Pop Culture

Spike Lee Expresses Support for Removing Confederate Monuments: 'F*ck That Flag'

Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods' absolutely rules and is currently available on Netflix. His 1989 classic 'Do the Right Thing,' meanwhile, recently turned 31 years old.

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Image via Getty/Jaimi Chisholm
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Monuments, statues, and other public displays of pathetic affection for the Confederacy—which, it's always worth noting, lost the Civil War—have long been an eyesore across the country. Thanks to ongoing protests in the wake of a new era of police brutality, however, we've seen more widespread calls for these abominations to be removed.

Spike Lee, whose excellent Da 5 Bloods is out now on Netflix, addressed this in the new episode of Luminary's Black List podcast with Franklin Leonard and Kate Hagen.

"Fuck that flag," Lee said during the interview, perVariety. "That flag, to me, [makes me feel] the same way my Jewish brothers and sisters feel about the swastika ... And them motherfucking Confederate statues need to come the fuck down."

Later, Lee spoke on the ongoing nationwide protests calling for social justice, noting that his 1989 classic Do the Right Thing remains strikingly relevant to this day.

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"You see a young generation of my white brothers and sisters [and] they are out there in full effect," Lee said. "I mean, forget about the rest of the world for a second. White folks are marching in Salt Lake City [and] Des Moines, Iowa, where there ain't no Black folks for a minute."

To hear the full discussion, click here.

Back in May, Lee spoke at length with Complex's Khal about everything from Da 5 Bloods to his commendable hesitance to rush back to theaters with COVID-19 still remaining a stronge force in the States.

"I am not going to any movie theater until November, December. Maybe next January. The beginning of 2021. Who knows," Lee said at the time.

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