AND THEY HIT THE JACKPOT. THAT WE'RE CELEBRATING THEIR WIN AS WE CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH, ABC IS PAYING HOMAGE TO THE BLACK ENTERTAINERS, ENTREPRENEUR WORKERS AND THE WORKERS WHO BUILT SIN CITY WITH THIS SPECIAL PRIMETIME EVENT, SOUL OF A NATION PRESENTS BLACK IN BASE'S BLACK IN VEGAS. AND IT'S MY PLEASURE TO HAVE OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THE SPECIAL, OUR VERY OWN KAT MCKENZIE IN THE HOUSE OF THE FOUNDING MOMS HERE OF EVERYTHING FUN. OH, YEAH. SHOULD I NAME THE SHOWS THE SPECIAL? >> ANYWAY, LET'S GET DOWN TO VEGAS, SHALL WE TALK ABOUT IT. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS IDEA? YOU KNOW, WE WERE STARTED TALKING AND WE STARTED THINKING ABOUT IT AND WE STARTED LOOKING AT VEGAS AND DIFFERENT ENTERTAINERS. WE WANTED TO TALK TO AND WE STARTED LOOKING AT VEGAS. WE SAW THAT THERE WAS THIS TIME IN 1958 WHEN YOU HAVE THE FIRST INTEGRATED HOTEL IN LAS VEGAS CALLED MOULIN ROUGE. >> AND IT'S THIS AMAZING HOTEL WHERE EVERYBODY PERFORMING ONLY LASTED FOR FIVE MONTHS, WHICH GOT US INTERESTED TO WHAT WAS ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN VEGAS AND HOW DID THEY ACTUALLY INTEGRATE THE CITY. SO WHEN I THINK OF VEGAS, I THINK THE RAT PACK, RIGHT. I THINK OF DEAN MARTIN AND SAMMY DAVIS JR. AND, YOU KNOW, FRANK SINATRA. I DON'T THINK IT EVER DAWNED ON ME EVEN LIVING UP IN CALIFORNIA THAT THERE WAS EVER A TIME THAT IT WAS THAT SEGREGATED BECAUSE YOU THINK OF VEGAS AND YOU THINK, OH, ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE PLACES IN THE WORLD, EVERYBODY COMES THERE TO HAVE A GREAT TIME AND HANG OUT. >> SO YOU FIND OUT AND WE'LL TELL YOU THE SPECIALS THAT AT THAT POINT, VEGAS ACTUALLY CALLED THE MISSISSIPPI OF THE SOUTH, BECAUSE WHAT THEY WOULD DO IS THEY WOULD BRING THESE FAMOUS ENTERTAINERS . RIGHT. SAMMY DAVIS JR., LENA HORNE, THEY COULD PLAY ON THE TRIP. THEY COULDN'T STAY IN THOSE HOTELS. THEY HAD TO WALK THROUGH THE BACK DOOR OF THOSE HOTELS. EVEN WHEN THEIR NAMES WERE ON THE MARQUEES ON THE FRONT, THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY COULDN'T COME SEE THEM. AND THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS FOR A VERY LONG TIME UNTIL FOLKS, FRANK SINATRA, LENA HORNE AND OTHERS STOOD UP FOR THEIR BROTHER AND REALLY BECAME WHAT WE CALL REDNECK REVOLUTIONARIES, SAYING, HEY, WE'RE NOT GOING TO PLAY HERE. FRANK SAID, I'M NOT GOING TO PLAY HERE UNLESS YOU ALLOW US TO STAY IN THESE HOTELS, GAMBLE AT THE CASINOS, ET CETERA. >> LET'S ROLL A CLIP, SHALL. >> YEAH. ALL RIGHT. LET'S LOOK. >> SAMMY DAVIS JR., YOU STARTED COMING HERE EARLY ON . YOU EITHER GOOD ACTOR, BAD THAT YOU GOT THE JOB BECAUSE YOU DID WELL. AND AS AN OPENING ACT, WHICH WE WERE FOUR YEARS, YOU KNOW, OUT HERE, BUT YOU COULDN'T GET A ROOM WHERE YOU WERE WORKING, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD WORK THE PLACE. >> WE COULDN'T EVEN EAT IN A PLACE. IMAGINE DRIVING UP TO THE FRONT OF THE CASINO AND YOUR NAME IS IN LIGHTS AND YOU CAN'T WALK THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR. YOU HAVE TO GO AROUND THE BACK BECAUSE YOU'RE BLACK. BUT IT'S LIKE, THAT'S MY NAME. >> I'M PERFORMING HERE TONIGHT. HOW CRAZY IT WAS THAT THESE GREAT ENTERTAINERS COULD SELL OUT THE SHOWROOM, HELP THE CASINO BE SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE OF THOSE PEOPLE, AND YET COULDN'T STAY THERE, COULDN'T GAMBLE, COULDN'T HAVE FAMILY COME SEE THE SHOW? >> MY HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED. YES, THEY HAVE. AND VEGAS JUST ISN'T VEGAS WITHOUT PERFORMER LIKE SAMMY DAVIS JR.. SO DID YOU FIND OUT ANY SORT OF HIDDEN SECRETS OR STORIES ABOUT HOW HIS FELLOW PERFORMERS DID WANT TO HELP AND SUPPORT THEM AND MAKE SURE HE WAS ABLE TO BE A PART OF THE GROUP? TRULY, MORE THAN THAT. I MEAN, BESIDES YOU AND A LOT OF THAT WAS WAS WELL KNOWN ABOUT SINATRA AND WHAT HE DID FOR FOR SAMMY. WHAT WE DO FIND IS THAT THE NAACP AND SOME OTHER FOLKS REALLY DID A LOT OF WORK BEHIND THE SCENES. WHAT WE FIND IS THERE'S THE MOULIN ROUGE DECREE, WHICH ISN'T WRITTEN DOWN. THERE'S A PICTURE OF THIS MEETING AND IT'S ALL THESE BLACK, WHITE, BLACK WOMEN SIT DOWN AROUND A TABLE AND DECIDE HOW THEY'RE GOING TO START TO INTEGRATE LAS VEGAS. BUT THAT'S STILL IN THE 50S. IT'S NOT UNTIL NINETEEN SEVENTY ONE THAT WE HAVE. WHAT IS THIS DESCENT DECREE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT? WHERE LITERALLY THE NAACP HAS SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH ALL THESE PEOPLE MONITORED BY THE GOVERNMENT THAT ALLOWS FOR 12% FOR THE FRONT OF HOUSE WORKERS TO BE AFRICAN-AMERICAN. THAT'S WHEN YOU START TO SEE REAL. YOU START SEEING DEALERS, CASINO HOST EXECUTIVES THAT THAT ARE BLACK ALONG WITH NOW THE SINGERS AND THE ENTERTAINERS AND THE COMEDIANS THAT WE'VE ALL COME TO KNOW AND LOVE AND LOOK AT HOW IT PAVED THE WAY. I MEAN, I'M LOOKING AT THE LIST OF ALL THE HEAVY HITTERS THAT YOU INTERVIEWED. >> GIVE ME SOME HIGHLIGHTS. WELL, PROBABLY THE HIGHLIGHT FOR ALL OF US WAS HANGING OUT WITH USHER. KNOCKING WELL, I WAS THERE. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES YOU GET SOME PERKS, NOT BEING THERE. WHEN I WAS IN THE CONTROL ROOM RIGHT NOW, I THINK HE WAS WITH ME AS WELL. THAT WAS A GREAT AFTERNOON. NEIL WAS A GREAT AFTERNOON. WE WERE ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO FOLKS LIKE SMOKEY ROBINSON. IT WAS THERE THAT IS THERE NOW. YOU LOOK AT FOLKS LIKE LIONEL RICHIE AND COMEDIANS. WE HAD A GREAT TIME WITH GEORGE WALLACE NOW TO REALLY SEE WHERE THEY'VE COME FROM. AND A LOT OF THEM NOW HAVE MADE THEIR MONEY DOING RESIDENCIES THERE. >> AND THEY STILL REMEMBER THEY STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE GREATS BEFORE THEM AND THEY KNOW THAT. >> AND THE QUESTION IS NOW, WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP AS WE STILL FIGHT FOR EQUALITY? WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP? WELL, THERE'S A GREAT BUY FROM USHER, AND I LOVE IT. AND HE SAYS AND IT'S REALLY VOICE. WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT IF WE OWNED OUR OWN HOTEL? THEY'D HAVE A LITTLE PAUSE. AND I MEAN, THAT IS THE NEXT STEP, I THINK, NOT ONLY IN VEGAS, BUT ALL OVER PLACES, OWNERSHIP, GIVING, BEING MASTERS OF YOUR OWN DOMAIN, SO TO SPEAK. AND THAT'S KIND OF WHERE ONE OF THE SPECIAL LEADS US TO. AND I THINK PEOPLE ARE REALLY GOING TO ENJOY AND LEARN WHAT THEY SEE TONIGHT. YOU SAW A LITTLE CLIP THERE, THAT RARE SAMMY DAVIS JR. VIDEO. THAT'S VIDEO THAT OUR PRODUCERS FOUND THAT'S NEVER SEEN THE LIGHT OF DAY. 20/20 INTERVIEWED HIM AND IT NEVER SAW IT. SO WE WERE SO EXCITED WHEN WE FOUND THAT GOLD MINE. YOU NEVER GET TO SEE SAMMY TALKING LIKE THAT. SO YOU'LL HEAR A LOT OF THINGS. YOU'LL LEARN A THINGS ABOUT THE MOULIN ROUGE, THE WEST SIDE OF VEGAS. IT'S REALLY EXCITING. SPECIAL. YOU KNOW, I'LL NEVER FORGET INTERVIEWING LIONEL HAMPTON. AND WE TALKED ABOUT INTEGRATED THE BENNY GOODMAN BAND. >> AND I REMEMBER HIM SAYING CHIRA, THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS ABOUT TO COME BACK , JUST LIKE WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S ABOUT TO COME IN. THIS SPECIAL. I THINK YOU SET IT UP BEAUTIFULLY. CAT, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. THANK YOU. MA