As the nation reflects on the life of Betty White, who died on Friday at the age of 99, the beloved actress is being remembered for the courage she showed when she stood up for a Black dancer in the 1950s. The dancer, Arthur Duncan, nearly missed out on the opportunity to star on The Betty White Show.
White, however, refused to comply when she was told to reject Duncan because he is Black.
“I’m sorry, but, you know, he stays,” White said, according to USA Today.
Duncan, who told the story in 2017 when he appeared on Steve Harvey‘s Little Big Shots: Forever Young show, said White gave him his first job on TV.
“I was on the show, and they had some letters out of Mississippi and elsewhere that some of the stations would not carry the show if I was permitted to stay on there,” he said. “Well, Betty wrote back and said, ‘Needless to say, we used Arthur Duncan every opportunity we could.’”
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