Spike Lee Just Incinerated The Oscars With A Fiery Speech About Race And Reparations
"The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let's all mobilise. Let's all be on the right side of history."
Well, the Oscars have finally undone a mistake they made many years ago: Spike Lee has won his first non-honorary Academy Award.
After being snubbed at the 1989 Academy Awards, where his film Do The Right Thing was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor but he, controversially, was not nominated for Best Director, Lee has finally received his golden statuette for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film BlackKklansman.
For that reason, Lee would have been forgiven had he used the speech as an opportunity to celebrate himself — to talk about his own achievements, and the long road that took him to the Oscars stage.
Instead, Lee used it as an opportunity to call out racism, privilege and the forthcoming 2020 election.
Wearing a necklace that paid tribute to his friend Prince, and the distinctive rings worn by Radio Raheem in his film Do The Right Thing, Lee began his speech with a fiery instruction. “All right,” he said. “The day today is the 24th, the month February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year. Which also happens to be Black History month.
Watch Spike Lee accept his first ever #Oscar pic.twitter.com/ofs9mfoXA5
— The A.V. Club (@TheAVClub) February 25, 2019
“1619 to 2019. 400 years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and brought to Jamestown Virginia. Enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land … My grandmother … who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave.
“My grandmother who saved 50 years of social security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me Spiky Poo — through … college and NYU grad film. NYU!
“Before the world tonight I give praise to our ancestors, who helped build this country.”
Then, Lee called out the abuse of Indigenous Americans, pointing out the “genocide of the native people.”
“When we all connect with our ancestors we will have love, wisdom … regained. It will be a powerful moment.”
Then, Lee turned his attention to the future.
“The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilise. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing,” he exclaimed to the crowd, a reference to his 1989 film.
“You knew I had to get it in there,” he chuckled.
It’s a good time to remember the time at the 1989 Oscars when Kim Basinger, incensed that Do The Right Thing had been snubbed, went off script and plugged the film.
As Spike Lee celebrates his first Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Picture, I'm reminded of the 1989 Oscars, when presenter Kim Basinger went off-book to blast the Academy for snubbing Spike's DO THE RIGHT THING pic.twitter.com/JXEMwhaBdd
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 22, 2019
BlackKklansman is available to rent digitally, or buy on home video — which you must absolutely do, if you haven’t yet.