WEBVTT

00:02.400 --> 00:05.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: A new
statue unveiled today at
the U.S. Capitol marks a
historic first. Civil rights

00:07.500 --> 00:11.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
pioneer Mary McLeod
Bethune is the first Black
American to represent a
state in Statuary Hall.

00:12.833 --> 00:17.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
Congressional leaders
celebrated the unveiling
and Bethune's legacy.

00:17.100 --> 00:22.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): How
poetic that Dr. Bethune replaces
a little known Confederate

00:24.100 --> 00:27.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
general, trading a traitor
for a civil rights hero in the
Capitol of the United States.

00:30.033 --> 00:33.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL):
Dr. Bethune wasn't just
a great Floridian. She
was a great American,

00:36.233 --> 00:39.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
an American who refused
to accept that her humble
beginnings or the color
of her skin were a limit

00:42.066 --> 00:46.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
on her dreams and on
her destiny, an American
who, in the face of the
ignorance, the cruelty,

00:48.533 --> 00:52.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
and the prejudice of
others, she refused to
surrender to bitterness,
cynicism, or despair.

00:54.633 --> 00:58.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa Desjardins
has more on the unveiling.

00:58.633 --> 01:02.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
LISA DESJARDINS: Each
state has two statues
representing them in the

01:02.500 --> 01:05.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
U.S. Capitol. Florida lawmakers
voted to remove one of theirs,

01:05.933 --> 01:10.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
a statue representing a
Confederate general, and replace
it with a statue of Bethune.

01:10.533 --> 01:13.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Joining me now is her
granddaughter, Evelyn Bethune.

01:13.500 --> 01:18.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And, Evelyn, your grandmother
is especially known for her
pioneering and relentless work

01:18.166 --> 01:23.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
in education. That is why she is
depicted in the U.S. Capitol as
wearing a cap and gown. In fact,

01:24.633 --> 01:26.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
she created what would become
the Bethune-Cookman University

01:26.633 --> 01:31.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
starting with just $1.50.
It ultimately became a
historically Black university.

01:32.633 --> 01:34.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Tell us more about what she did.

01:34.766 --> 01:37.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
EVELYN BETHUNE, Granddaughter
of Mary McLeod Bethune: Well,
I think the key element is to

01:37.333 --> 01:42.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
know that in order for
her to found the school,
she had to be a great
organizer and fund-raiser.

01:43.866 --> 01:48.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Bethune-Cookman University
sits on what was the
city garbage dump,

01:50.800 --> 01:55.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
which was the only land
they would give her, let her
purchase during that time,

01:57.166 --> 02:00.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
because women were not really
allowed, women, Black or white,
were not allowed to vote,

02:02.866 --> 02:06.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
make decisions, buy property or
anything, unless a man gave them
permission or assisted them.

02:07.633 --> 02:12.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
And so for her to acquire
this property for $250,

02:14.033 --> 02:17.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
and work out a deal, because
she only had $1.50, was quite
amazing for that time period.

02:21.333 --> 02:26.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
But my grandmother took
those skills and she built
relationships with people
like the Roosevelts,

02:31.733 --> 02:36.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
and she made sure that
she was able to organize
communities and people to vote

02:40.833 --> 02:45.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
once the vote was given
to women. She registered
women to vote across this

02:47.700 --> 02:51.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
country. She founded the
National Council of Negro
Women, which is an organization

02:53.066 --> 02:57.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
that was made up of women in
leadership in the organizations
within their communities.

02:58.433 --> 03:01.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
And, at one point, they
had over five million women

03:03.066 --> 03:06.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
in their membership. That is
a huge voting block. And with
that carries a lot of power.

03:09.033 --> 03:12.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
LISA DESJARDINS: We met earlier
today at Statuary Hall ahead of

03:12.166 --> 03:15.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
the unveiling of the statue. And
that is a very special place.

03:15.166 --> 03:20.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It is also a place where
there are still statues
representing Confederates. And

03:20.133 --> 03:24.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
I just wonder what it was
like for you, that moment
when her statue was unveiled,

03:24.333 --> 03:29.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
looking in that place, what
you think that meant for the
Capitol and for our country?

03:29.100 --> 03:34.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
EVELYN BETHUNE: For us as a
family, it is a position of
pride that is very humbling,

03:36.033 --> 03:40.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
when we think of our
grandmother, our descendant
being part of Statuary Hall.

03:43.500 --> 03:48.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
The fact that there are
Confederate soldiers
there is very interesting
to me, since they

03:50.866 --> 03:54.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
lost the war. And it
speaks volumes in terms
of the thinking of the
people who placed it there,

04:00.100 --> 04:05.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
how they still hold on to
the tenets of enslavement
and unequal access.

04:11.033 --> 04:16.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
My grandmother is a
reminder of the good that
comes when we share power,

04:17.933 --> 04:21.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
when we give access to everyone,
and when we make voting
accessible to everyone easily,

04:27.100 --> 04:32.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
and not make it so difficult
that you can't get registered,
you can't get to the polls.

04:34.100 --> 04:37.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And that is not what this
country is about. This
country is about freedom.

04:37.233 --> 04:40.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
LISA DESJARDINS: It is
interesting you talk about
the power of representation
in this country.

04:40.733 --> 04:44.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And it was the Florida
legislature that decided your
grandmother was the one to

04:44.866 --> 04:49.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
represent the state, to change
the image it presented at the
Capitol. But we also know,

04:49.000 --> 04:54.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
in recent months, the Florida
legislature and governor have
decided that they want to limit

04:55.966 --> 04:59.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
what teachers can actually
say in classrooms about race
and about our history of race.

05:01.033 --> 05:04.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
And I wonder what you think that
means in general for society,

05:04.966 --> 05:07.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
but also for your
grandmother's place in history.

05:07.500 --> 05:12.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
EVELYN BETHUNE: Well, my
grandmother's place in
history is solid. There is

05:12.300 --> 05:15.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
very little that they can do to
change her accomplishments if

05:15.600 --> 05:19.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
we -- unless we sit back
and allow that to happen,
which is not what to happen.

05:19.533 --> 05:24.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It is a double-edged sword.
On one hand, we want to have
freedom of speech and freedom to

05:26.500 --> 05:30.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
carry weapons, but, on the
other, we don't want to give
you the ability to talk about

05:32.266 --> 05:35.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the history of enslavement,
because, if we don't talk about
it, we will try to repeat it.

05:37.066 --> 05:42.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
And Americans who relish and
cherish freedom have to stand up

05:44.600 --> 05:47.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
and vote and remove people
from office who think
that we should go back
to Jim Crow in the 1920s.

05:49.533 --> 05:51.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
LISA DESJARDINS: Evelyn Bethune,

05:51.500 --> 05:54.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
thank you so much for
sharing with us what you
know about your grandmother.

05:54.333 --> 05:55.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
EVELYN BETHUNE: You're welcome.