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114-413: Shelton Jackson " Spike " Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations , issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous accolades for his work, including an Academy Award , two Primetime Emmy Awards ,

228-502: A BAFTA Award , and two Peabody Awards . He has also been honored with an Honorary BAFTA Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2003, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2015. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks , has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut with She's Gotta Have It (1986). He has since written and directed such films as School Daze (1988), Do

342-753: A true crime drama set in the 1970s centered around the true story of a black police officer, Ron Stallworth infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan . The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival , where it won the Grand Prix and opened the following August. The film received near universal praise when it opened in North America receiving a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critics consensus reading, " BlacKkKlansman uses history to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events – and brings out some of Spike Lee's hardest-hitting work in decades along

456-725: A Board of Governor's Award from the American Society of Cinematographers . Lee met his wife, attorney Tonya Lewis Lee , in 1992, and they were married a year later in New York. They have two children. When asked by the BBC whether he believed in God, Lee said: "Yes. I have faith that there is a higher being. All this cannot be an accident." Lee continues to maintain an office in Fort Greene , Brooklyn , but he and his wife live on

570-431: A Mule, Lee has directed commercials for Converse , Jaguar , Taco Bell , and Ben & Jerry's . Lee's films are typically referred to as "Spike Lee Joints". The closing credits always end with the phrases "By Any Means Necessary", "Ya Dig", and "Sho Nuff". His 2013 film, Oldboy , used the traditional "A Spike Lee Film" credit after producers had it re-edited. Lee's films have examined race relations , colorism in

684-403: A bipartisan bill that permanently invested more than $ 250 million a year to HBCUs. In 2021, President Joe Biden 's first year in office, he invested a historic $ 5.8 billion to support HBCUs. In 2022, Biden's administration announced an additional $ 2.7 billion through his American Rescue Plan. Homecoming is a tradition at almost every American college and university, however homecoming has

798-677: A cast on cracking form, Lee proves (perhaps above all to himself?) that playing it straight is not always a bad thing." On May 2, 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honored Spike Lee with the San Francisco Film Society 's Directing Award. In 2008, he received the Wexner Prize. In 2013, he won The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize , one of the richest prizes in the American arts worth $ 300,000. In 2015, Lee received an Academy Honorary Award from

912-483: A demonstration of racial progress. Black schools hired coaches, recruited and featured stellar athletes, and set up their own leagues. In the 1930s, many Jewish intellectuals fleeing Europe after the rise of Hitler and anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany following Hitler's elevation to power emigrated to the United States and found work teaching in historically black colleges. In particular, 1933

1026-546: A film they produced. He said he could not make an antisemitic film because Jews run Hollywood, and "that's a fact". In 1992, Spike released his biographical epic film Malcolm X based on the Autobiography of Malcolm X , starring Denzel Washington as the famed civil rights leader . The film dramatizes key events in Malcolm X's life: his criminal career, his incarceration , his conversion to Islam , his ministry as

1140-615: A firm belief in diversity and giving opportunity no matter the race, religion, or country of origin. HBCUs were open to Jews because of their ideas of equal learning spaces. They sought to create an environment where all people felt welcome to study, including women. HBCUs made substantial contributions to the US war effort. One example is Tuskegee University in Alabama, where the Tuskegee Airmen trained and attended classes. After

1254-651: A historically black college in Atlanta, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn . He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a B.A. in mass communication from Morehouse. He did graduate work at New York University 's Tisch School of the Arts , where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in film and television. In 1983, Lee premiered his first independent short film titled, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads . Lee submitted

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1368-650: A jazz musician and composer . Lee has five younger siblings, three of whom ( Joie , David , and Cinqué ) have worked in many different positions in Lee's films; a fourth, Christopher, died in 2014. His youngest sibling is half-brother Arnold. Director Malcolm D. Lee is his cousin. When he was a child, the family moved from Atlanta to Brooklyn , New York. His mother nicknamed him "Spike" during his childhood. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn's Gravesend neighborhood . Lee enrolled in Morehouse College ,

1482-475: A marketing campaign for the Air Jordan line. Later, Lee was asked to comment on the phenomenon of violence related to inner-city youths trying to steal Air Jordans from other kids. He said that, rather than blaming manufacturers of apparel that gained popularity, "deal with the conditions that make a kid put so much importance on a pair of sneakers, a jacket and gold". Through the marketing wing of 40 Acres and

1596-531: A member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to Betty X , his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning whites , and his assassination on February 21, 1965. Defining childhood incidents, including his father's death, his mother's mental illness , and his experiences with racism are dramatized in flashbacks . The film received widespread critical acclaim including from critic Roger Ebert ranked

1710-746: A member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1986, while Hampton left the MEAC in 2018 for the Big South Conference . In 2021, North Carolina A&T State University made the same conference move that Hampton made three years earlier (MEAC to Big South). Both Hampton and North Carolina A&T later moved their athletic programs to the Colonial Athletic Association and its technically separate football league of CAA Football; Hampton joined both sides of

1824-501: A more unique meaning at HBCUs. Homecoming plays a significant role in the culture and identity of HBCUs. The level of pageantry and local black community involvement (parade participation, business vendors, etc.) helps make HBCU homecomings more distinctive. Due to higher campus traffic and activity, classes at HBCUs are usually cancelled on Friday and Saturday of homecoming. Millions of alumni, students, celebrity guests, and visitors attend HBCU homecomings every year. In addition to being

1938-470: A movie musical about the origin story of Viagra , Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug. He has signed a deal with Netflix to direct and produce more movies. In February 2024, it was announced that Spike Lee was confirmed as the director of the remake of High and Low (1963) , directed by Akira Kurosawa with Denzel Washington to star. In 1991, Lee taught a course at Harvard about filmmaking. In 1993, he began to teach at New York University's Tisch School of

2052-465: A musical drama film, Chi-Raq . The film is a modern-day adaptation of the ancient Greek play " Lysistrata " by Aristophanes set in modern-day Chicago 's Southside and explores the challenges of race, sex, and violence in America. Teyonah Parris , Angela Bassett , Jennifer Hudson , Nick Cannon , Dave Chappelle , Wesley Snipes , John Cusack , and Samuel L. Jackson starred in the film. The film

2166-630: A predominantly black student body are not classified as HBCUs because they were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after the implementation of the Sweatt v. Painter (1950) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954) rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court (the court decisions which outlawed racial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965. In 1980, Jimmy Carter signed an executive order to distribute adequate resources and funds to strengthen

2280-571: A scant few, found little acceptance in elite institutions in Depression-era America , which also had their own undercurrent of antisemitism . As a result of these phenomena, more than two-thirds of the faculty hired at many HBCUs from 1933 to 1945 had come to the United States to escape from Nazi Germany. HBCUs believed the Jewish professors were valuable faculty that would help strengthen their institutions' credibility. HBCUs had

2394-448: A young woman (played by Tracy Camilla Johns ) who is seeing three men, and the feelings this arrangement provokes. The film was Lee's first feature-length film, and launched Lee's career. Lee wrote, directed, produced, starred and edited the film with a budget of $ 175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $ 7 million at the U.S. box office. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott wrote that

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2508-666: Is currently discredited. He believed race relations have a universal pattern: when races come into contact, at first they are hostile, but thaw over time. However, Park only conducted minimal studies related to it and did not examine its validity across ethnic groups to ensure its accuracy in representing reality. The cycle was postulated to be driven by subjective attitudes that members of races feel toward other races. The steps in Park's cycle were contact, competition, accommodation, and assimilation . Park's students tested his ideas by studying communities of Chinese and Japanese origin living in

2622-750: Is driven by partnerships with online educational entrepreneurs like Ezell Brown . NCAA Division I has two historically black athletic conferences: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference . The top football teams from the conferences have played each other in postseason bowl games: the Pelican Bowl (1970s), the Heritage Bowl (1990s), and the Celebration Bowl (2015–present). These conferences are home to all Division I HBCUs except for Hampton University and Tennessee State University . Tennessee State has been

2736-725: Is not because of some naturally inherent racial animosity but is deeply rooted in the way societal systems are or the society is organized and structured. In 2020, the world witnessed the murder of George Floyd , an African American man, by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, in a live-streamed video. This event triggered a significant shift in the US and around the world, leading to a new awareness and consciousness about race relations. The dominant culture started engaging in discussions about racial justice and anti-racist practices, as well as seeking ways to understand and address racial issues. The need to reduce negative race relations practices and promote racial justice became more apparent after

2850-546: Is seen as one of the steps to counteract the effects of past discrimination and create a more level playing field where dominant racist social structures are present. This allows underrepresented groups to have access to the same opportunities, presence, and benefits as others. The goal is to correct the imbalances caused by historical discrimination, to interrupt the cycle of culturally reproduced discrimination, and foster greater inclusion and diversity in society. The concept of race relations became institutionally significant in

2964-738: The New York Post reported that Lee made an inflammatory comment about Charlton Heston , president of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), while speaking to reporters at the Cannes Film Festival . Lee was quoted as saying the National Rifle Association should be disbanded and, of Heston, someone should "Shoot him with a .44 Bull Dog ." Lee said he intended it as a joke. He was responding to coverage about whether Hollywood

3078-401: The 2020 presidential election with champagne amid a crowd on the streets of Brooklyn . Lee endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election and spoke at one of her campaign rallies on October 24, 2024. In March 2012, after the killing of Trayvon Martin , Spike Lee was one of many people who used Twitter to circulate a message that claimed to give the home address of

3192-625: The Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary . In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2002, Lee directed 25th Hour starring Edward Norton , and Philip Seymour Hoffman which opened to positive reviews, with several critics since having named it one of

3306-528: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his contributions to film. Friends and frequent collaborators Wesley Snipes , Denzel Washington , Samuel L. Jackson presented Lee with the award at the private Governors Awards ceremony. Lee directed, wrote, and produced the MyCareer story mode in the video game NBA 2K16 . Later that same year, after a perceived long dip in quality, Lee rebounded with

3420-684: The African-American middle class . In the 1950s and 1960s, enforced racial segregation in education was generally outlawed across the United States. There are 101 HBCUs in the United States (of 121 institutions that existed during the 1930s), representing three percent of the nation's colleges, including public and private institutions. Twenty-seven offer doctoral programs, 52 offer master's programs, 83 offer bachelor's degree programs, and 38 offer associate degrees. HBCUs currently produce nearly 20% of all African American college graduates and 25% of African American STEM graduates. Among

3534-688: The Berlin International Film Festival for Get on the Bus . He won BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman . Lee was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay for Do the Right Thing and Best Documentary for 4 Little Girls , but did not win either award. In November 2015, he was given the Academy Honorary Award for his contributions to filmmaking. In 2019, he received his first Best Picture and Best Director nominations. In 2015, at

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3648-586: The Chicago Commission on Race Relations . This was composed entirely of men, six African Americans and six European Americans Sociologist Everett Hughes published a collection of Park's articles in 1950, seven years after Park's death. The beginnings of the civil rights movement in the 1950s caused interest in the study of race, and Park's work became a founding text in the emerging field named "race relations." Because race relations model imagined steady progress of whites, it failed to predict

3762-558: The HBCU Library Alliance . That alliance, together with Cornell University , have a joint program to digitize HBCU collections. The project is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation . Additionally, more historically black colleges and universities are offering online education programs. As of November 23, 2010, nineteen historically black colleges and universities offer online degree programs. The growth in these programs

3876-601: The HBO series When the Levees Broke (2006), the concert film American Utopia (2020), and NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½ (2021). His films have featured breakthrough performances from actors such as Denzel Washington , Laurence Fishburne , Samuel L. Jackson , Giancarlo Esposito , Rosie Perez , Delroy Lindo , and John David Washington . Lee's films Do the Right Thing , Bamboozled , Malcolm X , 4 Little Girls , and She's Gotta Have It were each selected by

3990-524: The Higher Education Act of 1965 established a program for direct federal grants to HBCUs, to support their academic, financial, and administrative capabilities. Part B specifically provides for formula-based grants, calculated based on each institution's Pell grant eligible enrollment, graduation rate, and percentage of graduates who continue post-baccalaureate education in fields where African Americans are underrepresented. Some colleges with

4104-701: The Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". On May 18, 2016, Lee delivered the Commencement address for The Johns Hopkins University Class of 2016. He has been named as the recipient of the Ebert Director Award at the TIFF Tribute Awards for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival . In March 2024, Lee received

4218-611: The Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". He has received a Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize . Shelton Jackson Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia , the son of Jacqueline Carroll ( née Shelton), a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III ,

4332-600: The United Kingdom through the establishment of the Department of Social Anthropology under the leadership of Kenneth Little at the University of Edinburgh . The Institute of Race Relations was established in 1958. Its remit was to research, publish and collect resources on race relations across the world. However, in 1972, the membership of the institute supported the staff in the radical transformation of

4446-1067: The Upper East Side of Manhattan . Spike Lee is a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team, the New York Yankees baseball team (although he grew up a New York Mets fan), the New York Rangers ice hockey team, and the English football club Arsenal . One of the documentaries in ESPN 's 30 for 30 series, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks , focuses partly on Lee's interaction with Miller at Knicks games in Madison Square Garden . In June 2003, Lee sought an injunction against Spike TV to prevent them from using his nickname; he claimed that because of his fame, viewers would think he

4560-703: The second Morrill Act of 1890 , also known as the Agricultural College Act of 1890 , requiring states to establish a separate land grant college for blacks if blacks were being excluded from the existing land grant college. Many of the HBCUs were founded by states to satisfy the Second Morrill Act. These land grant schools continue to receive annual federal funding for their research, extension , and outreach activities. Predominantly black institutions (PBI) are institutions that do not meet

4674-538: The Academy ceremony Kim Basinger , who was a presenter that evening, stated that Do the Right Thing also deserved a Best Picture nomination stating, "We've got five great films here, and they are great for one reason, because they tell the truth, but there is one film missing from this list because ironically it might tell the biggest truth of all and that's Do the Right Thing ". The film that did win Best Picture

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4788-574: The Arts in the Graduate Film Program. It was there that he received his master of fine arts. In 2002, he was appointed as artistic director of the school. He is now a tenured professor at NYU. In mid-1990, Levi's hired Lee to direct a series of TV commercials for their 501 button-fly jeans. Marketing executives from Nike offered Lee a job directing commercials for the company. They wanted to pair Lee's character, Mars Blackmon , who greatly admired athlete Michael Jordan , and Jordan in

4902-777: The Bipartisan Congressional Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus was established by U.S. Representatives Alma S. Adams and Bradley Byrne . The caucus advocates for HBCUs on Capitol Hill . As of May 2022 , there are over 100 elected politicians who are members of the caucus. Annually, the U.S. Department of Education designates one week in the fall as "National HBCU Week". During this week, conferences and events are held in Washington, D.C. to discuss and celebrate HBCUs, as well as recognize some notable HBCU scholars and alumni. As of 2024, Alabama has

5016-712: The CAA in 2022, while A&T joined the all-sports CAA in 2022 before joining CAA Football in 2023. The mostly HBCU Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference are part of the NCAA Division II , whereas the HBCU Gulf Coast Athletic Conference is part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics . HBCUs have a rich legacy of matriculating many leaders in

5130-492: The George Floyd incident. Efforts were reinforced to ensure equality, dismantle systemic racism, and address historical and present-day discrimination that affects marginalized racial and ethnic groups. To rectify the impacts of past and ongoing racial disparities, specific policies and practices like affirmative action gained importance. Affirmative action is not considered as a solution to negative race relations, but it

5244-601: The HBCU has outlived its purpose and lost its relevance for black youth (Lemelle, 2002; Sowell 1993; Suggs, 1997b). Following the enactment of Civil Rights laws in the 1960s, many educational institutions in the United States that receive federal funding have undertaken affirmative action to increase their racial diversity. Some historically black colleges and universities now have non-black majorities, including West Virginia State University and Bluefield State University , whose student bodies have had large white majorities since

5358-460: The McClains filed a negligence lawsuit which accused Lee of "encouraging a dangerous mob mentality among his Twitter followers, as well as the public-at-large". The lawsuit, which a court filing reportedly valued at $ 1.2 million, alleged that the couple suffered "injuries and damages" that continued after the initial settlement up through Zimmerman's trial in 2013. A Seminole County judge dismissed

5472-487: The McClains' suit, agreeing with Lee that the issue had already been settled previously. At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Lee, who was then making Miracle at St. Anna , about an all-black U.S. division fighting in Italy during World War II , criticized director Clint Eastwood for not depicting black Marines in his own World War II film, Flags of Our Fathers . Citing historical accuracy, Eastwood responded that his film

5586-661: The North, especially the American Missionary Association . The Freedmen's Bureau played a major role in financing the new schools. Atlanta University – now Clark Atlanta University – was founded on September 19, 1865, as the first HBCU in the Southern United States. Atlanta University was the first graduate institution to award degrees to African Americans in the nation and the first to award bachelor's degrees to African Americans in

5700-412: The Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), 25th Hour (2002), Inside Man (2006), Chi-Raq (2015), BlacKkKlansman (2018), and Da 5 Bloods (2020). Lee also acted in eleven of his feature films. He is also known for directing numerous documentary projects including the 4 Little Girls (1997),

5814-492: The Right Thing , which focused on a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension on a hot summer day. The film's cast included Lee, Danny Aiello , Bill Nunn , Ossie Davis , Ruby Dee , Giancarlo Esposito , Rosie Perez , John Turturro , Martin Lawrence and Samuel L. Jackson . The film gained critical acclaim as one of the best films of the year from film critics including both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert who ranked

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5928-657: The South) to provide African American, public higher-education schools (i.e. state funded schools) in order to receive the Act's benefits (19, generally larger institutions, fall under this Act). During the period of racial segregation in the United States , the majority of American institutions of higher education served predominantly white students, and disqualified or limited black American enrollment. Later on some universities, either after expanding their inclusion of black people and African Americans into their institutions or gaining

6042-695: The South; Clark College (1869) was the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve African-American students. The two consolidated in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University. Shaw University , founded December 1, 1865, was the second HBCU to be established in the South. The year 1865 also saw the foundation of Storer College (1865–1955) in Harper's Ferry , West Virginia. Storer's former campus and buildings have since been incorporated into Harpers Ferry National Historical Park . Some of these universities eventually became public universities with assistance from

6156-767: The United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving African Americans . Most of these institutions were founded during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and are concentrated in the Southern United States . They were primarily founded by Protestant religious groups, until the Second Morill Act of 1890 required educationally segregated states (all in

6270-404: The United States and found that, contrary to Park's theory, adopting white culture did not lead to acceptance by white Americans . However, Park did not discard his theory in spite of the failures to verify it. In 1919, white residents of Chicago instigated the mass murder of black residents, an event known as the Chicago race riot of 1919 . After this violent event, city authorities established

6384-433: The United States government. I don't find it too far-fetched that they tried to displace all the black people out of New Orleans ." In later comments, Lee cited the government's past including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study . In May 2020, Lee published a three-minute short film, NEW YORK NEW YORK , on Instagram that was later featured on the city's official website. Lee celebrated Joe Biden 's victory over Donald Trump in

6498-425: The Waterfront (1954) and A Face in the Crowd (1957), as well as Martin Scorsese 's Mean Streets (1973). Lee says that he befriended Scorsese after attending a screening of After Hours at NYU. In 1983, Lee won the Student Academy Award for his film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads . He won awards at the Black Reel Awards for Love and Basketball , the Black Movie Awards for Inside Man , and

6612-455: The age of 58, Lee became the youngest person ever to receive an Honorary Academy Award . Lee received the award as "a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers". Frequent collaborators Denzel Washington , Samuel L. Jackson , and Wesley Snipes presented Lee with the award at a private ceremony at the Governors Awards . In 2019, Lee's film BlacKkKlansman went on to receive 6 Academy Award nominations. Lee himself

6726-405: The atmosphere wasn't correct." Subsequently, Perez stated that Lee had offered an apology, and the two maintained their friendship. Over the course of his career Spike Lee has defended Woody Allen , Michael Jackson and Nate Parker , all of whom have been accused of sexual misconduct . Race relations In the 1960s, the prevailing understanding of race relations was underdeveloped and

6840-568: The bachelor's degrees and 21% of the master's degrees earned by blacks in 1976–77, compared with the 14% and 6% respectively of bachelor's and master's degrees earned by blacks in 2014–15. Additionally, the percentage of black doctoral degree recipients who received their degrees from HBCUs was lower in 2014–15 (12%) than in 1976–77 (14%). The number of total students enrolled at an HBCU rose by 32% between 1976 and 2015, from 223,000 to 293,000. Total enrollment in degree-granting institutions nationwide increased by 81%, from 11 million to 20 million, in

6954-574: The best films of its decade. Film critic Roger Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies" list on December 16, 2009. A. O. Scott , Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert all put it on their "best films of the decade" lists. It was later named the 26th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics. The film was also a financial success earning almost $ 24 million against a $ 5 million budget. In 2006, Lee directed Inside Man starring Denzel Washington , Jodie Foster , and Clive Owen , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Willem Dafoe and Christopher Plummer . The film

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7068-443: The black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. His films are also noted for their unique stylistic elements, including the use of dolly shots to portray the characters "floating" through their surroundings, which he has had his cinematographers repeatedly use in his work. In 2018, during an interview with GQ , Lee cited some of his favorite films as Elia Kazan 's On

7182-410: The fields of business, law, science, education, military service, entertainment, art, and sports. Federal funding for HBCUs has notably increased in recent years. Proper federal support of HBCUs has become more of a key issue in modern U.S. presidential elections. In President Barack Obama 's eight years in office, he invested more than $ 4 billion to HBCUs. In 2019, President Donald Trump signed

7296-423: The film "ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch 's Stranger Than Paradise ) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites." In 1989, Lee made perhaps his most seminal film, Do

7410-429: The film No. 1 on his Top 10 list for 1992 and described the film as "one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the sweep of an American life that bottomed out in prison before its hero reinvented himself." Ebert and Martin Scorsese , who was sitting in for late At the Movies co-host Gene Siskel , both ranked Malcolm X among the ten best films of the 1990s. Denzel Washington's portrayal of Malcolm X in particular

7524-518: The film as his master's degree thesis at the Tisch School of the Arts . Lee's classmates Ang Lee and Ernest R. Dickerson worked on the film as assistant director and cinematographer , respectively. The film was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center 's New Directors New Films Festival. Lee's father, Bill Lee , composed the score. The film won a Student Academy Award . In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It . The black-and-white film concerns

7638-482: The film as the best of 1989, and later in their top 10 films of the decade (No. 6 for Siskel and No. 4 for Ebert). Ebert later added the film to his list of The Great Movies . To many people's surprise, the film was not nominated for Best Picture or Best Director at the Academy Awards . The film only earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay , Spike Lee's first Oscar nomination, and for Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello. At

7752-520: The government and the secretary on the future development of these organizations. Starting in 2001, directors of libraries of several HBCUs began discussions about ways to pool their resources and work collaboratively. In 2003, this partnership was formalized as the HBCU Library Alliance , "a consortium that supports the collaboration of information professionals dedicated to providing an array of resources designed to strengthen historically black colleges and Universities and their constituents." In 2015,

7866-601: The government. In 1862, the federal government's Morrill Act provided for land grant colleges in each state. Educational institutions established under the Morrill Act in the North and West were open to blacks. But 17 states, almost all in the South, required their post-Civil war systems to be segregated and excluded black students from their land grant colleges. In the 1870s, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina each assigned one African American college land-grant status: Alcorn University, Hampton Institute, and Claflin University, respectively. In response, Congress passed

7980-442: The graduates of HBCUs are civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. , United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall , and United States Vice President Kamala Harris . HBCUs established prior to the American Civil War include Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1837, University of the District of Columbia (then known as Miner School for Colored Girls) in 1851, and Lincoln University in 1854. Wilberforce University

8094-497: The industry noted how the 2019 Oscars with BlacKkKlansman competing against eventual winner Green Book mirrored the 1989 Oscars with Lee's film Do the Right Thing missing out on a Best Picture nomination over the eventual winner Driving Miss Daisy . Lee's Vietnam war film Da 5 Bloods was released on Netflix . The film starred Delroy Lindo , Jonathan Majors , Clarke Peters , Isiah Whitlock Jr. , Mélanie Thierry , Paul Walter Hauser and Chadwick Boseman . The film

8208-1113: The landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the legislature of Florida, with support from various counties, opened eleven junior colleges serving the African-American population. Their purpose was to show that separate but equal education was working in Florida. Prior to this, there had been only one junior college in Florida serving African Americans, Booker T. Washington Junior College , in Pensacola, founded in 1949. The new ones were Gibbs Junior College (1957), Roosevelt Junior College (1958), Volusia County Junior College (1958), Hampton Junior College (1958), Rosenwald Junior College (1958), Suwannee River Junior College (1959), Carver Junior College (1960), Collier-Blocker Junior College (1960), Lincoln Junior College (1960), Jackson Junior College (1961), and Johnson Junior College (1962). The new junior colleges began as extensions of black high schools. They used

8322-539: The legal definition of HBCUs, but primarily serve African Americans. Some examples of PBIs are Georgia State University , Chicago State University , Trinity Washington University , and the Community College of Philadelphia . In the 1920s and 1930s, historically black colleges developed a strong interest in athletics. Sports were expanding rapidly at state universities, but very few black stars were recruited there. Race newspapers hailed athletic success as

8436-420: The many problems between different races in this country is a slightly disingenuous, because even though racism is not a one way street, there is definitely a glaring difference in the way this country treats certain races. Softening the reality of our world leads to ignorance, and racism is rooted from hatred and ignorance by large. Reconciliation is a term used in truth and reconciliation commissions around

8550-443: The mid-1960s. As many HBCUs have made a concerted effort to maintain enrollment levels and often offer relatively affordable tuition, the percentage of non–African-American enrollment has risen. The following table highlights HBCUs with high non–African American enrollments: Other HBCUs with relatively high non–African American student populations According to the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2011 edition,

8664-482: The most active HBCUs of any state, with 14. North Carolina is second with 11. In 2023, the average HBCU 6-year undergraduate graduation rate was 35% while the national average was 64%. Spelman College had the highest graduation rate among HBCUs at 74%. Also in 2023, 73% of students attending HBCUs were Pell Grant eligible while the national average was 34%. Talladega College had the highest percent of Pell Grant eligible students among HBCUs at 95%. In 2015,

8778-480: The nation's economy with 35% coming from the multiplier effect . There are also developments in how African Americans may choose or not choose an HBCU. HBCUs are at risk of losing ground in terms of quality of their applicants as well. The current admission policies of predominately White institutions (PWIs) ensure that qualified applicants of any color are accepted and most top institutions actively recruit minority students. Well qualified minority students are often

8892-488: The nation's public and private HBCUs. His executive order created the White House Initiative on historically black colleges and universities (WHIHBCU), which is a federally funded program that operates within the U.S. Department of Education . In 1989, George H. W. Bush continued Carter's pioneering spirit by signing Executive Order 12677, which created the presidential advisory board on HBCUs, to counsel

9006-541: The need for such institutions, with Crummell arguing that HBCUs were necessary to provide freedom from discrimination, and Douglass and Garnet arguing that self-segregation would harm the black community. A majority of the convention voted that HBCUs should be supported. Most HBCUs were established in the South after the American Civil War , often with the assistance of religious missionary organizations based in

9120-476: The organization: rather than being a policy-oriented academic institution it became an anti-racist think tank . The Race Relations Board was created following the passing of the Race Relations Act 1965 as a body "to assess and resolve individual cases of discrimination." Its remit was originally restricted to places of public resort and regarding disposal of tenancies, but this was expanded with

9234-469: The passage of the Race Relations Act 1968. Race Relations Acts are legislation in the United Kingdom to outlaw racial discrimination and to tackle institutional racism : The concept of race relations has been criticized for implying a matched relationship between races. Stephen Steinberg of CUNY contends that the term "racial oppression" should be used in unevenly matched instances instead of negative race relation or simply "race relations": While

9348-522: The proportion of white American students at Langston University was 12%; at Shaw University , 12%; at Tennessee State University , 12%; at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore , 12%; and at North Carolina Central University , 10%. The U.S. News & World Report ' s statistical profiles indicate that several other HBCUs have relatively significant percentages of non–African American student populations consisting of Asian, Hispanic, white American, and foreign students. HBCU libraries have formed

9462-742: The radical upheavals of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Everett Hughes delivered an address at the American Sociological Association (of which he was president) titled Race Relations and the Sociological Imagination in which Hughes confessed the failure of prediction: "Why did social scientists — and sociologists in particular — not foresee the explosion of collective action of Negro Americans demanding immediate full integration into American society?" African American scholars had little more than token representation in this field. Race relations model

9576-455: The relationship between two groups of people rather than the discrimination against them. Specifically labeling racism this way almost implies that racism is not here, or at least makes it seem like huge changes in our governing systems have changed. It is true that, today the average American knows and understands the dangers of racism, however many of the laws that are set in place have disproportionately targeted certain groups of people. To label

9690-404: The report's recommendations. In the 1970s, some sociologists in America sought to replace the term race relations with racial oppression, because that was the better notion of what race meant in that period. For example, the 1972 book Racial Oppression in America by Bob Blauner challenged the race relations paradigm on negative effects, he explained that the source of the problem between races

9804-578: The rise of Black Lives Matter , an anti-racism movement. The term "race relations", according to Blow, "suggests a relationship that swings from harmony to disharmony". Objecting to racism creates awareness of disharmony, whereas silently submitting to racial oppression creates a false impression of harmonious race relations. Because of this counterintuitive result, Blow argues that the terms "race relations," "racial tension", and "racial division" are unhelpful euphemisms for what should properly be called white supremacy . The term "race relations" describes more

9918-415: The same facilities and often the same faculty. Some built their own buildings after a few years. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated an end to school segregation, the colleges were all abruptly closed. Only a fraction of the students and faculty were able to transfer to the previously all-white junior colleges, where they found, at best, an indifferent reception. A reauthorization of

10032-500: The same objectifying way that white male filmmakers write the characters of white women. Rosie Perez , who was in an acting role for the first time as Tina in Do the Right Thing , said later that she was very uncomfortable with doing the nude scene in the film, saying, "I had a big problem with it, mainly because I was afraid of what my family would think...It wasn't really about taking off my clothes. But I also didn't feel good about it because

10146-490: The same period. Although HBCUs were originally founded to educate black students, their diversity has increased over time. In 2015, students who were either white, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Native American made up 22% of total enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15% in 1976. In 2006, the National Center for Education Statistics released a study showing that HBCUs had a $ 10.2 billion positive impact on

10260-554: The share of black students attending HBCUs had dropped to 9% of the total number of black students enrolled in degree-granting institutions nationwide. This figure is a decline from the 13% of black students who enrolled in an HBCU in 2000 and 17% who enrolled in 1980. This is a result of desegregation, rising incomes and increased access to financial aid, which has created more college options for black students. The percentages of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded to black students by HBCUs has decreased over time. HBCUs awarded 35% of

10374-455: The shooter George Zimmerman . The address turned out to be incorrect, causing the real occupants, Elaine and David McClain, to leave home and stay at a hotel due to numerous death threats. Lee issued an apology and reached an agreement with the McClains, which reportedly included "compensation", with their attorney stating "The McClains' claim is fully resolved". Nevertheless, in November 2013,

10488-576: The status of minority-serving institution , became predominantly black institutions ( PBIs ). For a century after the abolition of American slavery in 1865, almost all colleges and universities in the Southern United States prohibited all African Americans from attending as required by Jim Crow laws in the South, while institutions in other parts of the country regularly employed quotas to limit admissions of black people. HBCUs were established to provide more opportunities to African Americans and are largely responsible for establishing and expanding

10602-528: The target of frenzied competition (Cross, 2007). This competition is reflected in the inducements offered by PWIs to qualified black applicants, most notably monetary incentives, which many students and their parents find too attractive to turn down. For this reason and others, fewer black undergraduates are choosing to attend HBCUs, this figure has gradually declined to 22% as of 2002 (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). This dwindling percentage, coupled with opportunities at PWIs, have led some to speculate whether

10716-404: The term "race relations" have called it as a euphemism for white supremacy or racism. Opinion polls, such as Gallup polls, use the term "race relations" to group together various responses connected to race. University level sociology courses are often named " Race and Ethnic Relations ". Robert E. Park of the University of Chicago formulated a theory known as "race relations cycle," which

10830-523: The term "race relations" is meant to convey value neutrality, on closer examination it is riddled with value. Indeed, its rhetorical function is to obfuscate the true nature of "race relations", which is a system of racial domination and exploitation based on violence, resulting in the suppression and dehumanization of an entire people over centuries of American history. Journalist Charles M. Blow observes that Americans who were polled on their "satisfaction with race relations" reported lower satisfaction after

10944-463: The way." In 2019, during the awards season leading up to the Academy Awards , Lee was invited to join a Directors Roundtable conversation run by The Hollywood Reporter . The roundtable included Ryan Coogler ( Black Panther ), Yorgos Lanthimos ( The Favourite ), Alfonso Cuarón ( Roma ), Marielle Heller ( Can You Ever Forgive Me? ), and Bradley Cooper ( A Star is Born ). It

11058-412: The website Rotten Tomatoes gave it an approval rating of 92% based on 252 reviews, with the critical consensus reading: "Fierce energy and ambition course through Da 5 Bloods , coming together to fuel one of Spike Lee's most urgent and impactful films." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Lee's next project will be

11172-807: The world, and used in various countries when referring to improving relations between their First Nations peoples and the rest of the population. Reconciliation in Australia has been part of Australian Government policy since 1991, and the term is also used in New Zealand, Canada, the United States (as in the Maine Wabanaki-State Truth and Reconciliation Commission ), and in Europe. Historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities ( HBCUs ) are institutions of higher education in

11286-418: Was Driving Miss Daisy , a film that focused on race relations between an elderly Jewish woman ( Jessica Tandy ) and her driver ( Morgan Freeman ). Lee said in an April 7, 2006, interview with New York magazine that the other film's success, which he thought was based on safe stereotypes, hurt him more than if his film had not been nominated for an award. After the 1990 release of Mo' Better Blues , Lee

11400-508: Was a challenging year for many Jewish academics who tried to escape increasingly oppressive Nazi policies, particularly after legislation was passed stripping them of their positions at universities. Jews looking outside of Germany could not find work in other European countries because of calamities like the Spanish Civil War and general antisemitism in Europe. In the US, they hoped to continue their academic careers, but barring

11514-557: Was accused of antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League and several film critics. They criticized the characters of the club owners Josh and Moe Flatbush, described as " Shylocks ". Lee denied the charge, explaining that he wrote those characters in order to depict how black artists struggled against exploitation. Lee said that Lew Wasserman , Sidney Sheinberg , or Tom Pollock, the Jewish heads of MCA and Universal Studios , were unlikely to allow antisemitic content in

11628-593: Was acknowledged by sociologists for its failure to predict the anti-racist struggles. It was critiqued for being explicitly used to give an explanation of violence connected to race. The use of paradigm was criticized for overlooking the power differential between races, implying that the source of violence is disharmony rather than racist power structures. Race relations are divided into positive and negative. Positive or good race relations promote equality, empathy, and inclusivity, while negative race relations generate tension , conflict, and social divisions. Detractors of

11742-605: Was also established prior to the American Civil War. The university was founded in 1856 via a collaboration between the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Ohio and the predominantly white Methodist Episcopal Church. HBCUs were controversial in their early years. At the 1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends , the famed black orators Frederick Douglass , Henry Highland Garnet , and Alexander Crummell debated

11856-409: Was an unusual film for Lee considering it was a studio heist thriller. The film was a critical and financial success earning $ 186 million off a $ 45 million budget. Empire gave the film four stars out of five, concluding, "It's certainly a Spike Lee film, but no Spike Lee Joint. Still, he's delivered a pacy, vigorous and frequently masterful take on a well-worn genre. Thanks to some slick lens work and

11970-478: Was associated with the channel. In March 2020, Lee and the security team at Madison Square Garden had a disagreement over which entrance to use to see the New York Knicks; Lee stated he would not attend the rest of the games for the season. Spike Lee has also frequented New York Liberty games at Barclays Center , sitting courtside during the 2024 WNBA playoffs in a Sabrina Ionescu Jersey In May 1999,

12084-512: Was considered by them as a failure of white social science. The Kerner Report , commissioned by the US government in 1967 to study the causes of 1960s race riots, said that the Watts riots of 1965 "shocked all who had been confident that race relations were improving in the North." The report clarified that the major cause of the riots was white racism, and recommended job creation measures and police reform . President Lyndon B. Johnson discarded

12198-646: Was nominated for 3 Oscars for Lee for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. He went on to win the Best Adapted Screenplay , his first Academy Award. Two of his films have competed for the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival , and of the two, BlacKkKlansman won the Grand Prix in 2018. Lee's films Do the Right Thing , Malcolm X , 4 Little Girls , She's Gotta Have It , and Bamboozled were each selected by

12312-461: Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director (Lee's first ever nomination in this category). Lee won his first competitive Academy Award in the category Best Adapted Screenplay . When asked by journalists from the BBC if the Best Picture winner Green Book offended him, Lee replied, "Let me give you a British answer, it's not my cup of tea". Many journalists in

12426-441: Was not one black soldier in both of those films". He added that he and Eastwood were "not on a plantation". Lee later claimed that the event was exaggerated by the media and that he and Eastwood had reconciled through mutual friend Steven Spielberg , culminating in his sending Eastwood a print of Miracle at St. Anna . Lee has been criticized for his representation of women. For example, bell hooks said that he wrote black women in

12540-442: Was released by Amazon Studios in select cities in November. Chi-Raq received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has rating of 82% with the site's critical consensus stating, " Chi-Raq is as urgently topical and satisfyingly ambitious as it is wildly uneven – and it contains some of Spike Lee's smartest, sharpest, and all-around entertaining late-period work." Lee's 2018 film BlacKkKlansman ,

12654-581: Was released worldwide on June 12, 2020. The film's plot follows a group of aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there. Before the COVID-19 pandemic , the film was scheduled to premiere out-of-competition at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival , then play in theaters in May or June before streaming on Netflix. The film received widespread critical acclaim;

12768-485: Was responsible for school shootings. "The problem is guns", he said. Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey condemned Lee as having "nothing to offer the debate on school violence except more violence and more hate". In October 2005, Lee responded to a CNN anchor's question as to whether the government intentionally ignored the plight of black Americans during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe by saying, "It's not too far-fetched. I don't put anything past

12882-561: Was specifically about the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima , pointing out that while black Marines did fight at Iwo Jima, the U.S. military was racially segregated during World War II, and none of the men who raised the flag were black. He angrily said that Lee should "shut his face". Lee responded that Eastwood was acting like an "angry old man", and argued that despite making two Iwo Jima films back to back, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers , "there

12996-460: Was widely praised and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor . Washington lost to Al Pacino ( Scent of a Woman ), a decision which Lee criticized, saying "I'm not the only one who thinks Denzel was robbed on that one." His 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls , about the girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama , in 1963, was nominated for

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