20 Years Later.... Have we yet to "Do the Right Thing"???

Personally, I enjoy a television show, book, movie, song, etc.. that I have to listen to over and over. Those moments where you say to yourself, "Did he just say what I think he said?" When your mouth just drops and you become Chris Tucker in "Friday" Daaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmn! Spike Lee has done that for me for years, starting with the first movie of his I saw in the theatres, "Do the Right Thing!" You knew from Public Enemy's Fight the Power, when Chuck D and Flav said, "Elvis.... he never mean shit to me, cause he's straight out racist the sucka was simple and plain, Motherfuck him and John Wayne", that this was one of those moments that would change the way you looked at the world.

So here we are in 2009, Barack Obama is the President of the United States, We've had 2 Black Secretary of State's, Tiger Woods is the most dominant golfer on the planet, Robin Thicke is bangin' out soulful hits and married to Paula Patton (deezam), Eminem spits hotter raps than 95% of the rap world, and mainstream America wants to proclaim this as the dawn of Post racial America. I say, it's the dawn of opportunity for America to confront and atone for it's racist foundations. The first step to beating your demons is to first admit them. So, USA, stand up and say, "Hi, I'm Uncle Sam, and I'm a racist". There are so many little things about Do the Right Thing that could be expanded upon. The characters are diverse, complex, conflicted, and most importantly, straddling the line of right and wrong. This great motion picture asks us all, are we doing the right thing? Racially, America has many miles to go. We don't live together, go to school together, play together, work together, like we should. We still don't strive to look at each other as individuals first. The inequities on the socioeconomic level are probably greater today than the injustices of the racially segregated past.

Say what you want about Spike Lee, but he makes you think and most importantly leaves you asking more questions than he provides answers. The world we live in is not a simple math problem. It isn't even a complex Lego set. 400+ years and 300 million people can't be healed and made better over night, not even over a generation. Like many other cultural and societal ills they are going to take thought, debate, discussion, cooperation, and most importantly a willingness to admit and apologize for wrongs on both sides. We can't blame "The Man" for keeping us down when we do a great job of being crabs in a barrel.

Now let's go listen to some Mister Senor Love Daddy We Love Radio and Chilllllllllll