Bill Quote #112
Quote from Bill in Be Prepared
Adult Dean: I shouldn't have been surprised that my Dad didn't want me joining Brad's troop. Like a lot of men from his generation, he didn't think we needed to mix with White people to have a better life. But that didn't change the fact that I really wanted this. Lucky for me, my mom was there to save the day.
Lillian: Well, you want to be a Scout, you can join the troop your brother belonged to.
Bill: That's right. We got a perfectly good troop right in our own neighborhood... a Black troop. I forgot all about it.
Lillian: [chuckles] Yeah, I'm not surprised. You were on the road with your band back then, and I used to take Bruce to all his meetings.
Bill: Well, I'm here now, so I'll take Dean, get him signed up. You don't have to worry your pretty little head about a thing. [Bill grabs his coat and then stalls for a moment]
Lillian: Ask for Deacon Loren at the church. He's the troop leader.
Bill: Right. Now you don't have to worry about one little thing. [tap drips] Let's go, Dean.
The Wonder Years Quotes
‘Be Prepared’ Quotes
Quote from Bill
Adult Dean: Growing up in the '60s, I was surrounded by images of the ideal middle-class, suburban life, and I wanted nothing more than to have my own big, fat slice of that American pie. Can you blame me? Those smiling White people made happiness and prosperity look so damn appealing. It only seemed fair... if other families got to have these cool, middle-class experiences, who said mine couldn't, too?
Dean: Hey, Dad. Can we go to the beach?
Bill: Sharks.
Adult Dean: My dad. That's who.
[montage:]
Dean: Hey, Dad, can we rent a cabin in the woods?
Bill: Bears.
Dean: Hey, Dad, can we get a dog?
Bill: Fleas.
Quote from Bill
Dean: Hey, Dad. Can I join my friend Brad's Dixie Scout troop?
Bill: The Dixie Scouts? So you want to join the White troop? Or as I call them, the junior Klan.
Dean: No, but, Dad, it's not like that. Brad's father is the Scoutmaster.
Bill: I'm sorry, did you say Scoutmaster? The man in charge is called "master"? Listen to yourself, son.
Dean: But, Dad, all my other friends are doing it.
Bill: Yeah, your White friends. I'm not letting you join in with those East Montgomery boys.
Quote from Bill
Lillian: Well, what's the harm in it, Bill?
Bill: Well, for starters, I don't like how the white Scouts stole all their rituals from African tribal rites of passage.
Adult Dean: My dad was of the opinion that if there was something of value in American culture, it was definitely stolen from Black people.
[flashback to Bill watching Ed Sullivan Show on TV :]
Bill: Elvis Presley? Ha! Everything he does, Big Mama Thornton did first... except better.
[flashback to Bill holding a drink:]
Bill: Coca-Cola? [scoffs] Please. They'd be nowhere if Africans hadn't domesticated the kola nut.
[flashback to Bill hanging decorations on a Christmas tree:]
Bill: [chuckles] Santa Claus? You know the real Saint Nicholas was a black Moor.
[present:]
Lillian: Are you sure about that, Bill? I thought the Scouts got their rituals from the Native Americans.
Bill: And where do you think they got it from?