Do the Right Thing

To all those Senor Love Daddies out there,  
     There are many similarities between the movie Do the Right Thing and How Bigger was Born. First off, both showed societies in which there was a lot of racial segregation. In  How Bigger wa Born, Wright expressed his belief that African Americans got the worst of it, becuase they were forced to live as if they were not equal to the whites. However, in Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee wanted to show that blacks were not the only race which received negative effects through segregation. He felt that all races were affected by segregation, whether you be black, Asian or Italian-American. Everybody hated everyone else, and stuck up for their own race. Lee exemplified this when he showed people of different races speaking to the camera and insulting another race by using stereotypical names.  Therefore, both Wright and Lee acknowledged that racial segregation was present, both had a different view on how that segregation affected society.
     I believe the ending was not the ending any of the characters wanted. For example, I feel Sal got the worst of it, because he just got done saying to Mooki he thought of him as a son, and then another African American comes into the store, looking for trouble. I think it was Sal's right to put whoever's picture he wanted on his wall, and he meant no disrespect toward African Americans, but just wanted to show pride in his own background, as an Italian-American. Therefore, I don't think Radio Raheem was doing the right thing by supporting Buggin' Out because he was just antagonizing Sal, and trying to start a fight that wasn't necessary. Also, when Mookie stood up and throw the garbage can through the window of Sal's Pizzeria, I truly think he was doing that to save Sal and his son's. Mookie was just told that he was like family to Sal and I feel he wouldn't want to harm Sal because of that.

Thanks for tuning in

King in Watts

To my humble readers,
After two men were pulled over and abused by police officers in Los Angeles, it caused riots from many African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. found out about these riots, and decided that although many people were worried about racial segregation in the south, maybe they needed to pay more attention to the North as well. I think King was making a wise decision by coming North and preaching his belief of nonviolence to the rioters. If he had not, I believe their would have been many more casualties and more damage done. King tried explaining that he was brothers with Islamic leader Elijah Muhammad, since they both share the views of nonviolence. I also noticed that King did not receive much respect from the audience at the beginning of his speech, with one bystander even saying, "Get out of here Dr. King." However, as he went on he kept winning over the crowd with his words, inspiring people and letting them know that violence will not solve anything. The fact that he was able to do this is important because it proved to everyone what an influential and respected representative he was for African American's freedom. Therefore, I think it was essential for King to spread his message of nonviolence because it kept people from becoming out of control. He was able to remind people that nonviolence accomplishes more than violence and riots. I believe his speech led to a decrease in riots and helped African Americans be more open to marches rather than violence.