NEW YORK CITY, March 19—Over 20 Progressive Labor Party members (PLP) and friends at a local study group compared the nationalist lies of “Blackkklansman,” the film directed by Spike Lee to Boots Riley’s heroic tale of multiracial workers fighting back in “Sorry to Bother You.” We watched both movies. We discussed how Riley’s is a pro-working class movie while Spike Lee (who started his career as an anti-cop writer/director) is now doing the work for the ruling class in his pro-cop film.
We were a multiracial group of workers, students and retirees. After the movie, we passed out a copy of a CHALLENGE article, which was a critique of “Blackkklansman” by Boots Riley and the PLP. Having the leaflet as a source material, we opened the floor for thoughts and questions. Someone said, “Spike deserves credit for bringing the story to light.” A comrade rebutted that statement by saying, “This story is all a lie, as stated in the CHALLENGE article. The film upholds the ideas of capitalism which are very dangerous for the working class.”
“Well, how is it dangerous when it’s just him using his poetic license?” a friend questioned. Another PL’er said, “It’s dangerous like “Birth of a Nation” is dangerous. It’s stories like these that promote ideas that the oppression we feel is coming from other workers and not the system.”
Someone mentioned that a Jewish cop was in the film, as if that is promoting multiracial unity. As a criticism, it was clear by this point we should’ve done the reading together, before watching the movie. Another PL’er pointed out that it wasn’t even true. The real Ron Stalworth character had a non-Jewish white partner made to be Jewish in the movie to share a vested interest in stopping the Klan. “The only unity this film wants us to feel is the unity with cops,” the comrade insisted.
A different PL’er disagreed, “The other unity is with Black nationalism. In this film we only see the racism and sexism of the Klan and no criticism of Stokely Carmichael or the Black Student government as if they were flawless. Spike Lee wants Black workers to trust the system and Black nationalism when the rulers attack, which are both dead-ends for Black workers.”
In response, someone said, “The end of this movie really moved me. When I saw the footage of what happened in Charlottesville, it put it all in context for me. That we need to do something to fight this!” Another friend replied, “That’s what’s so dangerous about this movie, it uses emotions about a very dramatic experience for all of us to conform to their solution.”
Final comments were, “The unity in “Sorry to Bother You” was better because it showed the unity between the workers,” and “I liked “Sorry to Bother You”—it was just a better film.”
It’s important to note how art is used under capitalism. Just as in everything else under this system, it is used to hide capitalism’s true nature, which is racist, sexist and in a constant state of war for profit.
At the end of the event, we spoke about communism and how May Day is coming up. That’s when we get to use our voices and tell the truth about our past, future and the truth of who we really are. We are workers fighting to end this system of torture and greed. We collected donations and encouraged our friends to come to May Day. Join us as we prepare to write our own story. Fight for communism!