Director Spike
Lee criticized actor/director Clint Eastwood for not having black people in his
two war films, but Dirty Harry wasn’t having it. Eastwood pointed out that
during World War II, most
if not all American military units were segregated, and he was doing two
different films about very specific stories that involved a part of war history
that didn’t necessarily have black people in the narrative, so he couldn’t be
expected to add them. As it turns out, Eastwood got it right.
“The story was about the men who raised the flag and we
can't make them black if they were not there,” says Eastwood
in an interview. “So tell [Lee]: Why don't you go back and study your
history and stop mouthing off!" Clint socked it to Spike in a big way.
Good for him.
Lee should learn that he doesn’t have to say something every
time a mike is put in his face. I know: black people are always being written
out of American history. So you can half-way give Lee a pass for his
presumption. But let this be a lesson to all of us, that before you go
indicting Da White Man for every social ill and indignity suffered by people of
color, make sure you got the story right.
Nothing more undignified than shooting your mouth off
half-cocked.
