Spike Lee launched a bitter attack on Clint Eastwood yesterday, condemning his failure to include a single African-American soldier in his films about the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The Oscar-nominated African-American director, one of the most influential figures in contemporary cinema, said that black soldiers were conspicuous by their absence from Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Hundreds took part in the battle for the Japanese island in 1945.

Lee said: “There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint for not having one [in the films]. That was his version: the negro soldier did not exist. I have a different version.”

He was speaking at a press conference in Cannes, where he gave the world premiere of an eight-minute trailer for his latest feature film, a war drama with which he hopes to set the record straight.

Miracle at St Anna is an epic story about members of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division, which fought the Germans in Italy.

While refraining from using the word “racist”, Lee said that rewriting Second World War history was typical of Hollywood. The Dirty Dozen was among the few films that showed the contribution made by African-American soldiers, he said. White heroes played by John Wayne and other Hollywood stars had until now overshadowed the sacrifice of brave heroes of colour who laid down their lives for their country, he added.

“Here’s the paradox,” he said. “These African-American men wanted to fight against fascism in the name of democracy. At the same time, they were still second-class citizens.” Although Lee emphasised his respect for Eastwood as a film-maker, he claimed that the director had been told of the African-Americans who fought at Iwo Jima, and had chosen to ignore that “information”.

He said: “It’s not like he could say he didn’t know. It was a conscious decision not to have any black people.” Half an hour later, Eastwood was at the other end of La Croisette, giving his own press conference for his latest film, L’Échange (formerly The Changeling), the story of a woman, played by Angelina Jolie, who brought down a corrupt police department in 1920s Los Angeles.

Asked twice by The Times to respond to Lee’s criticism, Eastwood stared out into the audience as the compere refused to accept a question that did not relate to L’Échange. Later, his spokeswoman also declined to comment.

Miracle at St Anna, set in 1944, tells the story of four black Americans who find themselves trapped behind enemy lines and separated from their unit after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy.

The film is based on the 2002 book by the bestselling African-American novelist James McBride. The village in the title, Sant’Anna di Stazzema, was the site of a massacre by SS troops who rounded up and slaughtered 560 civilians.

Lee’s film reflects the pain felt by the segregated black soldiers. One says in the film: “I love Italians. I ain’t a nigger here. I’m just me.” Lee added: “At the beginning of the war, black soldiers did not fight. They cooked, cleaned and drove trucks. That was all they were allowed to do. There was a theory that the black soldiers would run. That was proven false.” Miracle at St Anna was a testament to brave men who fought for the country they loved.

Wearing a T-shirt promoting Barack Obama, he also spoke of the significance of the United States having a black American president one day. His great-grandmother was born a slave and would never have believed it.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle3972316.ece

Who cares. I'm not racist in any way but all this "YA'LL ARE ALWAYS FORGETTING US BLACKS!!! WE ARE A PROUD RACE!!!" gets right on my tits. SHUT THE FUCK UP already.

Yeah, Spike Lee is *constantly* whining about it. He's a bit much really.

can whites complain there are no whites in Spike's movie? ;)

Spike Lee's the idiot that believes in the Afro revisionist history bullshit. The crap that they spew that Cleopatra was black. They've had to make up their own back story. It's pathetic. Spike needs a foot up his ass. Dumbass. He believes everything is a conspiracy against blacks.

I think people would be idiots to think racism is dead, it does still exist (and you see it with a lot of Republicans on other message boards with what they say about Obama with emphasis on bashing his ethnicity) but.. I do think some people make it too much of an issue and try to find hidden racist agendas in everything. I don't think someone votes for a white person on American Idol over race, nor do I think a white person who prefers to date his or her own race is necessarily "racist", preferences are preferences. I know a white guy who exclusively dates black and Hispanic men, he just is more attracted to them, same with white people who are more attracted to whites.

I am more sexually attracted to white people than to black.

Spike Lee would probably think I'm racist.

I've never had a bit of chocolate in my mouth, so I'm probably a racist too.

:lmao:

what I find funny is that I notice blacks look down on fellow blacks who are attracted to white people.... but a white person who is attracted to their own race is a bad thing. Hypocrite much?

I don't see race, I see features I'm attracted to, and usually that applies more to caucasian and light-skinned Hispanic men. There are some biracial guys I find hot like Wentworth Miller and Coby Bell, but both of those can pass for white. It isn't racism, it's personal preference. I think there are a lot of gorgeous black women, if I was straight or bi, I'd probably be into them, but with black men, not so much.

Spike who? :files: