BlackKklansman deservingly won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars with a story about a black policeman in the 70s who manages to infiltrate a local group of KKK members, and later uncovers their plot to spark a race war. Lee took a humorous approach to the topic of racism, but the overall seriousness in its treatment remains. It even ends with a sequence that features several images of recent racist attacks in the United States, including the infamous “Unite the Right” march in 2017.
After Lee unsurprisingly won the Oscar, he got up onstage, dressed in purple as an homage to Prince, and frantically delivered a speech about racism in the United States, in addition to urging voters to mobilize for 2020 without explicitly mentioning the Trump Administration. “The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing!”
@officialspikelee
But Trump being Trump of course tweeted against Spike Lee.
“Be nice if Spike could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts, etc.) than almost any other Pres!»”
Here’s Spike Lee’s full speech:
“The word today is “irony.” The date, the 24th. The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History month. The year, 2019. The year, 1619. History. Her story. 1619. 2019. 400 years. Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and brought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of Social Security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me Spikie-poo — she put me through Morehouse College and N.Y.U. grad film. N.Y.U.!
Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.”
How Trump considered this speech a racist jab at him is just beyond me. Not only did he now use his “reverse racism” card, but the fact that he proclaimed himself to be a hero for African-Americans is so infuriating that it’s hilarious. But then it’s infuriating again. I’m sure Abraham Lincoln might have something to say about that.
But Spike Lee has once again spoken words of consciousness and remained true to his work. Once again, he’s done the right thing.
@officialspikelee
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