Speaking to the people

Spike, I have to say something. \nI was with you on a couple of the things you said a few nights ago. I was.\nWhen you said, "Among African American youth, there's this peer pressure to belong. To speak common English and get good grades, somehow in this twisted mentality, you're equated as a white boy or girl. Unless you're sitting on the corner smoking a joint, drinking a 40 and scratching your nuts, you're not down," I was nodding my head. Right on.\nMy name's Benitez, and I don't play the bongos or love J-lo. But I still feel closely tied to my culture and heritage. Race is about blood and history, not personality.\nBut Spike, I gotta say, there's a difference between being closely tied to your race and using those ties to hang yourself.\nLet's take your views on "The Green Mile" as a prime example. \n"Now, we're all intelligent. If he could cure Mr. Hanks of a urinary problem, if he had a cure for cancer in the '30s, then why in the hell can't he look at that lock on his cell, use his x-ray vision, melt it, and just book? He can't use those powers on himself," Lee said.\nYou say Duncan portrays the "impotent Negro."\nIf anything is impotent here, its your ability to assess symbolism. The black man in this film wasn't a slave, but a representation of the Christ figure, the healer and innocent bearer of the burdens of the sinful.\nHis inability to set himself free is not a sign of impotence. It was a sign of character. He had been given a gift, a gift that enabled him to carry the weight of the weary. When fortune dealt him a card he couldn't play, the inability to save the lives of two innocent girls who had been raped and beaten to death, he couldn't bear to live. He welcomed his death, as it took from him the intense pain of loss that only one with an absolute love for life could experience. He was exercising the ultimate freedom, the freedom to accept his death willingly. Duncan was vital, life-giving. He was the absolute opposite of impotent. He was regenerative!\nIts that kind of half-hearted reasoning that only perpetuates all of the evils you claim to stand up against.\nWhy is it still us versus them? You mention whips not being funny due to their use during the times of slavery. You know, the Spanish conquistadors came and eradicated entire indigenous civilizations in Latin America with small-pox infested blankets. Does that mean Linus is the reason there are no Hispanic kids in the Peanuts gang?\nYou see, in my opinion, the obstacles to achieving racial unity in this country are two fold. The first is the obvious: The lingering remnants of blatant and subconscious racism of people who still haven't been culturally educated. The second, however, belongs to people like you.\nWhen you go out of your way to separate the races, create conflict and dwell on the events of the past from which many of us are almost completely removed, all you do is marginalize and compartmentalize the individuals.\nBecause that's what we're left with today: individuals. Most of my friends are mixtures of so many races, that when you start pointing fingers and telling them there's somebody to blame, they can't watch your movies because they've poked their own eyes out.\nWhat kind of movie will you make then?\nYou see, you're not an artist. When you say "I think as an artist. I want the body of my work to speak for you," you've missed the point.\nArt doesn't speak for people. It speaks to them. \nOh, and by the way, I hear you were rooting for Maryland.\nYeah, well I use "Summer of Sam" as a toilet seat cover.