Do The Right Thing Theme

Policing in today’s society has been impacted through a multitude of influences including social, political, and economical to name a few. One factor that has, in more recent years, left its imprint within policing is race. Race, brings up the subtopics of ethics, corruption, accountability, and public views on policing. The following paper will discuss these subtopics to help further understand why and how race plays such a significant role in current day society and policing.

Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing portrayed the struggle between young Blacks and the problems that they face. They are put in situations where whatever they choose to do could be considered wrong by people that aren’t Black, hence the title Do the Right Thing. How do they know what the right thing to do is? Has the violent culture in their neighborhoods and their relationship with police officers given them limited choices? Do the Right Thing brings about many questions, while also leaving it up to the diverse audience to decide what they feel the right thing is. The movie also brings about the animosity that is forced between different ethnicities and races because of the way the culture in America has been

The movie that I have chosen to analyze is the 2004 film Crash. This film emphasizes the intertwining cultures of today 's society and the conflicts faced from class, culture, stereotypes and racism. The explicit content of this film is to teach the audience that one person 's choices has an impact on another person or multiple people and to persuade the audience that we as a society need to change how we treat each other. The films overt message does generate social dialogue, however, this film can be interpreted by the audience through their own beliefs and behaviors causing some misinterpretation. In Crash, ideology is screaming that the audience needs to open their eyes to the harsh reality of today 's challenges and make a change.

Matheson, Victor A., and Robert A. Baade. “Race and Riots: A Note on the Economic Impact of the Rodney King Riots.” Urban Studies, vol. 41, no. 13, 2004, pp. 2691–2696, Academic Search Premier, doi:10.1080/0042098042000294628.

The ethical dilemmas depicted on the movie can be divided in two categories; social and medical. As for the social dilemma it discusses racism and segregation which has left a bad mark on Americas history. It shows that true talent, innovation and pioneering can come from anywhere regardless of their skin color or gender.

There are numerous issues that deal with the American criminal justice system, but the two I found most prominant that occur on a daily basis is the abuse from police officers and clear racism shown by the American criminal justice system. To begin, racism as we know is a prejudice directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. In the criminal justice system African Americans are directly targeted and punished in a higher more aggressive way, than say someone who is caucasian and committed the same exact crime. Racism is more often than not, the motive for official misconduct. There are examples of racism from every known region in the United States, spanning across centuries from slavery to

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, two authors, two activists who advocated different strategies to achieve a shared end, have since their deaths, transcended the local, pragmatic potency of their respective narratives of African-American resistance (Garrow, 1991). The film 's use of the metonymic figures “King” and “X” as well as the ethically divergent meta-narratives of which they are the cultural signifiers suffuses its dramatic structure with the ideological tension generated by the trope of “double-consciousness” (Garrow, 1991). The vehicle by which Do the Right Thing represents the black community reminding itself, so to speak, of the presence of these figures is the ubiquitous Smiley, a young man with cerebral palsy who earns money selling photographs of African-American heroes to his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbors. The film calls attention to one image in particular: the famous photograph of King and Malcolm X shaking hands and smiling during their first and only meeting.

On July 10, 2015 the Confederate Flag, a symbol of Confederate racism, was lowered. The racist associations with the Confederate Flag still remain today, even after its removal. Directly, the removal of this flag is caused by the nation’s disgust at the actions of one man: Dylann Roof, who entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church on June 17, 2015 and murdered nine African Americans. Although Roof’s actions led to the removal of the flag, the continuous police brutality and the way mainstream culture views African Americans led to Roof’s brutal massacre, which in turn led to the removal of the Confederate Flag.

The concept of ethics entails systemizing, justifying, and recommending right and wrong conduct. It involves in practical reasoning: good, right, duty, obligation, virtue, freedom, rationality, and choice. Humanity has questioned this concept of ethics and ‘good’ for as long as it has survived, as it deals with real-life issues such as “what is morally right and wrong?” and “how do people ought to act?” Such ethical dilemmas can be found in people’s everyday lives, and although appears to be a straightforward question, there is much debate over which standard of behavior people should abide to when responding to certain situations, and determining what is morally right or wrong.

Elia Kazan’s 1954 film On the Waterfront is a crime drama starring legendary actor Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy, a former prize-fighting boxer turned dock worker employed by Johnny Friendly (portrayed by Lee J. Cobb), the corrupt leader of the local dock workers union. After witnessing the murder of a fellow co-worker and friend, Joey Doyle, Terry is faced with the difficult decision of speaking against Friendly, a long-time family friend and the boss of his older brother Charley, in court in relation to the mob-esque activities of the dockers union, or keeping his mouth shut in an effort to preserve the relationship, and also his own safety.

Racism has been around for a long time and it still exists today. It has been embedded to a degree that it reproduces itself. It is in the culture of the future generation. What is seen and taught to us in our environment is how we learn our behavior and actions towards others. Because of this, whether we realize it or not, racist behavior is taught and passed on. Dismantling this requires dialogue, reflection on ourselves (and others), and relearning our behaviors. In some cases, racism is subtle and in others, it is obvious. Since the Civil Rights Movement, progress has emerged but ignorance and denial of the past and recurrence of history still exist among many. This is covered in the reading, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the

There is a belief among some people that racist white police officers are hunting down innocent black men(Bandler, 2016). But thanks to a series of numbers brought to our eyes by the hand of a Heather Mac Donald, statistics from 2015 show that cops kill almost twice as many white people as black people (Mac Donald, 2016). On top of these statistics, the majority of the black victims were handling some kind of deadly weapon(Bandler, 2016). This does have a direct correlation with the amount of force used within the police force simply because of judgement and the way an intense time could alter the way people think or feel about specific situations(Bandler, 2016). Today, these specific situations almost seem like any traffic stop or crime confrontation(Bandler, 2016). This is all in result of the growing hate against police officers and in addition now, the hate towards our current president(Bandler, 2016).

Unfortunately, police brutality has been a part of the United States for many years. Most police brutality began in the late 1800s, early 1900s. This is still a problem today in the United States. The main part of this paper is to present research findings on this particular social problem. Many researchers found that most cases of police brutality goes unreported. According to the Word Press, in 1982, the feds (federal government) financed a “Police Services Study,” selecting over 12,000 randomly selected citizens in three different areas. Studies showed that 13 percent of those surveyed had been victims of police brutality the year before. However, only 30 percent of those who identified the abuse filed formal complaints.

1. From Jason Johansen 's Notes on Chicano Cinema, scholars of Chicana/o cinema used to identify the criteria of Chicana/o cinema as "films BY Chicanos, films FOR Chicanos, and films ABOUT Chicanos" (Johansen 303). The Salt of the Earth film (1954) attempts to expand this definition because it achieves more than being for and about Chicanos, it can also be for other minorities fighting injustices and inequalities similar to Chicanos. The film is still for Chicanos because it illustrates an actual account of Mexican American mining workers in Zinc Town of New Mexico during World War II, where the union workers won due to their unity, inspiring others to stand with each other in the Chicano movement. The movie also challenges the criteria because it is a film directed by a non-Chicano, Herbert Biberman, but that inadequacy was compensated since most of the actors were local Mexican-American union associates who had experience and direct involvement in the historical fight for their rights. I chose this film because it showed how hard the union workers and families worked in fighting racial injustices, and because it inspired myself to move forward with strong ideologies and pride.

Police brutality will be an issue until a solution is created. Many individuals are victims of this form of assault on daily basis. The liberties held by law enforcement are challenged each time they perform their duties. Police officers should abide by the same laws that each citizen is expected to abide by. Although police officers are granted with the right to determine laws as constitutional, civilians are sometimes treated in ways that are beyond unlawful.