Racial Tension In The Movie 'Do The Right Thing'

Racial tension; it’s the problem that never seems to sleep within our country. What is truly unique about this dilemma is the simple fact of how long it has been happening. Even with the push for civil liberties in the 1960’s, minority groups still face the never-ending problem of racial tension. This tension is highlighted masterfully in the movie “Do the Right Thing”, which is based around a street in Brooklyn that is predominantly inhabited by African Americans. As racial tensions between the African American population and the white owner of a local pizza shop rise, violence ensues. “Do the Right Thing” shows just how out of control the issues of race in our country are, as the tension escalated to the point of violence. The sad part in

Because of this increase in tension, violence involving protesting minority groups is inevitable. However, is this what the leaders of civil rights groups wanted? Did they want people in minority groups to revolt against the system, or take the “silent but deadly” approach? The answer to this somewhat simple question is not so simple, as there are many approaches to dealing with racial inequality in our country. On one side, you have the advocator for peace, none other than Martin Luther King Jr. However, on the complete other side of the spectrum, you have the advocator for self-defending violence, Malcolm X. Both of these extremely influential men have their own reasons for their beliefs, and in the movie “Do the Right Thing”, we see the characters act on what they believe to be the ideas of these

The thoughts of Malcolm X are the dominant portion of the film, as we see the characters act on what they believe Malcolm X is telling them to do. There are many examples, but the climax of the movie is the destruction of Sal’s shop. This scene depicts a large group of African Americans destroying the pizza shop that was owned by Sal, a white male. Just before the destruction of the shop, we see Radio Raheem choked to death by a white police officer after a fight had broken out between Sal and Radio Raheem. The death of Radio Raheem was completely unnecessary, as the cop had him subdued and could’ve easily arrested him and drove away. However, this display of racial tension sparks the crowd to destroy the shop, starting when none other than Mookie breaks the window of Sal’s shop. When we see Mookie snap, it provokes an interesting question; is this what Malcolm X would qualify as self-defense? Although no one had physically attacked Mookie, one of the members of his community had just been ruthlessly murdered by a white cop of all people. However, does this death quantify his reason for rebellion? Although the fight happened at Sal’s, and Sal was ultimately the one who had incited the fight, Sal was not the one who killed Raheem. In fact, it doesn’t even appear that Sal wanted Raheem to die, as he himself appears distressed when he watches Raheem get