The 'Do the Right Thing' filmmaker welcomes white support for Black Lives Matter protests because he believes it's crucial in order for the movement to bring real change.
- Jul 2, 2020
AceShowbiz - Spike Lee is optimistic about the future of the Black Lives Matter movement - because the protests have such strong support from young white activists.
The "Da 5 Bloods" director has highlighted police brutality since the early days of his career, including in his 1989 masterpiece "Do the Right Thing", which featured one character, Radio Raheem, being killed in a police chokehold.
The director says that despite many needless deaths of African-Americans in the 30 years since its release, he's more optimistic the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May (20) will bring real change.
"It's never been about how (Black people) respond to it," Lee says on a new episode of Luminary's Black List Podcast. "It's been about how our white sisters and brothers respond to it."
"And have you been watching CNN like I have? People are marching all over God's Earth chanting, yelling (and) screaming 'Black lives matter,' and they're not Black... That's the big difference."
"You see a young generation of my white brothers and sisters (and) they are out there in full effect. I mean, forget about the rest of the world for a second. White folks are marching in Salt Lake City (and) Des Moines, Iowa, where there ain't no Black folks for a minute."
During the chat, reported by Variety, Lee also addresses the moves to remove Confederate symbols, celebrating the slavery-supporting states in the American Civil War, such as flags and statues from display that have gained support in many U.S. states.
"F**k that flag," he explains. "That flag, to me, (makes me feel) the same way my Jewish brothers and sisters feel about the swastika... And them motherf**king Confederate statues need to come the f**k down."
