How different races influence each other - Essay Example

9 May, Influence of racial issues on the relationship between Radio Raheem and Sal: Do The Right Thing excellently depicts the underlying reasons of racism in the society, the way they influence relationships among people and the damage it causes to the society in general and the concerned parties in particular. One of the most iconic characters in the film Do The Right Thing is Radio Raheem. In the Bed-Stuy’s summer, Radio Raheem symbolizes Black pride in the growing tensions of racial discrimination.

Throught the film, Radio Raheem keeps wearing an African pendant, and the Love and Hate rings on both hands. The rings speak of the Love and Hate war in Radio Raheem’s life. Radio Raheem cultivates love for the black neighborhood and hates Sal and his sons because of their Italian-American race. In addition to that, the phrase, “Bed-Stuy, So or Die” are imprinted on his t-shirt and the oversized boom box is a necessary accessory of he holds all the time. Not only does he apparently seem to favor the Black race, but also he makes overt expression of his Black pride by condemning the “Wall of Fame” which lacks faces of the Black people at the Famous Pizza owned by Sal.

He plays the anthem on radio while walking in the streets of Bed-Stuy. This is his way of giving base to the African American voice that depicts their hatred for discrimination. In order to take the revenge from Sal, Radio Raheem and Buggin Out get themselves inside Sal’s pizza shop that is closed. They create mess in the pizza shop as an expression of their hatred. The tension they create upsets the customers and they start to yell and make hue and cry. Meanwhile, Radio Raheem’s radio gets broken by Sal’s baseball bat.

This provides Radio Raheem with a reason sufficient to trigger a fight with Sal. It is noteworthy that right before the commencement of the fight, the director directs the came at a photo that shows fight between a white and a black man. This photo serves as a premonition of the unfortunate events that are going to result from the mounting tension in the pizza shop. The fight between Sal and Radio Raheem that starts in the pizza shop continues while the two move to the street. Although apparently, the fight seems to have triggered from the damage of Radio Raheem’s radio, yet the fundamental reason behind the flaring up of fight is racism.

When the long cultivated chauvinism between Radio Raheem and Sal transforms into a racial fight, it essentially depicts that things explode when circumstances make the tension unbearable. The growing tensions between black and white people are just as dangerous today as they were five decades ago. It is hopelessness that causes people to react towards the unfavorable circumstances in the irrational way like Sal and Radio Raheem do. The fight started over a small radio flares up like fire in the jungle and more and more of black people are called in to aggravate the circumstances that ultimately lead to the saddening consequences.

Works Cited: Lee, Spike. Do The Right Thing. Universal Pictures, 1989. Film.