Racism and Multiculturalism

Racism is still a major issue in America today. These two recent films, "Do the Right Thing" by Spike Lee and "Two Towns of Jasper" by Whitney Dow and Marco Williams, were made to expose these truths about American society, to better educate the people of America, and help prevent situations such as these from taking place.

Both of these of these films, "Do the Right Thing" and "Two Towns of Jasper" relate to the theory of exclusive multiculturalism. Exclusive multiculturalism is when a group of people only teaches of their own culture to restore one's pride and self-esteem in their own culture. This in turn also creates a sense of ethnocentricity within the group. In the Spike Lee film "Do the Right Thing", every race has great pride in their own culture and shows it openly within their community of Bed-Sty, Brooklyn. Each group, the Italians, the blacks, the Hispanics, the Koreans and the white policemen, segregate themselves because they have all created their own ethnocentricity. They not only have pride in their own culture, but refuse to accept others. They're community lacks cultural tolerance. Though "Two Towns of Jasper" also represents

exclusive multiculturalism, it's a slightly different situation. Their ethnocentric attitudes are hidden behind closed doors, while the people of Bed-Sty outwardly put down the other races in their community. In the town of Jasper, there are only two races, the blacks and the whites, and by the way the movie was filmed, you can tell that they keep their truest thoughts to themselves and their own culture or race.

Another difference between the two scenarios represented in each movie is the simple fact that one is fictional and the other is a documentary. The relationships that the races have between themselves in each of the movies are similar to each other but differ in many ways. They are similar in that each race within the community has a great sense of pride within themselves. Ethnocentricity also exists in both situations, but in Jasper the white community tended to be more ethnocentric than the black community. In Bed-Sty Brooklyn, every race other than the Korean's who at one point said "I'm black! You-me-we're the same!"("Do the Right Thing". Lee. 1989.), had an ethnocentric attitude amongst themselves. Also, because the hate and cultural differences are out in the open in Bed-Sty, there are more confrontations and acts of violence on a daily basis. Even though a black man was killed in Jasper by three white men, the town seemed as though it was normally quiet on a day to day basis.

Each town in both the fictional movie "Do the Right Thing" and the documentary "Two Towns of Jasper" go through a dramatic change within their community, which both take place after a murder of a black man. In "Do the Right Thing", after the white policemen wrongfully kill a black man, Radio Raheem, the black community wrongfully places the blame upon Sal and his son who owns the pizzeria they all used to eat at their entire lives. One of Sal's black employees, Mookie, now turns against him and begins a riot where they burn down the pizzeria. I felt as if the murder of Raheem pulled the community even farther apart from each other than they already were. The only thing that brought the community together, Sal's pizzeria, was now gone. In the town of Jasper, I believe, is a different story.

Unlike in Bed-Sty, the ending result of the death of James Byrd, a man who was dragged to his death by three white men in a pick up truck, was for the better of the community. I think in the end, James' tragic death brought the community together. After the trial, the three white men were either sentenced to death or life in prison, and were the first white men in Jasper to be found guilty for killing a black man. Blacks and whites alike mourned the death of James Byrd and sent their prayers to the family. Though some whites remained racist, others came together with black community, or changed their views. For example, in the documentary you can watch how Trent Smith goes

through many changes within himself. In the beginning of the

film, he shows how proud he is of his completely tattooed body filled with symbols of "white power" and the Aryan race, but at the end of the trial, he has become more humble, more accepting of the African American race, and is ashamed of his tattoos and what they stood for.

In the town of Jasper there was a symbol of segregation within their community; the cemetery fence. It separated the town into an area where the whites were buried, and an area for where the blacks were buried. After the death of James Byrd, this fence was taken down. This symbolized the acceptance of both races for each