Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Spike Lee addressed the need for honest discussion regarding racial issues and the importance of education at Wednesday’s 12th annual “State of Race” event at Emory U.
Director of such acclaimed films as 1989’s “Do the Right Thing” and 1992’s “Malcolm X,” Lee began his address by joking about his own expertise on race issues.
“I never considered myself an expert on anything except the New York Knickerbockers,” he said, eliciting laughter and cheering from the audience.
He referred to race as “the big elephant in the room,” adding that it takes major events such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the prospect of a black president for race to “blow up” and come to the forefront of the nation’s conversation. Americans must look at the nation’s history in order to gain perspective on its present racial issues, Lee said.
“Until we as a country deal with slavery, we’re never going to get to the root of racism,” he said. “Until we deal with how this land was stolen from the Native Americans, we’re not going to deal with what this country’s based upon.”
Discussions of race become problematic when individuals hope to avoid confrontation or face delicate issues when engaging in conversations, according to Lee.
“We talk about race, people think that you have to be polite. So therefore, people don’t talk honestly about how they feel,” Lee said. “I’d rather people be honest about how they feel about you — even if it’s not want you want to hear — than fake it.”
Lee, whose mother taught art and black literature, reiterated that education plays a role in creating an overall better world. Moreover, Lee disputed what he said is the notion among some African Americans that acquiring a high level of education is “selling out” or “trying to be white.”
“I come from a generation of African Americans where education was not frowned upon the way it is today,” Lee explained. “We’re talking about an age that is very susceptible to peer pressure. Who knows how many black, intelligent minds have succumbed to peer pressure [and] dumbed down just to fit in.”
Regarding the state of the nation as a whole under President Obama’s administration, Lee’s outlook was less than positive.
“I’m very pessimistic about where we are in this country,” he said. “People are broke, out of work, lost their homes. This whole American Dream, for the majority of the people in this country, is going up in smoke. I voted for President Obama and I’ll vote for him again, but Brother Man better come on now.”
He spoke at length about his own experiences growing up in Brooklyn and how — upon moving into the neighborhood Cobble Hill — he and his brothers were berated and called racial slurs by their new neighbors.
Lee also noted a defining moment in his childhood when he was told he could not join his friends’ Boy Scout troupe because he was Catholic.
Upon asking his father what religion had to do with it, the man responded, “it has nothing to do with it, they just don’t like n—-rs.”
Afterwards, Lee took questions from the audience.
Before doing so, however, he prefaced the session with a few stipulations.
“I know this is State of Race, but do not ask me how to end racism, prejudice, world hunger or hate crimes because I don’t have the answer for that,” Lee requested.
At one point in the 30 minute forum, a 10-year-old boy approached the microphone and asked the filmmaker about his views on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) issues, saying that many of his friends were of the LGBT community. Lee then began questioning the boy.
“What you know about that?” Lee asked. “How old are your friends?”
Upon being assured that the boy’s friends were adults, Lee pulled back.
“Oh thank, God,” he said. “I know this is Atlanta but — ”
In response to the crowd’s audible reaction to the statement, Lee proclaimed, “you know Atlanta is the Black Homosexual capital of the United States — don’t front.”
According to Rachel Kanter, Emory senior and College Council (CC) vice president of programming, the event was a success because it accomplished the goal of State of Race: to promote dialogue and raise questions.
“Spike Lee did just that, challenging both the inherent racism of American society and the failure of African Americans — including those in the student body at Emory — to resolve issues in their own community,” Kanter said.
For his part, College Council President and Emory junior Ashish Gandhi expressed mixed feelings about the event.
While he said he felt the event helped promote discussion around campus, he added that he did not feel as though Lee’s speech had insight on how to address racial concerns.
“I think that everyone there enjoyed his talk [and] I think he had a lot of very good thoughts, I just don’t think it pertains to the State of Race,” Gandhi said. “I think it was a great event, we obviously had a passionate crowd. I just think the only thing that could have been better about the event would have been the content of the speech.”
Emory junior Jake Krakovsky also explained he felt as though Lee did not go into enough detail in certain topics.
“There wasn’t really much structure to his speech,” Krakovsky said. “To be honest, I would have enjoyed a little more specificity. He spoke about a lot of important things but I feel like for a lot of it he kept it general.”
Other students such as Emory sophomore D.J. Walden said he found Lee’s approach to addressing different issues to be highly valuable.
“His stories and tangents were what the crowd needed to hear as far as race is concerned,” he said. “More than anything, he did the smart thing and talked about the State of Race from a personal standpoint — he didn’t try to come from a political standpoint or religious standpoint.”