Spike Lee reflects on police brutality since ‘Do the Right Thing’ on Jimmy Fallon

'I'm very, very enthusiastic that people around the world were galvanized by the horrific murder of George Floyd'

Spike Lee appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show where he talked about police brutality, systemic racism and how these two injustices have changed since the eighties when he released his film Do The Right Thing.

Last Monday, in response to the death of George Floyd the director released a short film interspersing footage of Eric Garner, George Floyd and his character from Do The Right Thing, Radio Raheem, in chokeholds by police.

After warning that the following scenes were “graphic” Fallon played the film for his audience.

Lee explained how the fictional act of violence in Do The Right Thing was inspired by the killing of graffiti artist Michael Stewart. “Radio Raheem is a fictional character from my 1989 film Do The Right Thing, but his murder is based on the real murder — so that's where I got the idea,” he said.

When Fallon asked if Lee ever felt that “things wouldn't have changed since then", Lee responded: “When I saw Eric Garner, I'm like, 'That's Radio Raheem based on Michael Stewart.' And then to see our brother [George] Floyd, and I know he saw what happened to Eric Garner, so he's seeing that in his mind as his last eight and a half are being suffocated out of him.”

But the 63-year-old sounded hopeful about the possibility for change. “Jimmy, my brother, people are there,” he said. “The young white generation, my sisters and brothers, they're out there, it's not just Black and brown people. I'm very, very enthusiastic that people around the world were galvanized by the horrific murder of George Floyd."

Lee added that he believed those very crowds would turn out to vote in November “and say 'hell no' to Agent Orange", he said, using his term for President Trump. “This guy gets elected, the world is imperiled... things are bananas now. Bananas.”