he had been working at lusco's as a waiter since he was 14 years old. >> we don't have a red menu., making a documentary on race relations. booker's entertaining recitation of the menu at lusco's was famous around town, so they asked him to do his usual routine for the camera. >> shrimp cocktail, shrimp. half shell. >> but at the end of his usual litany is where he dropped the truth bomb that nobody was ready for. right here. >> my customers -- i say my customers. they expect it of me. some call me booker. some call me john. some call me jim. some call me nigger. you have to smile. if you don't, what's wrong with you? the meaner the man be, the more you smile. although you're crying on the inside. i'm not going to tip that nigger. you don't look for no tips. yes, sir, thank you. what did you say? thank you, sir. that's what you have to go through here. but remember, you have to keep that smile. >> telling the truth was still risky business in 1966 mississippi, and booker wright was not rewarded for his candor. >> it was not a good experience for him. it did not make him a star. >>

the private dining rooms at lusco's are still here. the menu, much the same.an vinaigrette dressing and a healthy dose of anchovy. onion rings. >> salad makes me happy. >> yeah, me, too. >> mostly the anchovies make me happy. >> yeah, yeah, love those. catfish for mr. edge, the famous pompano for me. >> it's the kind of the mark of being a great restaurant in the delta if you have pompano. >> that's a big damn fish. no way i'm finishing this. sitting here, the booths, the curtains, the whole ring bell for service thing, it seems lost in time. >> we've got a long and ugly history. but one of the things you love about this place is you can't deny the burden of the past. like, it's on your shoulders, right there. america chooses to deny its problems, you know, in many ways. and then declares itself a post-racial society. that just doesn't fly in mississippi. you can't claim that. whoa narrator: that got torture tested by teenagers and cried out for help. from the surprised designers. who came to the rescue with a brilliant fix male designer: i love it narrator: w