History's Influence

Spike Lee's take on racial tensions in New York did not come out of thin air. Some of the major components of the film are based on events that took place in New York in previous summers. In his production notes, Lee states, "I'm making an allusion to the Howard Beach incident by using a pizza parlor" (Lee p. 537). The Howard Beach incident occurred when three black men were stranded in an all Italian neighborhood in Queens, New York, when their car broke down. They went in to a pizza parlor to make a phone call and when they left, they were chased by a group of white youths carrying baseball bats. One black man escaped, one got beaten, and the third, Michael Griffith, was chased onto the expressway and killed. No one was charged for the crimes. This film is a protest to that event and all the other hate crimes committed.
Lee also makes references to other hate crimes throughout the movie. In the scene where Radio Raheem is killed, after the cops drive away, voices in the crowd shout out the names of Michael Stewart and Eleanor Bumpers, both of whom were killed due to excessive force by policemen in 1988. Also in the scene where Mookie talks to his sister outside, behind them on the brick wall reads, "Tawana told the truth" which refers to the Tawana Brawley alleged rape and abduction case. To read more about the Tawana case, click here.
Perhaps the biggest influence on Lee when writing this film are the words of Malcolm X. The very last shot of the movie is a quote from Malcolm X which reads, "I am not against using violence in self-defense. I call it intelligence". This ends up being the major theme of the film. Martin Luther King jr. was also an influence on Lee, and he puts a quote from Dr. King in at the end, but he gives the last words to Malcolm X. The character Smiley holds this picture of Dr. King and Malcolm X throughout the movie and pins it on the wall after the pizzeria is burned.