Do the Right Thing

The role of violence in social movements and protests has been debated by some of the most prominent American activists, most notably Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. While Martin Luther King, Jr. argued, "..... 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 dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality the destroyers." Martin Luther King explains that violence is never productive. Violence just destroys communities and tears people apart. On the other hand, Malcolm X insisted, ".... 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 against using violence in self defense. I don't even call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence." Malcom X was a little different from Martin Luther King. Malcolm X thought that violence was not a bad idea and he was for it. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X both have different views on violence. These two quotes connect to doing the right thing because Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X both had different views on what they think is the right thing when it came to violence.

In the script, Do the Right Thing, the characters deal with violence and controversy within their community. One of the characters, Buggin' Out, is very open and will say what ever he wants. He does not care what anyone else thinks besides his own opinion. Buggin' Out is like Malcolm X in that way because Malcolm X didn't mind violence and he thought that it was good for self-defense. In the script, Buggin' Out stated, "Put some brothers up on this Wall of Fame. We want Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Michael Jordan tomorrow."(Lee, 15). Buggin' Out was always starting up some trouble at Sal's pizzeria. On the other hand, Da Mayor was like Martin Luther King, Jr. in many ways. For example, they both did not approve of violence. Da Mayor is a very wise person and he didn't want to start any trouble. In the script, Da Mayor said, "If we don't stop this now, we'll all regret it." (Lee, 81). Da Mayor and Buggin' Out are two very different people and has different views on what they thought was the right thing. Doing the right thing connects to the quotes above and the script because violence caused people to be for it or against it.

Link for a scene from Do the Right Thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4y7GPeFBY