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ETH STD 122AC

Mid-Term Paper

THE WRONG BEHIND THE RIGHT THING: AN EXPLORATION OF THE


SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN SPIKE LEES
DO THE RIGHT THING AND ITS BROADER IMPLICATIONS IN
CONTEMPORARY AMERICA
Contrary to what many may posit the iconoclastic denouement of Do the
Right Thing represents, there is in actuality, little liberation for the African
American community embodied in the films resolution. This essay aims to
prove the aforementioned in several steps. First, some necessarily
elucidation on the power dynamics at play between particular ethnicities
in the film will be provided by examining the nature of oppression
exercised on African Americans within the context of the film. The
paragraphs that follow after will serve as an explication of why the
symbolic destruction of white supremacy in the film is in reality, nonrevolutionary. Finally, the essay concludes by expounding on the films
broader significance in its portrayal of race in relation to the United States
of America.
First and foremost, the disempowerment that certain African American
characters face in Do the Right Thing arise not solely due to racial
differentials in itself, but rather, are a result of the intersecting dimensions
of race and class/ economic strata. As Crenshaw argues in Mapping the
Margins, there is a need to incorporate in ones [embracing] of identity
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politics the salient paradigm of intersectionality (Crenshaw 1991, 1). She


asserts that the subjugation of coloured women results from intersecting
patterns of discrimination, because the imposition of one burden
interacts with pre-existing vulnerabilities to create yet another
dimension of disempowerment (Crenshaw 1991, 6). She concludes by
stressing the need to understand oppression through a multi-dimensional
lens. Thus, akin to the patterns of subordination of coloured women, the
oppressive practices that confront the African American characters in the
film are layered, and arise from the intersection between race and class
(Crenshaw 1991, 6).
This notion is most prominently evoked in the scene where the Corner
Men assume a disparaging attitude towards the Korean clerk, which later
on extends to encompass Korean Americans in general. The Corner Men
gripe jealously in dialogue replete with expletives and racial slurs that the
Korean Americans have managed to establish a good business in [their]
neighbourhood despite in the country for only about a year. They
struggle to comprehend why the Koreans have done so well as compared
to themselves, who have little money, and the Corner Men conclude
that its gotta be cuz [theyre] Black. In addition, this predilection for
African Americans to be economically incapacitated is echoed when
Mother Sister relates bitterly to Jade how ex-husband failed in his scheme
to build a Black business empire. Chang provides more concrete
evidence that corroborates with the fictional account that the film
provides us when he notes how the economic inequality that African

Americans have to contend with is the inability to attain similar levels of


class power as the business-owning Korean Americans, owing to
discriminatory lending practices by financial and banking instituitions
that as a corollary, disadvantaged the African Americans economically
(Chang 2003, 112). Hence, as we derive from what has been previously
discussed, racial discrimination interacts with ones class and economic
strata to reinforce structures of inequality and therefore, crystallize a
layered sort disempowerment on a particular racial groupin this case,
African Americans. Summarized succinctly in MLs words, nobody dont
want the Black man to be about shit.

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.

Notably, Hooks asserts that African Americans who have successfully


broken with white supremacist thinking are often punished for
daring to break with the status quo (Hooks 1992, 17). The
aforementioned accurately describes the fate of the two African American
characters who demanded for representation on the pizzerias wall. Not
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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.

In addition, Hooks reflects that the concept of black self-determination is


crucial in eradicating structures of white supremacy (Hooks 1992, 18). Yet
in Do the Right Thing, the characterization of the protagonist, Mookie,
informs us that the reality is the majority of African Americans, as Hooks
notes, would choose to negate and pretend that difference does not
exist, because they have come to value material success over
personal integrity (Hooks 1992, 17-8). From the outset, Mookies
preoccupation with material rewards is emphasized where we first see him
counting his money on the bed. This is also reinforced in the scene where
Mookie constantly badgers Sal for his pay before his salary is due to
arrive. Also, when Buggin Outs reminds Mookie to stay Black, Mookie
displays a general air of indifference, and pays no heed to the formers
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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.

Finally, relation to the films message, it would appear as if the abysmal


denouement of Lees Do the Right Thing reinforces the message that race
is a divide too immense to bridge. At the end of the film, not only does the
multi-racial mix of characters fail to, in Mr. Senor Love Daddys words,
take a chill, tensions have escalated to riot-levels, with the angry African
American mob destroying Sals pizzeria. The burning down of Sals
pizzeria may be a ratification Hooks notion of how people benefit greatly
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from dominating others, and hints at racial relations as being condemned


to be bounded to an internecine hierarchy of sorts, as demonstrated by
the perpetuation of a vicious cycle of racial oppression and subjugation
throughout the entire film (Hooks 1992, 13).

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.

In conclusion, Do the Right Thing is an apt representation of the nuanced


reality of racial tensions that characterize the United States of America in
present-day. What has been discussed in the above paragraphs is the
significance of the films resolution, along with its broader significance.
This essay has also unveiled the entrenched nature of white supremacist
thinking, which is synonymous with the lack of necessary conditions for
revolutionary change, thus exemplified in the dearth of political resistance
on the part of the ethnic minorities. In the grander scheme of things, Do
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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.

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