Sunday, June 15, 2014
THE PERSONAL SIDE OF BIAS, PREJUDICE, AND OPPRESSION
I was 29 when I watched a movie called "Do The Right Thing" in 1989, with shock and dismay. This movie revolved around a hot summer in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, which is 90% Black. The story centered on an Italian pizzeria where all the Blacks spent their money. In this establishment, all the pictures on the wall were famous Italians. There on the walls were Frank Sinatra, Rocky Graziano and Tony Benett among others. The Blacks thought they should be represented on the walls too since they were the ones spending their money there. Sal, the owner, fought hard tooth and nail by saying no, it was his shop and that he could decorate the shop anyway he wanted to. One day all the tensions exploded. There was a brawl in which the pizza shop was destroyed by the Blacks. The owner and his sons were fighting against the Blacks also. A key player in the neighborhood and a neighborhood fixture Radio Raheem was killed in the melee by the cops.
This movie diminished equity by the refusal of the owner to display any Black people on his walls. The feelings I felt went from rage to sadness that this incident could've been avoided. On one hand it was the owner's prerogative to put what he wanted on his walls. On the other hand tensions were rising and to keep the peace, one picture on the wall may have satisfied the need of acceptance by the neighborhood. The owner would have had to make the change. It was his opportunity to do the right thing.
Reference:
Do The Right Thing. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/
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Karen this was an interesting post because I love this movie for so many different reasons. The fact that we were spending our money but didn't have any representation of our culture in the pizza place was like saying your money is good but we don't appreciate you for helping make our business a success. That's still going on today don't you think?
ReplyDeleteKaren wow you went back. This remind me about the store across the street from my house with the exception the store owner is Korean. She is so nasty and the people in the neighborhood still patronize her. My grand daughter went into the store only to come home to say that the women yelled at her and said I don't like these black people, mind you this is a predominantly black neighborhood. She throw the money back at you and tell you to get out of her store. One day we shoved a heap of snow in order to park . The next day she called the police and told the police it was her park. They may us move the truck. She has a worker that works with her in the store. When she goes to the bathroom she locks the door so no one can get in and the worker has to wait till she comes from the bathroom to reopen the door . Does this make sense ?
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