Do The Right Thing - Analytical & Personal Response

In Richard Wright's "How Bigger Was Born," he explained how there were multiple Biggers, or different parts of his personality within the main character. He said, of Bigger No. 2, "he tells us that we were fools not to get what we wanted while we were alive in this world. We would listen and silently agree. We longed to believe and act as he did, but we were afraid" (435). Bigger No. 2 did not want to be a bystander in a society where everyone conformed to the same values and norms. He wanted his people to fight for their rights and rise against the norms - he wanted his people to get what they wanted in life, but his people were too afraid. Bigger No. 2 did not mind using violence and suggested something similar to what Malcolm X said, "what we have to do is what they did" (258), implying that blacks should rise against the whites and finally fight to live the lives they deserved. Bigger No. 2 and Buggin' Out from Do The Right Thing are similar in the ways they wanted change. Buggin' Out wanted to boycott Sal's Famous Pizzeria because he did not believe it represented his neighborhood or his race well. The neighborhood was multicultural, but the one place everyone went in the neighborhood for pizza and good quality food was not. Bigger No. 2 wanted to fight against the oppression of the Black Belt in Chicago by building up the morale of his people. They both wanted a chance at equality and integration for their people; they just went about it in violent or unnecessary ways that were looked down upon.

I think the conflict between all of the races was the most prominent part of Do The Right Thing. The scene in which one person from each race expresses a slew of cruel insults to another race was astounding to me. All of those people from different races - Korean, White-Italian, Black, Puerto Rican - were living in the same area and yet not many of them had decided to put aside their differences. I thought at some point in time, they would have come to an agreement in some way. But the white men were still serving the rest of the races food and the Puerto Ricans were angry at Radio Raheem's music and Da Mayor was infuriated by the Korean shopkeepers who did not have his favorite beer. The only ones who seemed remotely centered in terms of race were Mookie and Jade. Mookie was working for white men, had a baby with a Puerto Rican woman, and did not seem to care about having a Korean couple was living near him. Jade was happily optimistic about everything she did and did not feel strange about talking to Sal or living in their neighborhood. Mookie and Jade were the ones who found that, rationally, they were able to live in harmony with the others in the neighborhood. Even after Mookie assisted in the trashing and burning of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, he still went back and asked for his money. But Sal did not punch him or call him names; he gave Mookie double the money he had earned. In the end, these two were the ones who realized what it meant to do the right thing – they had to live and accept each other in order to live a life worth living.

Two Societies - Document 2: The Chicago Plan

Reverend James Bevel of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) drafted the Chicago Plan which explains how too many blacks with hopes of new opportunities and freedoms went to Chicago. This migration caused Chicago to become segregated. This finally led to Chicago pushing blacks into ghettoes and the slums. Chicago became less of a "promised land" and the South became filled with more opportunities.

2. How did the SCLC distinguish the problems of black residents of a Norhtern city like Chicago from those in a Southern city like Birmingham?

The difference between the situation in Birmingham and the situation in Chicago was that in Birmingham, the only problem that was in effect was segregation. So the SCLC was able to put forth action in order to desegregate the city. But in Chicago, the problems were more complex. By having all of these black people coming to the north, they are putting Chicago in a state of economic exploitation. Bevel said, "Every condition exists simply because someone profits by its existence. This economic exploitation is crystallized in the SLUM," (6). Bevel realized that the problem with Chicago was too difficult to fix with what strategies they had. Chicago was not as badly segregated as Birmingham, but their problem was not an easy fix - they were not able to use desegregation - they were going to have Chicago staff "come to see this as a system of internal colonialism," in order to integrate and fix Chicago.