Date: 14th February 2001

Lee Says Black Have Made Little Progress In Hollywood


Spike Lee insisted Tuesday that black actors are still being forced to play demeaning roles in films despite the supposed progress initiated by the civil rights movement.

Speaking at a news conference at the Berlin Film Festival, where his latest film, Bamboozled, is entered in competition, Lee remarked: "I can give you examples of films where there has been no progress made. Look at black characters in The Green Mile, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Family Man. These are films being made today." Switching to the Florida elections, Lee said later: "Black people were stopped by the police in Tampa Bay from voting. ... If someone wants to be delusional and say 'Here we are in America in 2001, we've made so many great strides, everything is OK', go ahead and live in that dream-world."

Source: Studio Briefing