They had to do that stuff if they were going to eat, to perform or pursue their careers. That's a big contrast with the many choices we have today. While he respects such talent, past and present, Lee remains unafraid to satirize everyone. But I can have the Mau Maus, who kill people, and that's okay. On the other hand, he says Michael Rapaport's voraciously ignorant television executive, Dunwitty, is based on people he's met.
Culture is for everybody.
He thinks he knows something because he knows who Willie Mays is. But, as his work attests, Lee hardly thinks the struggle is finished. And there's a lot of Americans, black and white, who think that we've arrived where we need to be and nothing else needs to be done and affirmative action needs to be dismantled. But at the same time, there are more black people living in poverty now than ever before. We can't let our successes blind us to where we stand with the bigger picture.