From The G-Man:Spike Lee Proves ‘The G-man’ Right!
Jun 11th, 2008 by admin
The G-Man: Born In NC, Now Reppin In The NYC
To quote Col. John “Hannibal’ Smith, the lead character from the 80’s TV smash “The A-Team”, “I love it when a plan comes together!” I knew it would only be a matter of time before a major Hollywood director would be called out for dissing and ignoring the contributions made by African-American soldiers during World War II. Far too many war films have been made, past and present, which showcased Tyrone Power, John Wayne, George C. Scott or Tom Hanks as true symbols of America’s fighting spirit and pride. Hollywood has always been reluctant to tell the story of how African-American soldiers played an enormous and pivotal role in battling Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The G-man is not going to get into the reasons why this has been the case, but I will publicly state that Spike Lee is more than justified in taking legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood to task for continuing this sad and horrid practice with the films “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima.”
According to published reports, Eastwood responded to the comments by stating, “A guy like that should shut his face!” Lee, in an interview with ABCNEWS.com, shot back, “First of all, the man is not my father and we’re not on a plantation either. He’s a great director. He makes his films and I make my films. The thing about it though, I didn’t personally attack him.”
In the same interview, Lee went on to note that he’d have no problem bringing those to the fore that would support his argument and comments. “If he wishes, I could assemble African-American men who fought at Iwo Jima and I’d like to have him tell these guys that what they did was insignificant and they did not exist. I’m not making this up. I know history. I’m a student of history. And I know the history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African-American men and women who contributed to World War II.” The director of “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” made the comments while on tour to promote his new film, “Miracle at St. Anna”, which depicts the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division that fought the Germans in Italy during World War II.
Please go to the following link to read this article in its entirety.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/814187/spike_lee_proves_the_gman_right_.html
