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Mid-Term Paper
Secondly, the burning of Sals pizzeria and its wall of portraits that pays
tribute to White Americans should in a sense, symbolise the permanent
boycott and destruction of white supremacy in the microcosm of
Bedford-Stuyvesant. However, the treatment of African American
characters, who serve as catalysts for the boycott, namely Buggin Out
and Radio Raheem, coupled with the problematic characterization of
Mookie steer us towards the contrarian view that structures of racial
domination are highly durable and continue to prevail.
only is Buggin Out arrested by the police during the riot, Radio Raheem is
strangled to death in an act of police brutality. Raheem with his stereo
constantly blasting Fight the Power and Buggin Out with his atypical
Afro hair, and reminding Mookie to stay Black are powerful figures of
loving blackness as political resistance because their fight for African
American representation on Sals wall can be interpreted as an attempt to
move against the forces of domination and death and reclaim black life
(Hooks 1992, 20). Yet, the fact that the two of them are out of the picture
by the films end renders the demolition of Sals pizzeria futile. Whilst Sal
is merely set backhe can still claim insurance money-- Raheem and
Buggin Out are faced with more dire and lasting consequences, namely,
incarceration and the permanency of death.
persuasions to boycott Sals, instead telling Buggin Out that he has gotta
work. Finally and most prominently, in Mookies final confrontation with
Sal following the destruction of the pizzeria, Mookie continues to harass
Sal for his salary, and after their altercation, he does not see it beneath
him to retrieve the crumpled up notes that Sal has thrown to the floor. His
obsession with material gain, as well as his rejection to be part of a
collective struggle for representation instigated by Buggin Out is, by
extending Hooks argument, rejecting blackness (Hooks 1992, 18). We
thus gather that Mookies character possesses a problematic attitude that
is responsible for perpetuating a crisis in black identity which Hooks
laments so many black folks have succumbed to (Hooks 1992, 18).
Hence, together with the filmic elimination of Raheem and Buggin Out as
discussed above, this provides considerable grounds to conclude that
there has been little transformation in the hegemonic status quo of white
supremacy at the end of the film, and that hidden behind the veneer of
seemingly radical change is actually the systematic preservation of
structures of oppression.
However, I contend that should we look past the literal, Do the Right
Thing has an allegorical message germane to the social fabric of the
United States. Chang postulates that race relations can no longer be
[defined] as a black/white issue (Chang 2003, 103). Similarly, Do the
Right Things masterful depiction of the complex intricacies of relations
between the multiple ethnicities echoes the United States reality of a
rapidly changing demography (Chang 2003, 103). Therefore, the
pressure-cooker situation presented to us in the film is a clarion call for us
to devise, as Crenshaw advocates, intersectional paradigms that facilitate
the promotion of understanding, harmony, and trust between the coexisting racial and ethnic groups.
the Right Thing draws our attention to the intricacy of racial relations in
the contemporary setting of the United States of America, and alerts us of
the need for a multi-dimensional approach in managing these delicate
relationships.
Bibliography
Chang, Edward T. "America's First Multiethnic'Riots'." Asian American
Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy 3 (2003): 431.
Crenshaw, Kimberle. "Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity
politics, and violence against women of color." Stanford law review (1991):
1241-1299.
Do the Right Thing. Directed by Spike Lee. 1989. United States: Universal
Pictures.
Hooks, Bell. Black looks: Race and representation. Boston: South End
Press, 1992.