Film director Spike Lee complains about whites invading his old neighbourhood – one’s heart bleeds

The American film director Spike Lee is a prominent name on the blacklist of left-liberal creatives whose work I assiduously avoid. In fact, his was one of the first names on my list: I found his 1989 film Do the Right Thing so morally repugnant and so socially irresponsible that I decided me and Spike wer never going to see eye-to-eye. This meant I had to miss his screen adaptation of Richard Price’s brilliant novel Clockers in 1994 – but I’ve also managed to avoid a lot of films which would no doubt have made me feel very, very guilty about being white.

Spike’s one of those successful black people who want to have their cake and guzzle it at the same time: there is literally no set of circumstances which would make him believe that American whites aren't a pack of vicious racists. He’s recently been ranting about the gentrification of black neighbourhoods in New York by white middle-class incomers who don’t respect the areas’ vibrant traditions. Apparently, some snooty newbies moved in next door to Spike’s dad’s brownstone and promptly complained to the police about the noise he was making on his acoustic double bass. Apart from the truly appalling racist persecution suffered by his old man, Spike also railed against young white professionals walking their dogs in a local park, which, he claimed, made it look like the “motherfucking Westminster dog show” (I'm not sure if that's its official title). Worse, these hooligans were complaining to police about the noise made by park drummers who have been "entertaining" locals for the past 40 years. How very dare they!

My favourite section of Lee’s ravings (made at a lecture to mark African-American History Month) was this one:

“So, why did it take this great influx of white people to get the schools better? Why’s there more police protection in Bed Stuy and Harlem now? Why’s the garbage getting picked up more regularly? We been here!” 

Well, I could offer answers to those questions, but, given that our police long ago gave up any pretence at tackling anti-social behaviour, they now evidently have oodles of time to investigate bloggers, tweeters and Facebookers who havent read The Left-Liberal Guide to Acceptably Enlightened Commenting: Compassion for Dummies, I’d better keep shtum.

Spike’s righteous rantings have resulted in some unexpected and unwelcome consequences. Two brownstone buildings – including the old Lee homestead in Brooklyn – have been vandalised: among other damage, the words,“Do the Right Thing” have been spray-painted on a wall and scrawled onto the side of the “stoop” (I think that’s the name for the stairs leading up to the front door, but I could be wrong). Lee’s half-brother, who lives in one of the properties, has called on Spike to stop mentioning the house (165 Washington Park, in case you were wondering).

Just imagine the reaction if Spike Lee had been a white film director complaining about an influx of blacks into his old neighbourhood. That, of course, would have been racist.