Being Black in America

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that the film's central theme in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" is that being black in America entails struggle and occasionally the struggle against social and economic oppression manifests in unfortunate acts of violence. The writer then points out that the character Bigger in Richard Wright's novel "Native Son" is a victim of social, political and economic oppression directly related to the color of his skin. The writer looks at the two works and discusses that "Native Son" illustrates the extent of racial discrimination during the early half of the twentieth century and that "Do the Right Thing" reveals the extent of racial discrimination during the latter half of the century. The writer maintains that the protagonists in "Native Son" and "Do the Right Thing" live in different times and therefore the level of discrimination they experience differs. The writer concludes that African Americans must continue to fight for equality ideally using nonviolent means. When nonviolence fails to yield results then riots and outbursts are the most likely outcomes.

From the Paper:

"One of the main reasons Mookie and Bigger react differently to social and economic oppression is because Mookie lives in post-Civil Rights era America whereas Bigger's story takes place just after the turn of the century. In other words, both men are victims of the times they live in, even more than they are victims of their own tragic flaws. The inclusion of quotes from two of the Civil Rights era's most notable and influential figures in Lee's "Do the Right Thing" underscores the ideological differences between his film and Wright's novel. Lee invokes a Civil Rights Era that had not even taken place when Wright wrote Native Son. Bigger does not have access to the social networks that existed for Mookie such as the idea of Black Power itself or Black Nationalism. The idea that "staying black" might be socially acceptable was a foreign concept for Bigger and therefore he deals with being politically disempowered with less finesse than Mookie does."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Native Son, Richard Wright
• "Do the Right Thing" Movie: Spike Lee

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