Excerpt from the screenplay    "SIXTEEN  HOURS"

Historical fiction piece about two high school students, one black and one white, who were lovers, but became separated out of fear for each other’s safety when learning a riot was in the making due to an incendiary newspaper article about a black shoe shine boy and a white female elevator operator.  The Klan was very active in Tulsa in 1921 and a riot did occur.  For 16 hours in 1921, between May 31st and June 1st, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the worst race riots in the United States occurred in the predominantly black neighborhood of Greenwood.  A neighborhood known throughout the country as "The Black Wall Street of Tulsa," because of its prosperity.  The story begins when Andrew Langston, a black man dying from alcoholism is visited by Clare, the white girl he loved so much, but had to stop seeing.  In essence, Clare spent years trying to find him and finally did find him in a nursing home.  She still loved him and found him just in time for him to meet his son who Clare gave birth to after she ran away from home during the riot for fear what would happen if people knew she became pregnant by a black a black teenager.

FADE IN: 

INT. DAY. MAY, 1964. NURSING HOME. HALLWAY

                  ANDY JACOBS

Mom, are you sure this is the right place, I mean this is an old folks home.  Actually a nursing home.

                 CLARE JACOBS

I’m sure we are at the right place, Andy.  I wrote it down when they called me. Hurry. I’ve waited over 40 years for this day.  The day I have prayed for has finally come.

                  ANDY JACOBS

Someone from here called you?  Who do you know in Tulsa, Oklahoma of all places? We live in Chicago.  You have never mentioned Tulsa.  So, who do you know in this town?

                    CLARE JACOBS

I haven’t always lived in Chicago.  I lived here before you were born.  Someone very important to me apparently came back here, probably looking for me. We need to tell someone we have arrived.

Clare and Andy walk up to the reception desk.

DESK CLERK          May I help you?

                   CLARE JACOBS

Yes, please.  I’m Clare Jacobs.  You called me about one of your residents who is very ill.  I am his next of kin.

                     DESK CLERK

Oh yes, Mrs. Jacobs, we were hoping you could come.  Mr. Langston listed you as his only relative and well, maybe he was imagining things, I mean, you are a white lady. Maybe there is some mistake.   Mr. Langston is not doing too well. 

CLARE JACOBS

Why is he here?  Can you tell me?

                      DESK CLERK

(gets Andrew Langston’s chart)

Well, you see Mrs. Jacobs, Mr. Langston has just about drunk himself to death.  He is an alcoholic and he has cirrhosis of the liver. He used to work here, but we had to let him go because of his drinking. Even now, when he’s having a bad day, he asks for whiskey.  In his present condition we were not certain the information he was giving us was accurate.

CLARE JACOBS

I’m glad you contacted me.  I had no idea he knew where I lived.   May we see him now?

                     DESK CLERK

Yes, yes of course.  He is in room 212 at the end of the hall on the left. 

CLARE JACOBS

Thank you.  Come on Andy.  I’ll explain all this to you later.

INT. DAY. ANDREWW LANGSTON’S ROOM AT THE NURSING HOME

                    CLARE JACOBS

(Clare stops in doorway and stares at the man in the bed).

ANDY JACOBS

Mama? Mama who is this old man? 

                    CLARE JACOBS

Andy, hush.  Just be quiet, I said I will explain it all to you and I will, but for now stop talking.

(Clare walks over to the bed and takes Andrew’s hand)

Andrew, I’m here, it’s Clare.

ANDREW LANGSTON              Oh Lord, am I finally dead?  Was this why I could never find you, ‘cause you was already in heaven?

CLARE JACOBS              Andrew, you are alive and I am alive.  The nursing home contacted me, because you listed me as your next of kin. I guess I am or could have been, even after all these years.  Oh Andrew what have you done to yourself.

(Clare leans down and kisses Andrew on the forehead)

                   ANDREW LANGSTON

Clare, is that really you? Oh Clare I spent my whole life missing the only girl I ever loved. After all this time you came back, and who is that with you?

CLARE JACOBS                 Well Andrew, Andy is the reason I left Tulsa and never came back.  My family didn’t want anything to do with me after they found out I was pregnant.

ANDREW LANGSTON             Found out what?  That we were seeing each other and planning to run away to some place where we could be together?  I couldn’t find you Clare.  I tried everything I could, but I just could not find you.  

(Tears running down his cheek)

After awhile, the only thing that helped me get from one day to the next was to drink myself to sleep at night; every night since I was 17 years old. Guess it caught up with me.  Who’d you say this young man is?

CLARE JACOBS               Andy come over here so he can see you better.  Andrew, this is our son Andy.  Andy, this is your father, Andrew Langston.

I named you after him, so I could believe he was still with me.  He is the only man I have ever loved.  

(Tears filling her eyes)

ANDY JACOBS                 Why didn’t you tell me I had a father who is still alive.  You made me grow up without a father.  Why?

CLARE JACOBS                 Sit down Andy! Now, together we will tell you why.  Andrew do you remember what was going on in May of 1921?  What were you doing that caused us to be so afraid that you ran away and then so did I, just not together as we had planned?

ANDREW LANGSTON                 I was in the hall at Booker T. Washington school here in Tulsa and we were   

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DAY. TUESDAY. MAY 30TH, 1921. HALLWAY. BOOKER T.

WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL. (AN ALL-BLACK TULSA HIGH SCHOOL)

FEMALE STUDENT              Andrew, take these streamers, hang them over the doors.  Come on people we need to hurry.  The prom is tonight. We’ve got to get done and  get to graduation practice. 

INT. DAY. HALLWAY. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

                 ADULT BLACK MALE

(runs into building waving a newspaper)

 You kids need to go home ‘cause trouble is coming! (man then runs out of building dropping the newspaper) 

                    ANDREW LANGSTON

Hey mister! You dropped your paper!

(Andrew picks up newspaper and reads headlines out loud)

“To Lynch a Negro Tonight” “Nab

Negro for Attacking Girl in

Elevator”

(Andrew drops newspaper and runs out of building)

                        MALE STUDENT

Andy, hey Andy where you going, we have to finish decorating for tonight, Andy!

FEMALE STUDENT             What’s up with him?  No matter, he ain’t even coming to the dance, he says his mamma is sick.  You know sometimes I think he doesn’t even like girls.  He didn’t even try to ask anyone to the dance.  Anytime it was brought up he just kept saying he couldn’t go because his mamma was sick and he has to take care of her.

MALE STUDENT                Maybe Andy ran because he knows something about what he was reading in the newspaper, you know, what happened yesterday.

DISSOLVE TO THE DAY BEFORE:

INT. DAY. POLICE STATION.

SARA PAGE

(17 year old elevator operator at the Drexel

Building)

Dick Rowland assaulted me (sobbing) when he got in my elevator.

                  POLICE OFFICER

What was a nigger boy doin’ getting in your elevator? Why was he even in your building?

SARA PAGE

I don’t know. I think the  owners said he could use the washroom on the top floor any time he needed to go.  He’s been in my elevator before and always stood at the back while I was taking him to the top floor.

                  POLICE OFFICER

Tell us exactly what happened.

SARA PAGE

When I closed the door, he jumped at me and stepped on my foot and then grabbed me (begins crying uncontrollably)

                POLICE OFFICER

(police officer calls a few other officers over to his desk to listen to what the girl is saying) So the little bastard assaulted you, right?

SARA PAGE

Yes, he tried to, but I screamed (beat) I was able to push him away.  I got the elevator door open (beat)  then he ran out. I don’t know where he went.

        POLICE OFFICER                 (Police officer looks at the other officers standing around the desk)  Alright boys, let’s find this Dick Rowland.  Get out there now; find that no good piece of crap and arrest him. 

CUT TO MAY 31, 1921

EXT. DAY SOUTH GREENWOOD AVENUE

OFFICER HENRY CARMICHAEL      Stop the car.  Look, that’s the shoe shine boy, Dick Rowland. 

(Officer gets out with partner Henry Carmichael.  Both officers draw their guns.)

OFFICER HENRY C. PECK        Dick Rowland, put your hands against the wall.  Boy, you done got yourself into some bad shit.  You’re under arrest for assaulting a little white girl .

Officer Carmichael handcuffs Dick Rowland and puts him in the squad car.

INT. DAY 4:00 PM. POLICE STATION

COMMISSIONER J. M. ADKINSON   Sheriff McCulloch, you know the whites are talking about lynching that kid Rowland?

SHERIFF MCCULLOCH             I know and that kind of talk has already reached the niggers in Greenwood.  I expect we need to move Rowland or we may have a lynching mob get in here and take him.

COMMISSIONER J. M. ADKINSON       Get a deputy and move him to the Courthouse on 6th street, the jail is on the third floor.  That will give us some time to deal with this mess.

EXT. NIGHT 9:00PM COUNTY JAIL

Approximately 400 white men gather at the County Jail milling around talking about lynching Dick Rowland

EXT. NIGHT 9:15 PM GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

Rumor has reached the black neighborhood about the white mob at the jail threatening to hang the 17 year old Dick Rowland for assaulting a white girl.

EXT. NIGHT COUNTY JAIL
 
Approximately 35 black men show up at the jail and the only two black police officers on the force, Carmichael and Peck tell them the rumor isn’t true and convinces them to go home.  The black men return to their neighborhood.EXT. NIGHT GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

A second rumor circulates through the Greenwood neighborhood about whites storming the jail.  This time about 75 black men return to the jail with weapons.

EXT. NIGHT OUTSIDE OF COUNTY JAIL

SHERIFF MCCULLOCH             Now all you men need to go home and let us take care of this.  Go home before people start getting arrested.  We don’t want anybody getting hurt.

EXT. MIDNIGHT JUNE 1ST, 1921

Black and White men firing at each other from across the railway track that separated the Greenwood neighborhood from the white part of town.  White men began entering the Greenwood neighborhood by the carloads shooting at anyone they saw.  Around 60 to 80 cars formed a circle around Greenwood and each car had men in them carrying machine guns, rifles, and petrol bombs.  The neborhood of Greenwood was set afire and 8 airplanes were dispatched to drop nitro-glycerine bombs on the area.

WHITE MAN

Nigger, give me that gun!

A gun shot is heard, black and white men begin fighting.  A black man is shot. Black and white men start running away after a brief exchange of gun fire. When the shooting stopped twelve men were dead: ten white and two black

INT. DAWN A HOUSE ON ARCHER STREET IN GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

                    ANDREW LANGSTON

Mama, we got to go, they’re burning down the businesses and the houses! They even have a planes dropping bombs, we got to go now, hurry!

ANDREW AND HIS MOTHER RUN INTO NEARBY WOODS WHERE OTHER BLACK FAMILIES ARE HIDING FROM THE WHITE MEN RIOTING.

                    UNNAMED WHITE MAN

(FINDS AN ELDERLY COUPLE HOLDING HANDS PRAYING)

Good thing you niggers are praying ‘cause I’m here to help you meet  your Maker.

(white man shoots both in the back of their heads, then torches their house)

Just after 5 AM on June 1st, the Governor called out the National Guard including 150 troops from Oklahoma City.  Three hours later , the troops were confronted by fifteen or twenty thousand blood-maddened rioters. By 11:30 AM, Marshall Law had been declared, but the neighborhood known as the “Black Wall Street of America,” Greenwood, was ablaze and continued to burn for hours. Marshall law remained in place until 5 PM on Friday, June 3rd.  The Greenwood Neighborhood continued to smolder.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DAY. MAY, 1964. ANDREW LANGSTON’S ROOM IN REST HOME

ANDREW LANGSTON                 I remember, we were decorating the hall getting ready for the prom and when that man came in and started talking about a lynching ‘cause some white girl had been assaulted, I just had to get out of there

‘cause I was afraid.  I’m sorry Clare, I was afraid we’d be found out, so I ran, ‘cause I didn’t want either one of us to get killed.  Since I couldn’t have you, over the years I took comfort in drink, every night. Sometimes you would come to me in my dreams.  I love you Clare, I have always loved you. And now, I see I have a son, too. 

When I found out you were in Chicago, I should have come to get you, I was just too afraid.  Drinking was the only thing that helped, and now it has ruined me.

CLARE JACOBS Andrew             I never married either.  I just started telling people my last name is Jacobs, a name I picked out of the phone book. I wanted so much for it to be Langston. I worked at any job I could find, raised Andy as best as I could, but I never told him about you, us. I was afraid too.  He is so light skinned, people never seemed to notice he is half black.  I’m so ashamed I never told him.

ANDY JACOBS

You lied to me for almost 40 years?  So I am the bastard son of a black man?  How could you do this to me. Lie to me for my whole life.  I gotta get out of here.  I have to go somewhere and figure this out.

CLARE JACOBS                Andy, wait, come back. I didn’t know how to tell you that the man I always have loved ran away for fear we both would be hurt if people found out.  Andy, I have always loved your father, always.  Please come back.

ANDREW LANGSTON               Clare let him go.  He needs time to sort all this out.  I know you raised him to be a good man.  He will be back.  Just give him some time. 

                     CLARE JACOBS                                   I hope so Andrew.  First I lost you for all these many years, and now I know I could not handle losing my son too.  I just could not stand losing him. He has been my whole life; a life I had to live without you. 

INT. MORNING. ANDREW LANGSTON’S ROOM IN REST HOME

ANDREW LANGSTON             Clare, you’re still here, holding my hand.  What happened to our lives?  What kind of life could we have had together?  And Andy, I can tell that you raised him to respect his elders.  You did good Clare, you did very good. Don’t worry, he’ll be back. I love you Clare.  I still do, I always have and look what I did, I wasted what could have been.

CLARE JACOBS

We did what we had to do Andrew, we can’t go back, but we can be with each other now.  Andy is a good young man.  He will sort it out, he has part of your heart, he will be alright.

Andy Jacobs opens the door and walks into his father’s room.  He is accompanied by another man.

ANDY JACOBS                  Okay, it is going to take some time, but I love my mother and if you are my dad, then I will learn to love you too, but first I insist on one thing.  You have to agree to it or I can’t be around either one of you; I mean never having told me the truth my entire life, and all.

CLARE JACOBS

Andy, I was telling the truth, I was afraid and I didn’t know how to tell you; and the years, the years just kept passing by.  Please don’t ever go away from me, from us.

                      ANDY JACOBS

Well, I love you mom, and I think after all these years and the way I have seen you two together, I have to make things right, I mean it isn’t too late.

CLARE JACOBS

What are you talking about son? 

Not too late for what?

                  ANDY JACOBS

To make an honest man and woman out of you two.  I want you to meet Reverend James.  I needed someone to talk to. We visited about this  and I think we have the answer for all of us.

                    CLARE JACOBS                                    What answer?  What are you talking about?

ANDREW LANGSTON          What’s going on.

REVEREND JAMES              It is a pleasure meeting both of you.  You have a very, well, insistent son who loves you very much.  So let’s get on with it.

ANDREW LANGSTON/CLARE JACOBS         Get on with what?

                   ANDY JACOBS

You two are getting married today, right now, actually. I Want my parents to be married so hold hands and do what Reverend James tells you to do and say.  Go ahead Reverend.

                   REVEREND JAMES

(two nurses enter the room)              If you two will join hands, we will can begin.  These nurses have agreed to be your witnesses.  So shall we begin?  Okay. Dearly beloved, we are here today to join together in holy matrimony Clare Jacobs and Andrew Langston.  Clare repeat after me, do you take Andrew to be your lawful husband to have and to hold till death do you part?

FADE OUT.