Richmond Hill.
The place where I have lived for exactly seventeen years and three hundred and sixty-three days to be exact.
The grocery stores owned by Chinese, Koreans, and Asians in general, on every corner of Liberty Avenue.
Tommy’s Pizzeria on One Sixteenth Street where I’ve been doing since I was little girl, owned by Italians.
The bodega on the corner owned by Hispanics.
The cops cracking down on the West Indian teens with nice cars and loud music.
I have been accustomed to these stereotypes for as long as I can remember. They’ve penetrated my childhood memories and they have become almost a tradition to me. If I walk into a grocery store and an Asian doesn’t own it or if I walk into Tommy’s Pizzeria and an Italian isn’t in charge, something makes me a little nervous. I’ve become a part of this community, Richmond Hill, and it has become a part of me.
Despite the large West Indian population, these stereotypes amongst business owners and their businesses still remains true. In Spike Lee’s, “Do the Right Thing” he effectively and correctly places these different races in places where they’re stereotypes are true. What is crazy to me is that these stereotypes are still pretty much the same, if not exactly the same, today, especially in more urban areas like Richmond Hill.
I’ve noticed that Spike Lee has preserved this one moment in New York’s culture and another artist might even be preserving the communities at present to show the differences between then and now, with many of the same themes.
Although racial segregation and discrimination still exist in all of New York City, Spike Lee chose to use the conflict between blacks and whites, but what is interesting to me is that he brought in other cultural groups, like the Italians and Koreans. Usually when artists are depicting segregation and discrimination against blacks and the racial tensions between blacks and whites, we never really see the other side. Many movies are created just showing the points of views of the blacks and of the whites, making it seem as though New York is only made up of those who are black or those who are white–two opposite ends of the spectrum. Instead of doing this, Lee includes the entire community and shows them all at war.
Though I do see his film as pushing it a little, I like the fact that he actually showed a wide view of the entire situation that occurred. Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out were both treated very severely by the police officers, and we see this occurring even today. Segregation at that time was a hot topic and even though it is not so ”hot” today, it still exists.
Spike Lee’s version of an urban area is similar to my neighborhood in that many of the businesses are segregated and stereotypes and racial tensions still exist. However, the only thing that really separates the different communities—mine and the one portrayed in the movie is that the time periods are very different so relationships amongst people of different races have calmed down since this crazy, disheveled time.
On the other hand, Paramount’s “Mad Hot Ballroom” shows an entire different perspective of New York City. I think what’s really important is to note the change in attitudes between the different time periods, “Do the Right Thing from the 80s and “Mad Hot Ballroom” which is pretty recent. The kids all have different ideas about segregation and at this young age, they are too innocent to even judge against their peer’s race. The only thing that actually bothers them is gender—which is completely normal at their age. One thing that I noticed was the coming together of races in this film. The two films are from two opposite sides of the spectrum but it is the author’s way of preserving these moments in time so that we could look back and say “My, how times have changed.” The children really worked together to achieve their goals instead of splitting apart.
Unfortunately, the only parts of “Mad Hot Ballroom” I could connect to were seeing New York, as I know it, rather than the really old eighties look in “Do the Right Thing,” and the dancing (sorta). I could obviously relate more to the new look of New York City and so it was a little more interesting for me. Also, when it comes to the dancing, in elementary school I participated in a ballet class after school with a man named Eduardo. (I will never forget his name because that’s the only thing I understood when he spoke to us).
These films both show that our society has changed so much when it comes to the younger generations, but the older generations who have experienced racism, segregation, and discrimination are still suffering from it. The artists both preserved times in history that will be looked back upon by generations to come.
