Well, coming from Bensonhurst, this movie was a good part of my life. It’s very unfortunate that there are a lot of people in Bensonhurst who think that way. I was brought up in an Italian family and I didn’t hear bad things about black people, but it was definitely out there. I mean, I couldn’t live in Bensonhurst and be married to Nelsena. I’d be out of my f— mind, they’d kill me. So I chose to do my thing. I tell my son, don’t you dare go into that neighborhood without me.
But I think the reaction on the black side [in the film] was not my experience. I was brought up in a family where we were told that people are people. My mother and father cared not what boy I brought home except that he be nice.
He never debunked the myths that he was saying he was attacking. By not having them fall in love, he created an entirely sexual relationship, this totally animal attraction between a black man and a white woman, the [forbidden] fruit. They went through this whole process of dealing with their families and turning their whole lives upside down, for what? I put off the confrontation with [Michael’s] parents for years, because we were waiting absolutely to make sure we were going to be in love forever.
[The] implicit message [is] that relationships between blacks and whites will only be sexual and that that’s the only glue.
I did not like the way he ended up portraying the black man, OK? People do have affairs. People do fall in love with other people. But to reduce the black man to the point where he only wants the white woman for sex, I didn’t like that at all.
My situation has been that the black community reaction was very violent, sometimes throwing stuff at us, trying to beat him [Michael] up, that kind of thing. In New York, in Detroit, whatever. One time we were in the subway in New York and one guy came down and he stared at him, called him white boy, kicked him in the chest.
You’re stared at. People look at you and then look at the kids and then look at you and try to figure out how this all happened. I can remember years ago when we were overseas. We were followed around. We had people trying to take pictures of us, of Charlene’s braided hair. That was like a tourist attraction, her head.
People who are not racist and are liberals still draw the line at couples. Integration for them means that they go to school together, but God forbid your son and daughter should date.
A lot of times, the reaction of people to interracial couples depends a lot on class. Perhaps in a more upper-middle-class community you can get away with interracial couples a lot easier. Maybe people are talking behind your back but on the surface they’re all sweetness and light.
I think it’s more difficult for a black male to get ahead when he’s married to a white woman. That’s been our–well, my husband is successful but I think it’s in spite of, not because of.
But you know something.? If racism still exists, it doesn’t matter who you’re married to because you still can’t join their clubs and you don’t play golf with them.
I think that our cities are becoming more and more segregated.
I was brought up in [New York’s] Hell’s Kitchen in a very mixed neighborhood, not realizing what it was like to live in an all-black neighborhood. When I got married the first time–this is my second marriage–I moved up to Harlem, and I met the most hateful people I ever met. They were so angry. And I tried and tried to find out why they were angry and they did not know. On the other hand, I tried to examine the people in Bensonhurst by trying to listen to my husband’s family. And they did not know why they hated black people. Now, they have this rage, this hate, and I think what it boils down to is they are afraid of losing their family or their neighborhood.
Charlene, remember how we grew up [in the Bronx], like in high school? We dated and did what we wanted to do, saw who we wanted to see, and there was never any problem.
You see, I never went to a restaurant and somebody was mean to me because I was with a black woman or a black guy. I just hung out with people I liked. I didn’t care who they were. I didn’t care if my family disliked them if I liked them.
It’s the tragic mulatto syndrome-you can’t be happy because you’re neither this nor that. I run a discussion group at school for multiracial children and the “tragic mulatto” is absolutely a myth. The only problem I see perhaps more frequently with mixed racial children is divorce. That’s because a lot of times there’s the whole taboo of the race thing. Whereas these kids, they grow up, and they’re not any more screwed up than any other kid. Because children find their way.
Both of our daughters look Caucasian. If I’m with them and one of them says, “Dad,” people drop bags, and they bump into things–no, really, it’s true.
When one is biracial, the product of two, can it be an advantage?
Sure, and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all.
You know what I think the whole thing with children is? The children are like this huge trump card that both sides play. They don’t want to deal with the real issue, that this is a race of human beings.
No, if you look black, society will say you’re black.
One of the ways I’ve chosen to deal with it as a biracial person is to say that yes, biologically and culturally I am mixed. I have a white heritage and a black heritage that I value equally. However, on a social level, I’m perceived as a black person and on a political level, I tend to identify as a black person. And so it is a case of juggling. But it’s not bad. It’s a challenge.
I thought his overall theme was the destruction of the black family. And that’s what bothered me about his portrayal of the interracial couple. I thought that he was saying that this was just another factor in the destruction of the black family, and that’s how that failure of that relationship tied in with his overall theme.
I think there are two interesting subthemes: the black church as an oppressor and drugs being very destructive.
There’s an intellectual current in the black community which suggests that interracial relationships are not politically correct. And there’s a certain issue, I’m sure, with black men, who feel an obligation to be with black women, because there is a shortage of men.
Excuse me. You have an obligation maybe to feed your kids. You do not have an obligation to love black women because, wow, I’m over 35 and they’re over 35 and there’s not many of us left. Excuse me.
[Spike’s] point of view is very racist, even though he makes movies about racist issues. I think he’s trying to portray in the movie that interracial couples should not be.
I have my questions about the way he presents things, but for years and years we have been presented with another view of how blacks are perceived. Spike Lee is the forerunner presenting how life looks through the eyes of an urban black person.
I think he puts it out there. I don’t think he condemns the [interracial] relationship; I don’t think he condones them. I think he put them on the screen, and it’s up to you to make whatever it is you want to make of it.
This movie no longer belongs to Spike Lee, it belongs to you.
