Solidarity in Spike Lee's "BlacKKKlansman" and "Do the Right Thing"
BlacKKKlansman and Do the Right Thing both center around black characters operating within white institutions: Ron Stallworth in the Colorado Springs Police Department and Mookie in Sal's Pizzeria respectively. Although these institutions operate on completely different scales, there are some similarities between the conflicts the men within them face. Ultimately, the two must choose between solidarity with the black community or allegiance to the white institutions they work for. Through his films, Spike Lee highlights the importance of black individuals choosing to fight for and with their communities, because ultimately their places of work will not stand with them.
In BlacKKKlansman, Ron is torn between his black identity/pride and his position as a cop. These two identities are inherently at odds as shown in the scene that introduces Ron as he interviews to be the first black police officer in the CSPD. He is asked “if someone calls you a n***** will you be able to turn the other cheek?” and that the police chief will have his back but “can only do so much”. This scene immediately informs the audience that Ron will face external hardships in his time at the police department. Simultaneously, the scene introduces Ron’s internal conflict which is amplified throughout the film.
Ron’s opposing identities come to a head when he is asked to go undercover to gauge the crowd at Kwame Ture’s speech. Externally, he is a black man and blends in easily with the crowd at the gathering while internally, he is there as a cop to gather intelligence. The police disproportionately targeted (and still do) black gatherings as threats to the status quo all the while ignoring white terrorism. In fact, the only reason the investigation into the KKK started was because of Ron’s initiative. By acting as a mole at this gathering, Ron is symbolically choosing the side of the oppressive police department and helping them to infiltrate this community. It’s obvious that Ron does not perceive the crowd to be a threat as the police department does, but nonetheless he is doing the police department’s work.
As Ron views the speech, his internal conflict rises to the surface. Throughout the scene, there are a series of eyeline matches between audience members and Ture as he gives his impassioned speech about black self-love and liberation. Their faces float in a void as if superimposed, and they gaze firmly at Ture and clearly relate to him. However, at the beginning of the speech, Ron’s gaze breaks from the speaker and continually cuts away to the audience members to gauge their reaction. It’s obvious that at this point, Ron is not yet touched by the words and is instead concerned with his police work.
As the speech continues, however, Ron seems to be moved. As Ture speaks of watching Tarzan as a child and cheering him on to kill natives before realizing that “what I was saying was kill me”, the camera cuts to a close-up of Ron and the camera zooms in. He is no longer glancing at the crowd but is instead gazing steadily at Kwame Ture. Ron’s next eyeline match is to the speaker himself. This part of the scene establishes that Ron is now actually listening to what is being said, likely because he could relate to what Ture’s experience. Ture’s mention of cheering on the killing of natives by a white man may have made Ron consider his own role in the police department. This parallel is reinforced a few lines later when Ture speaks of white, racist cops killing black people in the streets. Yet, Ron’s face does not “float” like the other audience members; this difference indicates that while Ron can relate to the speech, he is not completely convinced due to his internal conflicts.
Mookie faces less crises with his identity in Do the Right Thing, but is still torn in a more subtle way between his community and his work. Sal and his sons show a constant disrespect and prejudice toward black people even though they claim to be a part of the community. One of Sal’s sons even tries to convince his father to move shop only for Sal to refuse because they make better money in a place with fewer Italian restaurants. Sal also refuses to put any photos of black people up on his “wall of fame” which becomes a main point of contention between him and Buggin’ Out. Mookie is obviously working for an institution that does not see him favorably, even if Sal claims that he sees Mookie as family.
In the end, the institutions that Ron and Mookie work for further elucidate that they do not fight for the black community. In Ron’s case, the CSPD shuts down his investigation and orders him to destroy all evidence. This discontinuation of an operation that helped stop an attack against Patrice and the Black Student Union is an obvious sign that the police department does not care as much for its black citizens as it does for its white ones. In Mookie’s case, the workers at Sal’s Pizzeria overtly reveal their feelings during their racist treatment toward Radio Raheem at the end of the film. After this
In the end of BlacKKKlansman, Ron and Patrice are still conflicted about his involvement with the police department. In their final scene, Ron and Patrice sit at a table rehashing their arguments about black liberation versus operating from within the system. Even though he was recently beaten unjustly by fellow police officers, Ron says “I’ve always wanted to be a cop” but he does follow up with “and I’m still for the liberation of my people”. Originally when Patrice asked him if he was for the liberation of the people, he evaded answering directly. This single line he delivers at the end indicates both his change in perspective and his conflict as a black man and police officer. Patrice calls Ron “the enemy” to which he pushes back against, but before the two can continue their discussion, there is an unexpected knock at the door.
Ultimately, Ron and Patrice put aside their differences to fight a common enemy. After the knock, Patrice and Ron arm themselves before opening the door. The next shot centers them side by side as they point their weapons at the camera and the focus shifts. The camera seems to propel them forward toward the threat and toward the future. This is followed by an eyeline match to a montage of the recent events of the protests in Charlottesville and the car attack during the Unite the Right rally. These events are ahead of Patrice and Ron’s time, and yet the targeted hate and violence is just as bad as that faced by the two. By positioning the pair to face the threat together, Spike Lee is effectively saying that regardless of differences in liberation politics, ultimately the black community must work together to fight their oppressors. This is further affirmed when considering the lines spoken by Ron just before the knock: “I am not the enemy”. The enemy is not coming from within the black community but from outside, and those threats are still as real and present as they were decades ago.
In Do the Right Thing, the tension between Mookie’s status as an employee at Sal’s Pizzeria and his identity as a black man come to a head when Radio Raheem, Buggin’ Out, and Smiley come to the restaurant to confront Sal about the lack of black people on his wall. In the scene, Radio Raheem once more blasts his music in Sal’s shop as Buggin’ Out calls for black people on Sal’s wall. This confrontation results in a screaming match between everyone in the restaurant. Mookie doesn’t seem to side with the actions of anyone at this point and yells, unheeded, at both groups of people. He yells at Radio Raheem and the crew to leave and at Sal to put his baseball bat down. Sal disregards Mookie’s warning and instead yells at the group to turn their “jungle music” off, calls them slurs, destroys Radio Raheem’s stereo, and is partially responsible for Radio Raheem’s death.
Despite his earlier efforts to posit himself as a member of the community, Sal proves in this scene that he does not care for the black community. He instinctually chooses to preserve the whiteness of his restaurant and is angered when confronted about it. He does not want community input of black people in how his restaurant is run; he refuses to place any black people on his wall of fame, disrespects Radio Raheem’s music, and disrespects his patrons. It is important to highlight that the song he took issue with was “Fight the Power”, an anti-establishment song against white institutions. On the flipside, Sal will happily take the money of his black patrons. This contrast establishes that Sal does not care for the internal lives of his patrons and the oppression they face (as demonstrated by his hatred for Radio Raheem’s music) or their successes (as demonstrated by his refusal to place any photos of black people on his wall) but does care for what he can gain from them financially. Mookie is working for a white institution that does not care for him, much like Ron Stallworth in the CSPD.
After Radio Raheem is murdered by the police and an angry crowd gathers outside Sal’s, Mookie faces a dilemma like Ron’s: try and save the white institution that has shown disrespect and targeted violence to his community or to support its dismantling. Mookie ultimately supports the latter, throwing a trash can through the window of Sal's and helping to tear apart the restaurant. In doing so, he shows that in the end he still chooses solidarity with his community over the racist institution that has served as his place of work.
Destroying the restaurant finally allows black people to take their place on Sal’s wall of fame. In the very last scene of the film, Smiley enters the fiery ruins of the restaurant as a non-diegetic version of “Fight the Power” blares. Although Radio Raheem is dead, the music from his stereo continues to blare, refusing to be silenced by white oppressors even in death. The camera pans up to Smiley as he places a photo of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. on the wall.
There are many messages that can be taken from this powerful symbolism. On the one hand, it seems to be saying that black people can only be liberated by dismantling white institutions. Arguing with Sal to place photos of black people on the wall did nothing to get Buggin’ Out, Smiley, and Radio Raheem’s demands met. Mookie working within the restaurant also did not change Sal’s racist attitudes. Instead, the only way for the photo to be placed on the wall was for Smiley to do it after they had dismantled the restaurant. This final scene also seems to be saying that despite the hardships imposed by white oppressors, black people are still able to survive. Smiley’s photo is the only object in the restaurant not destroyed, and perhaps it will burn later but the camera cuts to black before we see it, music still blaring. They have fought the power, and it cost Radio Raheem’s life, but in the end, they got representation on the wall of fame.
Spike Lee reinforces ideas of black solidarity through the endings of his films BlacKKKlansman and Do the Right Thing. In both films, the main characters are black men who have conflicts between their identities and their affiliations with white institutions. Ultimately, both men choose solidarity with their community over everything else. I think Spike Lee aims to unify black people through these films and to demonstrate that solidarity within the black community is essential to fight outside threats. I think Mookie choosing his community is the “right thing” that Spike Lee is referring to in the title of his movie. He chose solidarity with his community over the white institution, even if it was an institution that benefited him. As for the argument between Ron and Patrice, what ultimately matters is that the two are able to put aside their differences to fight for the same cause, regardless of tactics. Solidarity was important decades ago, and it is just as important now.
In BlacKKKlansman, Ron is torn between his black identity/pride and his position as a cop. These two identities are inherently at odds as shown in the scene that introduces Ron as he interviews to be the first black police officer in the CSPD. He is asked “if someone calls you a n***** will you be able to turn the other cheek?” and that the police chief will have his back but “can only do so much”. This scene immediately informs the audience that Ron will face external hardships in his time at the police department. Simultaneously, the scene introduces Ron’s internal conflict which is amplified throughout the film.
Ron’s opposing identities come to a head when he is asked to go undercover to gauge the crowd at Kwame Ture’s speech. Externally, he is a black man and blends in easily with the crowd at the gathering while internally, he is there as a cop to gather intelligence. The police disproportionately targeted (and still do) black gatherings as threats to the status quo all the while ignoring white terrorism. In fact, the only reason the investigation into the KKK started was because of Ron’s initiative. By acting as a mole at this gathering, Ron is symbolically choosing the side of the oppressive police department and helping them to infiltrate this community. It’s obvious that Ron does not perceive the crowd to be a threat as the police department does, but nonetheless he is doing the police department’s work.
As Ron views the speech, his internal conflict rises to the surface. Throughout the scene, there are a series of eyeline matches between audience members and Ture as he gives his impassioned speech about black self-love and liberation. Their faces float in a void as if superimposed, and they gaze firmly at Ture and clearly relate to him. However, at the beginning of the speech, Ron’s gaze breaks from the speaker and continually cuts away to the audience members to gauge their reaction. It’s obvious that at this point, Ron is not yet touched by the words and is instead concerned with his police work.
As the speech continues, however, Ron seems to be moved. As Ture speaks of watching Tarzan as a child and cheering him on to kill natives before realizing that “what I was saying was kill me”, the camera cuts to a close-up of Ron and the camera zooms in. He is no longer glancing at the crowd but is instead gazing steadily at Kwame Ture. Ron’s next eyeline match is to the speaker himself. This part of the scene establishes that Ron is now actually listening to what is being said, likely because he could relate to what Ture’s experience. Ture’s mention of cheering on the killing of natives by a white man may have made Ron consider his own role in the police department. This parallel is reinforced a few lines later when Ture speaks of white, racist cops killing black people in the streets. Yet, Ron’s face does not “float” like the other audience members; this difference indicates that while Ron can relate to the speech, he is not completely convinced due to his internal conflicts.
Mookie faces less crises with his identity in Do the Right Thing, but is still torn in a more subtle way between his community and his work. Sal and his sons show a constant disrespect and prejudice toward black people even though they claim to be a part of the community. One of Sal’s sons even tries to convince his father to move shop only for Sal to refuse because they make better money in a place with fewer Italian restaurants. Sal also refuses to put any photos of black people up on his “wall of fame” which becomes a main point of contention between him and Buggin’ Out. Mookie is obviously working for an institution that does not see him favorably, even if Sal claims that he sees Mookie as family.
In the end, the institutions that Ron and Mookie work for further elucidate that they do not fight for the black community. In Ron’s case, the CSPD shuts down his investigation and orders him to destroy all evidence. This discontinuation of an operation that helped stop an attack against Patrice and the Black Student Union is an obvious sign that the police department does not care as much for its black citizens as it does for its white ones. In Mookie’s case, the workers at Sal’s Pizzeria overtly reveal their feelings during their racist treatment toward Radio Raheem at the end of the film. After this
In the end of BlacKKKlansman, Ron and Patrice are still conflicted about his involvement with the police department. In their final scene, Ron and Patrice sit at a table rehashing their arguments about black liberation versus operating from within the system. Even though he was recently beaten unjustly by fellow police officers, Ron says “I’ve always wanted to be a cop” but he does follow up with “and I’m still for the liberation of my people”. Originally when Patrice asked him if he was for the liberation of the people, he evaded answering directly. This single line he delivers at the end indicates both his change in perspective and his conflict as a black man and police officer. Patrice calls Ron “the enemy” to which he pushes back against, but before the two can continue their discussion, there is an unexpected knock at the door.
Ultimately, Ron and Patrice put aside their differences to fight a common enemy. After the knock, Patrice and Ron arm themselves before opening the door. The next shot centers them side by side as they point their weapons at the camera and the focus shifts. The camera seems to propel them forward toward the threat and toward the future. This is followed by an eyeline match to a montage of the recent events of the protests in Charlottesville and the car attack during the Unite the Right rally. These events are ahead of Patrice and Ron’s time, and yet the targeted hate and violence is just as bad as that faced by the two. By positioning the pair to face the threat together, Spike Lee is effectively saying that regardless of differences in liberation politics, ultimately the black community must work together to fight their oppressors. This is further affirmed when considering the lines spoken by Ron just before the knock: “I am not the enemy”. The enemy is not coming from within the black community but from outside, and those threats are still as real and present as they were decades ago.
In Do the Right Thing, the tension between Mookie’s status as an employee at Sal’s Pizzeria and his identity as a black man come to a head when Radio Raheem, Buggin’ Out, and Smiley come to the restaurant to confront Sal about the lack of black people on his wall. In the scene, Radio Raheem once more blasts his music in Sal’s shop as Buggin’ Out calls for black people on Sal’s wall. This confrontation results in a screaming match between everyone in the restaurant. Mookie doesn’t seem to side with the actions of anyone at this point and yells, unheeded, at both groups of people. He yells at Radio Raheem and the crew to leave and at Sal to put his baseball bat down. Sal disregards Mookie’s warning and instead yells at the group to turn their “jungle music” off, calls them slurs, destroys Radio Raheem’s stereo, and is partially responsible for Radio Raheem’s death.
Despite his earlier efforts to posit himself as a member of the community, Sal proves in this scene that he does not care for the black community. He instinctually chooses to preserve the whiteness of his restaurant and is angered when confronted about it. He does not want community input of black people in how his restaurant is run; he refuses to place any black people on his wall of fame, disrespects Radio Raheem’s music, and disrespects his patrons. It is important to highlight that the song he took issue with was “Fight the Power”, an anti-establishment song against white institutions. On the flipside, Sal will happily take the money of his black patrons. This contrast establishes that Sal does not care for the internal lives of his patrons and the oppression they face (as demonstrated by his hatred for Radio Raheem’s music) or their successes (as demonstrated by his refusal to place any photos of black people on his wall) but does care for what he can gain from them financially. Mookie is working for a white institution that does not care for him, much like Ron Stallworth in the CSPD.
After Radio Raheem is murdered by the police and an angry crowd gathers outside Sal’s, Mookie faces a dilemma like Ron’s: try and save the white institution that has shown disrespect and targeted violence to his community or to support its dismantling. Mookie ultimately supports the latter, throwing a trash can through the window of Sal's and helping to tear apart the restaurant. In doing so, he shows that in the end he still chooses solidarity with his community over the racist institution that has served as his place of work.
Destroying the restaurant finally allows black people to take their place on Sal’s wall of fame. In the very last scene of the film, Smiley enters the fiery ruins of the restaurant as a non-diegetic version of “Fight the Power” blares. Although Radio Raheem is dead, the music from his stereo continues to blare, refusing to be silenced by white oppressors even in death. The camera pans up to Smiley as he places a photo of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. on the wall.
There are many messages that can be taken from this powerful symbolism. On the one hand, it seems to be saying that black people can only be liberated by dismantling white institutions. Arguing with Sal to place photos of black people on the wall did nothing to get Buggin’ Out, Smiley, and Radio Raheem’s demands met. Mookie working within the restaurant also did not change Sal’s racist attitudes. Instead, the only way for the photo to be placed on the wall was for Smiley to do it after they had dismantled the restaurant. This final scene also seems to be saying that despite the hardships imposed by white oppressors, black people are still able to survive. Smiley’s photo is the only object in the restaurant not destroyed, and perhaps it will burn later but the camera cuts to black before we see it, music still blaring. They have fought the power, and it cost Radio Raheem’s life, but in the end, they got representation on the wall of fame.
Spike Lee reinforces ideas of black solidarity through the endings of his films BlacKKKlansman and Do the Right Thing. In both films, the main characters are black men who have conflicts between their identities and their affiliations with white institutions. Ultimately, both men choose solidarity with their community over everything else. I think Spike Lee aims to unify black people through these films and to demonstrate that solidarity within the black community is essential to fight outside threats. I think Mookie choosing his community is the “right thing” that Spike Lee is referring to in the title of his movie. He chose solidarity with his community over the white institution, even if it was an institution that benefited him. As for the argument between Ron and Patrice, what ultimately matters is that the two are able to put aside their differences to fight for the same cause, regardless of tactics. Solidarity was important decades ago, and it is just as important now.
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