Colin Kaepernick and Michael Bennett

The United States is scared with a long and horrible history when it comes to racial discrimination. However in today's world the discrimination that plagues the United States isn't laws holding people down or the fear of being bought or sold yet today people of color have to fear dieing or being taken in a completely legal or bordering on legal way. People of color in america are more likely to die at the hands of police or be incarcerated at an alarming rate compared to whites. According to the NAACP, "African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of  whites." Furthermore, it is not limited to males the NAACP reports,"The imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women." America today has these problems that are taring it at the seams yet there is no clear solution on how to fix it.

Colin Kaepernick and Michael Bennett are two National Football League players believe that they found a way to bring awareness about the problem and get people inspired to find a permanent solution. They have both decided to take a knee during the national anthem. Now one side people believe that it is disrespectful to the american flag and the troops that risk their lives to protect it. While on the other side people believe that it brings awareness to an issue that the public has tried to sweep under the rug. Also people believe that these men have to do this because they have the influence and power to actually make change. At the same time many people believe that these men are simply paid to play football and by taking a stance on a topic during game day is taking it to far.

I an my personal option Colin Kaepernick and Mike Bennett are taking a stand on something that is important to them and the African American community. Furthermore, I believe that Kaepernick and Bennett are completely justified and should be commended for there stance and how they are proceeding with it. By taking a knee during the national anthem they are not harming anyone or calling for arms, it is silent but powerful. On top of that the national anthem is one of the best times to take a stance on something for the fact that it is one of the most televised times of those games and they show the each player individually allow them time to make there stance without disturbing the game. Each of these man have valid reasons for taking the knee: 

"There's a reality that I'm a black man in America, and there's things that are going on pertaining to minorities, pertaining to women, pertaining to kids, pertaining to religion, and we can't be hiding behind it," he continued. "We're fighting for what America is built on: That's the freedom, the equality, the justice for all and the liberty, and those are the things that I'm actually trying to remember and honor when I sit down for the flag." - Bennnett
"Once again, I'm not anti-American...I Love America. I love people. That's why I'm doing this. I want to help make America better, I think having these conversations helps everybody have a better understanding of where everybody is coming from." - Kaepernick 
These man are using their influence and power to try to make a change for the better simply by kneeling and not harming anyone. That is one of the best ways to bring awareness to a topic by doing something that will open a conversation for people to discuss the issues that are on our nation as a whole. This way many the people that see what they do will feel motivated to take a stand and go out and try create change themselves. 

Radio Raheem and his boombox are a very symbolic and powerful character in Spike Lees Do the Right Thing. Raheem shows that the minorities are all internally angry and enraged that they are considered less and looked down upon for their color. Radio Raheem does this by walking around with his boombox blasting the song Fight the power. Furthermore every time that he ever is in a point of tension with his boombox aside form the moment with Sal he simple slowly raises the volume on the boombox in till the other people are drowned out with the sound of Fight the Power. By doing this he is showing that one day the minorities will raise and be equal and then be greater. As Mookie said to Pino about having the black community raise up its "inevitable" . 

However on the other side on the spectrum Sal was just the summation of the feelings of most racist people of that time. He was all business when it came to dealing with the color people in his community allowing them to spend money and work for him without an issue but when it came time for them to take a stance that is where the line was drawn . Sal states in the beginning of the film that he is going to kill somebody today but i think that was just a to prove how angered he was internally about how he is uncomfortable with the community he works in and how all he was there to do was sell pizza not make friends or help the community just to work and go home. however this attitude had terrible repercussions because this feeling of rage and discomfort that Sal had reached its peak when Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out started a peaceful protest because he no longer was just selling pizza he was forced to either speak as an equal to the people of the community or just explode. Sadly Sal choose to exploded and it resulted in the burning of his pizzeria and death on the block.

Justin Tuman Quote Response Do the Right Thing

…Violence is immoral Because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialog. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroys.  

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

...I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not using violence in self-defense. I don't even call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence. 

• Malcolm X 
   

Racial tension has plagued this nation for countless years. The rage, anger, and sadness of it is capture very eloquently in the two hours and five minutes of the movie Do the Right Thing written by Spike Lee. The quotes uttered by Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X show the binary themes throughout the movie by verbally describing the pull between trying to do the right thing and the urge to even the score through violence. 

Within the novel the tension begins at Sal’s Pizzeria where, out of ignorance and a small hint of pride, he refuses to hang photos that are more representative to his customer base. In response to this the character Buggin’ Out teams up with Radio Raheem to blast music in Sal’s shop before they close to protest the lack of representation. However, this outrages Sal and causes him to smash Radio Raheem’s boombox. Sal’s display of destruction on the boombox causes a Radio Raheem to violently attack Sal which in the end causes Raheem's death in the hands of the police as they try to get him off Sal. With this tragic death on the street the block becomes engulfed in violence and is outraged at the police and Sal. Finally, when all the dust settles and violence ends Sal’s Pizzeria is in ashes and the towns people are morning Raheem’s death. 
 

Do the Right Thing written by Spike Lee encompasses these quotes by showing how both are true and there is no right answer on how to deal with the racial plague that has its hand gripped tightly around our nation. Through the sequence of events it is clearly shown how in the beginning the people on the block tried Martin Luther King Jr’s idea of strictly nonviolence. They did this by organizing a peaceful protest in front of Sal’s pizzeria with music and asking for change. However soon they had to act as Malcolm X once preached and stand their ground and not let someone simple push them down. Nevertheless, by having the block become a raging mob and destroying the pizzeria they brought the community to its knees and now have made it more difficult for them to move forward. As Martin Luther King Jr stated, “...It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue.”