Page 4 - Booker Wright News Today

Smile. if you dont, whats wrong with you? the meaner the man be, the more you smile, although youre crying on the inside. im not going to tip that nigger. you dont look for no tips. yes, sir, thank you. what did you say? thank you, sir. thats 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 st...

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...

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 story of its most famous employee, booker wright. he had been working at luscos as a waiter since he was 14 years old. >> we dont have a red menu. id be glad to tell you what theyre going to serve tonight. >> in 1965 nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race relations. bookers enterta...

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 story of its most famous employee, booker wright. he had been working at luscos as a waiter since he was 14 years old. >> we dont have a red menu. id be glad to tell you what theyre going to serve tonight. >>...

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 more you smile, although youre crying on the inside. im not going to tip that...

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 more you smile, although youre crying on the inside. im not going to tip that nigger. you dont look for no tips. yes, sir, thank you. what did you say? thank you, sir. thats 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...

All that hate, but you have to smile. if you dont, whats wrong with you? the meaner the man be, the more you smile, although youre crying on the inside. im not going to tip that nigger. you dont look for no tips. yes, sir, thank you. what did you say? thank you, sir. thats 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 fo...

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 story of its most famous employee, booker wright. he had been working at luscos as a waiter since he was 14 years old. >> we dont have a red menu. id be glad to tell you what theyre going to serve tonight. >> in 1965 nbc news came ...

Reliquary of like indiscretions past, you know? >> but maybe to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with a story of its most famous employee, booker wright. he had been working at luscos as a waiter since he was 14 years old. >> we dont have a red menu. id be glad to tell you what theyre going to serve tonight. >> in 1965 nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race relations. bookers entertaining recitation of the menu at luscos was famous around town, so they asked hi...

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 more you smile, although youre crying on the inside. im not going to tip that nigger. you dont look for no tips. yes, sir, thank you. what did you say? thank you, sir. thats 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 no...