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.”