Spike Lee's 1989 film Do the Right Thing serves as a bridge between my family's Korean-American immigrant experience and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. It sheds light on an important historical event by exposing conflicts existing deep within American society.
In a memorable scene from Do the Right Thing, three middle-aged black men sit on a street corner in a predominantly African American Brooklyn neighborhood. They argue about the Korean-owned convenience store across the street.
One man (played by Paul Benjamin) is visibly upset and remarks, "look at those Korean m*****f*****s across the street. I bet you they haven't been off the boat a year before they opened up their own place….They already got a business in our neighborhood. A good business. Occupying a building that had been boarded up longer than I care to remember. And I've been here a long time…..Either them Korean m*****f*****s are geniuses or you black a***s are just plain dumb."
The second man (played by Robin Harris) disagrees and asserts, "it's got to be because we are black. Ain't no other explanation."
The third man (played by Frankie Faison) annoyingly leaves the conversation after saying, "tired of hearing them old excuses... I'm gonna go over there and give them Koreans more of my money."
Paul Benjamin, Robin Harris, and Frankie Faison from Do the Right Thing
In the cleverly scripted scene, Spike Lee shows how differently each man views the Korean immigrant grocers. But the director does not allow the Koreans to tell their story. This is where my grandparents come in. And the Korean-American experience is probably similar to countless other ethnic groups that have found their place in America.
When my grandparents left South Korea in the 1970s, the nation was still recovering from the devastating Korean War that ended in 1953. The country was in an economic mess, and many took the opportunity to immigrate to the U.S. Most arrived with little money and worked for others who had come earlier. The lucky ones received assistance from friends or relatives to obtain business loans. And banks were generally willing to lend to Koreans. These immigrants typically opened stores in low-income minority neighborhoods where the starting costs were low. Also, there was less competition in these underserved communities because the local residents had difficulty obtaining loans. So the Koreans were not "geniuses," and the blacks were not "just plain dumb." The blacks could not open businesses in their neighborhoods because they were black. There “ain't no other explanation." It was no excuse.
As the scene illustrates, there is an uneasy relationship between the Korean grocers and the residents. Spike Lee further presents this potential conflict in a separate scene where Radio Raheem, played by Bill Nunn, enters the convenience store. The tension between the African American customer and the Korean couple (played by Steve Park and Ginny Yang) is palpable. But Spike Lee does not lay specific blame on either party. The viewer is left to wonder whether the Koreans are racists or Radio Raheem is an instigator.
Ginny Yang and Steve Park from Do the Right Thing
There is a similar dynamic between Sal, the white pizza shop owner played by Danny Aiello, and Buggin' Out, an African American resident played by Giancarlo Esposito. The conflict between Sal and Buggin' Out escalates into a brawl, culminating with the police intervening and strangling Radio Raheem to death. The scene is chilling, perhaps more so today than ever. It is shockingly similar to the unforgettable images from George Floyd's murder.
After the police leave, the remaining residents are left to reconcile their emotions. Their anger results in Mookie, played by the director Spike Lee, breaking the pizzeria's window. Subsequently, the rest of the crowd burns down the white-owned business. The audience is left wondering whether Mookie "does the right thing." Spike Lee further complicates the debate by ending his film with separate quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. King believed, "violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral." Meanwhile, Malcolm X viewed violence against "bad people" as "self-defense" and "intelligence."
As the pizzeria is burning, the mob turns their attention to the Koreans. Desperately pleading with the crowd, the shop owner, in broken English, says, "you, me, same," He is telling them that he is not white and suffers discrimination as well. Or maybe he is saying that they are all human beings. In any case, the crowd's reaction is mixed, with some laughing and others still angry, but they choose to leave the Koreans alone.
According to Spike Lee, the debate whether Mookie did the right thing is only among whites. He feels that those who question Mookie's actions are falsely equating Raheem's life with property damage. But did the crowd do the right thing by leaving the Koreans alone? Since the Koreans had no role in Raheem's death, destroying their store would seem unjust by any measure. But the conclusion of the fictional conflict between the Koreans and African Americans did not end the real-life problems between the two groups. Their complicated relationship would leap out of the movie screen and into national news.
In 1991, two years after the movie's release, an unarmed 15-year girl, Latasha Harlins, was shot dead by a Korean American storekeeper in Los Angeles. Surveillance camera footage showed a brief physical altercation followed by Soon Ja Du shooting the girl from behind the counter. Subsequently, Du was found guilty of manslaughter but received no jail time.
In 1992, a predominantly white jury acquitted four police officers of assaulting Rodney King. In the infamous video, the police mercilessly beat the unarmed African American. The acquittal was the impetus of the L. A. Riots. During the six days of unrest, 63 people died, and there was more than $1 billion in property damage. And with Latasha Harlins' death fresh on the rioters' minds, most of the damage involved Korean American businesses.
Aftermath of the 1992 L.A. Riots (from wikipedia.org)
To blame Spike Lee for the violence against the Koreans would be wrong. He did not cause the L.A. Riots. He only foreshadowed it. And with Radio Raheem's death, Spike Lee also foreshadowed the George Floyd riots 30 years later.
Do the Right Thing is a great movie. It captures the emotions of a group of people and foresees future events. Every American should watch the film. Afterward, maybe we can all say, "you, me, same," and really mean it.
Andrew’s Grade: A
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