national endowment for the ar ts center for asian-american med ia south ar

ts and by the corporation for public broadcast ing, a private corporation funded by the american peop le. [music playing] tim fontenot (voiceover): we're kind of looked down by other towns and stu ff. we're little ol' bitty ville plat te. we're fun, and we're like mayberry with a cajun acce nt. we enjoy ourselv es. [music playi ng] [whistle blows] - get up the re. [whistle blo ws] tony marks (voiceover): from the beginni ng the game was always about bringing

both si des of the railroad track togeth er. for a long time, both sides were sarated. jennifer vidrine (voiceover): it is a beautiful week because blacks and whites are toget her. next week, they may not be, but we need more of it. the more we do it, the more we le arn, hey, we're more alike than we're differe nt. dj (on radio): hey, everyb ody. welcome in to a special edition of kvpi "let's talk about it," another banner year for the tee cotton b owl, and it is here and we'll see everybody at the tee cot ton bowl, and we'll see you tomorrow morning after la tasse de ca fé at dr. chuck 's. - toe touc hes! straight up in the b ack. i don't want you leaning and showing yo ur-- ok? here we go! - re ady? [c lap] all: thrilla in the villa, 2 019. the trojans and dogs are one as a t eam. the tee cotton bowl, a match

it will be. the east and the west, no tracks do we ne ed. who will w in? just c ome! you'll s ee! ye ah! [interposing voices] - tee cotton bowl is special it's a giffrom g od. you make this world better every time you play the game, this ga me. you make the sport of football bett er. yomake this world better because you give this world ho pe. look at you. we don't look like each ot her. you know, we're-- we're not the

same col or. it's ok to be different co lor. that's how we tell each other apa rt. i want you to go h ome. gonna be hot tomor row. drink a lot of wat er. get plenty of rest plenty of sl eep. and wake up feeling danger ous. [mus playi ng] they bng the loavesand fi to you, ord. multiply them and show the rest of the wo rld how to compete and still be frien ds. in your precious day, we p ray. am en. [music playi ng] reporter: hey. hello, acadiana, it's taking place right h ere in ville platte, b aby. let's get it, man, the tee cotton b owl. ri ght. - it's like christmas day. it's tee cotton bowl d ay. ville platte's gonna par ty. we're going to tailgate, we're gonn a-- - and we have tim fontenot here

with us tod ay. how are you? - oh, i'm gr eat. it's tee cotton bowl d ay. it's like christmas day. all: [cheering] friends fore ver! [cheer ing] - it's the thrilla in the vi lla! [shouting] hey, thank you for having us. all: we love y ou! jennifer vidrine: [shouting] hey, y' all! how you like my. ..? - klfy twitter. who has twitter? [laugh ter] - thank y' all. [interposing voi ces] - we have the challenge that's going to take place-- - that's rig ht. - --between mayor jennifer vidrine and dr. chuck aswe ll. - that's rig ht. - now, who lost the bet last w eek? - i lo st. because they could not beat us last y ear. so we're doing the same bet, right, dr. ch uck? if ville platte high wins, dr. c huck has to wear the bulldogs' shirt

next week at w ork. - ok. - no pro em. [laugh ter] - ok, no w-- - ville platte loses, i have to wear a sacred he art shirt next week and at the council meet ing. chuck aswell: a long time ago, tim contri ved the concept about what this is abo ut. and it's really based on a conqu est between two great athletes who h ated each other in the beginning and loved each other in the end. two great gu ys. one was a gregarious g uy. both hard-working parents, grew up in the c ity. his name is magic john son. the other guy was from a broken ho me. his name was larry b ird. his dad was an alcohol ic. and they both saved the nba. one was bl ack. one was wh ite. and the greatness that existed in front of them was because they competed so hard against each oth er and their hatred became lo

ve. and that's what we try to do. we want to make everybody love each ot her because hate goes nowh ere. - heavenly father, we thank you for this great occas ion for which we have gathered here to day. we ask you to bless us watch over us, and keep us. we thank you for this great weath er. [music playi ng] - [lau ghs] oh yes, this is a nice day. we had a nice bree ze. this is only, like what, 92 degrees? usually, it's, like, 104, 105. this is a good d ay. good football weat her. [horn blow ing] [laughs] i don't know who that is. (singing) keep it comin', love. keep

it comin', lo ve. [hummi ng] [horn blowing] [laughs] go tee cotton b owl! you're about to wr eck! - i kn ow! - [laughs] how you doi ng? - go troja ns! - go bulld ogs! - wh at? jennifer vidrine: [lau ghs] - what about the troja ns? jennifer vidrine: [laughs] go bulldo gs! go trojans at 7: 00. then go bulldo gs. - oh, it's going to be-- 's going to be a whipp ing. it's gonna be a-- it's gonna be a dog whipp ing! jennifer vidrine: well, you know w hat? speake10: you better call pe ter. - [lau ghs] better call pe ter. there's gonna be some dead d ogs! [lau ghs]

jennifer vidrine: this is city hall, and i remember a time when black people couldn't even come into city h all. and then, now i sit as the first black and the first wo man in city ha ll. i had a man who was in his 80s, and came to me personally and said, i've never voted for anybody bl ack. i'm not going to vote for anody bl ack. the good lord didn't mean for the black peo ple to be over the white peo ple. that was his words and i am quoting h im. then he sat down and we talked and we talked and we tal ked. and after, he came to the campaign headquart ers, and after about 20 minutes he s aid, you know what, miss jennif er? i'm going to go vote for y ou. and this was doing absentee-- early vot ing. and he left, went to the urthouse, vo ted, and he came ba ck. he said, i came back to tell you i just voted for y ou. you are the first ack that i voted f or i said, what scares you so much about vo ting for black people or black people being in positi ons? he said, miss jennifer you know

w hat? i'm going to tell you the tr uth. he said, we're scared that y'all are going to treat us the way we treated y'a ll. he said, but you know wh at? from sitting and talking to you , i can see that you're not that type of per son. i can see that you weren't raised like th at. i'm like, no i was n't. i was not raised wit h-- i was raised in a very christian househ old. and racism and bigotry that was not taught at a ll. it was just love everybody for who they a re. and he said, i sensed th at. and he said, i knew your grandfa ther and i know what kind of people they w ere. and so he said, i'm glad that i voted for y ou. so that was ju st-- just that alone was amazing because he was in his 80s. this was eight years a go. and for him to do that would an awakening for h im. choir: (singing) god bless america, my home, sweet home. god bless america, my home, sweet h ome. [appla

use] - ok, another thing-- another thing i want to addr ess. where are you looking at when you're singi ng? student 1: the cro wd. student 2: the m ic. student 3: y ou. - if i'm standing there, you're looking at me, ri ght. so don't be like (singing) god bl ess. [laugh ter] larry moore: you have to look at the people in ville pla tte and say, ok. it's tou gh. it's poverty, they don't have the j obs, they don't have a lot of things, yet they're smil ing. they're surviving, they're making it. and it's tou gh. a lot of people could not come to ville platte and surv ive. people outside look for a why. as in why are you doing th is? as a person in ville platte liv ing, i don't have to say why. it is because it is. this game is something we do every ye ar. we enjoy, we prepare for it, sacred heart versus vi lle platte h

igh. it's a real community come toget her. why? sometimes i n't believe the why is important at the mome nt. let's have the game, enjoy it, and then keep it mov ing. i do believe if you ask why and you really start diggi ng you're going to get answers th at's going to pull up more things that you re ally don't want to pull up. [music playi ng] tony marks: the town is dying. a lot of the mom and pop stores closed do wn. segregation was a big thing over h ere. and growing up being in the '80s and '90s, i m ean, ville platte was integra ted. but it's like, my parents' generation were st ill clinging to that old way of how they were brought up.

ville platte high was all white back then. and when-- i hate to say this, but when a blacks star ted, all the whites had l eft. and they started their own school, evangeline acade my in the vidrine a rea. so for a few years theyent over the re. and then that eventually closed, and then kind of t hey tookt down fm th ere. but yeah, it was like a mass exod us. althe whites left ville platte h igh. and it happened everywhere, you kn ow. [music playi ng] - my name is grace vidrine sibley. i was born and reared in ville platte, louisi ana, became the first desegregant of ville platte high sch ool and the first and only desegre gant of evangeline pari sh. [music playi ng] we made ready for my going to ville platte high school. reverend m.l. thomas my pastor, who was sort of the ring leader of

orchestrating all of this along with mr. marshall frank and mr. norbert da vis. so what they did they got toget her and they gave me a lot of sensitivity train ing. if this happens, this is what you do. and then reverend thomas said, i don't want you to go alo ne. so he got a 40-year-old albino man, reverend james willia ms whom i call my foot sold ier. and reverend williams and i got ready to go. when we got ready to leave my house that morn ing, there was a group on the porch ready to p ray and they prayed with me. and i felt very empowered by t hem until i got closer to the sch ool. and reverend james williams and i were walk ing and we kept asking each other, a you sca red? no. are you scar ed? no. of course, i was trembli ng. and he said, well, just keep looking

strai ght. don't pay any attent ion. because the blacks were outside of their h omes waiting to say goo dbye and th when i walked into the white area, i ... [chokes up] i... uh... started hearing them chant ing, chocolate queen and speckle face n-- ---, go back home or we'll pull our trig ger. and we kept walk ing. [music playi ng] when i heard that there was someone who shot at me i just fell ap art. martin luther king was on the phone talking to my mother. and then when

i got on the phone talking to dr. king, i s aid, i want to go back to the black sch ool. and he kept talking, we're so proud of you and your fight for racial justice is admirab le. and i said, i am tired and i'm scar ed. he said, i want to tell you, you have to stay determined. he said, i'd rather spend 10 years in jail or die physica lly than desert people when in a cris is. that was my turn aro und. my whole attitudchan ge i walked to school the next day and i s aid, ok, chocolate qu een. because my name was either n-----, chocolate qu een, or something negat ive. and i walked in and whenever i would go to a ta ble, everyone would disperse from there and i s aid, let's see, chocolate que en. which table are you going to claim

tod ay? [music playi ng] [cheering] [music playi ng] [police sirens] jennifer vidrine: happy tee cotton bowl, y'a ll! happy tee cotton b owl! go bulld ogs! go troja ns!

tony marks: when i was growing up the mentality was, oh, we can't go th ere because the blacks will be th ere. but that was just a a lingering mentality from the 6 0s from my parents' generat ion. cheerleaders: let's go d ogs. d-o-g-s. let's go do gs. tony marks: but no w-- again, maybe it's just me with rose-colored glasses on but i think that that's kind of fading a way. because we're learning now how important it is th at again, we should work togeth er. jennifer vidne: hey. ..! happy tee cotton b owl! the tee cotton bowl game is the greatest thing now because we know what it was or what it was n't. when i was in school i'm a bull dog. the bulldogs and the trojans hated each other, litera lly. we hated sacred heart, sacred heart hated us. they were on this side of the tr acks and we were on the other side of the trac ks. we were public they were priv ate. racism was high th en. that's why this game is so important

now. we look at it 16 years later and we love each other n ow. we're together n ow. trojans and bulldogs are frie nds. the kids are best frie nds. they spend the night at each other's ho mes. they go out together they're best frien ds. and it's just amazing what a football game has do ne. [music playi ng] all: let's go dogs! [cheer ing] [music playing]

[cheering] choir: (singing) god bless america, land that i love. stand beside her and guide her through the ni ght with the light from ab ove. both: re ady. [haka chant]

[cheering] man: the haka! [cheer ing] [music playi ng] larry moore (voiceover): when you hear about the tee cotton bowl, more of the adults we really get into the riva lry. and most of the students they haven't e ven been at ville platte high school long eno ugh to understand the rivalry or the history of the two sch ools because they're youn ger. [whistle blowi ng] if you asked a question of importance, who is it really important to, i think the stud ents look at it as 's a g ame. it's our first game of the y ear. they look for a good t

ime. if you ask someone older, it's differ ent. it's traditi on. it's more than just a game to th em. [music playi ng] tony marks (voiceover): we need to remember that history of where it came from to know where we're goi ng. ville platte is still dy ing. don't get me wro ng. but just for one weekend out of the y ear, there's hope and a purpose of being h ere. [music playi ng] announcer (on pa): handoff to bar rs. right-side..., making tack les. picks up a first d own. [cheer ing] - yes, touchdo wn! let's go, touchd own. you see? - no, that's not f air. - bulldogs are not playing this y ear. so... man! - that's not f air. - how it's not f air? - i don't kn ow. - hey, next time if we play-- if y'all are playing against us today again, tell them to play harder and get serious l ike they're an

gry. but no, they still gonna l ose. - probab ly. cheerleaders: who are we? the troj ans. let's go, troj ans. let's go, troj ans. [cheer ing] tim fontenot: i tell the kids, you could play in the super bowl and you won't play in a game as important as this one. they say, how can you say th at? ville plat te? this little te am? how can you say th at? i say this way, is a community be tter after the super bowl's pla yed? some instances, it is. is society better after you pl ay? this game, it is. we make our community bett er. somebody asked me a few days ago do you have a tee cotton bowl commit tee? i said, yeah me. and i said, i'm going to be in

cha rge. i'm not going to let it go. [music playi ng] you know, i think too many people say, it's not enough. well you'll never-- where are we going to st art? you got to start somewhe re. if you have a criticism on how i do thin gs at least i'm start ing. at least we started and let god take care of the r est. too much hate in this world, too much division in this wo rld. well tonight, that wasn't the c ase. hey, everybody together because we all from ville plat te. 1, 2 , 3. all: t cb! - all ri ght. [music playi ng]

- we here in ville platte have a short attention span. you know, like now it's tee cotton bo wl. but in a few weeks it's squirrel seas on. so everybody is going to go in the w oods and forget about what happened now for tee cotton b owl. then after the squirrel season, it's deer seas on. it's just one thing after anot her. so we lose focus a l ot. [music playi ng] grace vidrine sibley: sports has been used through the years as a means of getting people toget her. when we have the games the blacks and whi tes come toget her. they may never see each other aga in. and to me, i'm looking for bits and pie ces. i'm not saying it's all good and i not saying we're not still divided but i see a lot of progr ess. and there's just no progress without us mingling toge ther and comingogether as o ne. [music playi ng] ♪

- [announcer]: major funding for reel south was provided by: etv endowm ent, the national endowment for the ar ts center for asian-american med ia south ar ts and by the corporation for public broadcast ing, a private corporation funded by the american peop le. ♪ vo: you're watching pbs.

ll fish and marine life. but now, due to rising ocean temperatures, coral reefs are in great peril. around the world, dedicated people are working together to save the corals, coming up on "earth focus." coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. while they cover less than 2% of the ocean floor, reefs provide