Page 2 - Booker Wright News Today

Is greenwood. a town with a lot of history. most of it of the not good variety. known unfortunately as much for byron de la beckwith, and tom bradys infamous speech after brown v. the board of education as anything else, fairly or not, its hard to get past that. during all the years of cruelty and struggle from 1933 on, through it all and until today, this place, luscos, was a beloved institution. once a grocery store, it turned restaurant to the moneyed class, serving them in discreet quarters ...

Why? >> john t. edge: this place is like a reliquary of like indiscretions past. you know? >> anthony: but maybe, to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with the story of its most famous employee -- booker wright, who had been working at luscos as a waiter wince he was 14 years old. >> booker: thanks to yall. we dont have a real menu. id be glad to tell you what were gonna serve tonight. >> anthony: in 1965, nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race relations. book...

Me john, some call me jim. some call me nigga. oh that hurts, but you have to smile. if you dont, "whats wrong with you?" the meaner the man be, the more you smile. although you crying on the inside. "im not gonna tip that nigga. he dont live for no tip." "yes sir, thank you." "whatd you say?" "come back, goodnight, take care." so thats what you have to go through here. but remember, you have to keep that smile. >> anthony: telling the truth was still risky business in 1966 mississippi, and book...

And unchanged. why? >> john t. edge: this place is like a reliquary of like indiscretions past. you know? >> anthony: but maybe, to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with the story of its most famous employee -- booker wright, who had been working at luscos as a waiter since he was 14 years old. >> booker: thanks to yall. we dont have a real menu. id be glad to tell you what were gonna serve tonight. >> anthony: in 1965, nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race re...

You smile. although you crying on the inside. "im not gonna tip that nigga. he dont live for no tip." "yes sir, thank you." "whatd you say?" "come back, goodnight, take care." so thats what you have to go through here. but remember, you have to keep that smile. >> anthony: 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 by, you know -- >> john t. edge: not within th...

You?" the meaner the man be, the more you smile. although you crying on the inside. "im not gonna tip that nigga. he dont live for no tip." "yes sir, thank you." "whatd you say?" "come back, goodnight, take care." so thats what you have to go through here. but remember, you have to keep that smile. >> anthony: 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 by, you ...

Like a reliquary of like indiscretions past. you know? >> anthony: but maybe, to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with the story of its most famous employee -- booker wright, who had been working at luscos as a waiter wince he was 14 years old. >> booker: thanks to yall. we dont have a real menu. id be glad to tell you what were gonna serve tonight. >> anthony: in 1965, nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race relations. bookers entertaining recitation of the men...

Asked him to do his usual routine for the camera. >> we have great 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. >> now, as for my customers -- i say my customers. they expect it of me. some are nice, some are not. some call me booker. some call me john. some call me jim. some call me nigger. all that hate, but you have to smile. if you dont, whats wrong with you? the meaner the man be, the mor...

Him. it did not make him a star. >> not within the white community. but even the stokely carmichael mainly first chanted black power here, that was less important to the black community here than what booker said on the nbc news. >> yeah. the private dining rooms at luscos are still here. the menu, much the same. steaks, fish, the famous broiled shrimp, the lusco special salad with the house italian vinaigrette dressing and a healthy dose of anchovy. onion rings. >> salad makes me happy. >> yeah...

And struggle from 1933 on, through it all, and until today, this place, luscos, was a beloved institution. once a grocery store, it turned restaurant to the moneyed class, served them in discrete quarters in the back, where one could enjoy an alcoholic beverage in what was then a dry state. still going after all these years, and unchanged. why? >> this place is like a reliquary of like indiscretions past, you know? >> but maybe to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with a sto...