Spike Lee Proves 'The G-man' Right!

To quote Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, the lead character from the 80's TV smash "The A-Team", "I love it when a plan comes together!" I knew it would only be a matter of time before a major Hollywood director would be called out for dissing and ignoring the contributions made by African-American soldiers during World War II. Far too many war films have been made, past and present, which showcased Tyrone Power, John Wayne, George C. Scott or Tom Hanks as true symbols of America's fighting spirit and pride. Hollywood has always been reluctant to tell the story of how African-American soldiers played an enormous and pivotal role in battling Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The G-man is not going to get into the reasons why this has been the case, but I will publicly state that Spike Lee is more than justified in taking legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood to task for continuing this sad and horrid practice with the films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima."

According to published reports, Eastwood responded to the comments by stating, "A guy like that should shut his face!" Lee, in an interview with ABCNEWS.com, shot back, "First of all, the man is not my father and we're not on a plantation either. He's a great director. He makes his films and I make my films. The thing about it though, I didn't personally attack him."

In the same interview, Lee went on to note that he'd have no problem bringing those to the fore that would support his argument and comments. "If he wishes, I could assemble African-American men who fought at Iwo Jima and I'd like to have him tell these guys that what they did was insignificant and they did not exist. I'm not making this up. I know history. I'm a student of history. And I know the history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African-American men and women who contributed to World War II." The director of "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X" made the comments while on tour to promote his new film, "Miracle at St. Anna", which depicts the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division that fought the Germans in Italy during World War II.

In Eastwood's defense, the director recently conducted an interview with the United Kingdom's "The Guardian" and stated, "Has he ever studied the history? As for 'Flags of Our Father's', there was a small detachment of black troops on Iwo Jima as part of a munitions company, but they didn't raise the flag. The story is 'Flags of Our Fathers', the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn't do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people would go, 'This guy's lost his mind. I mean...it's not accurate."

Okay, here's the thing, folks. The G-man addressed this very issue in 2006 in an AC article entitled "African-American Soldiers' Roles in World War II", which is still posted. I invite you all to read it in it's entirety because many of you will be shocked at how many of the points I made then have now been validated by Lee and his upcoming film. I took a great deal of heat for writing that article, particularly from noted reporters at major daily newspapers in New York. They claimed I was attempting to rewrite history and that none of my claims were true. I responded by writing a scathing column telling them all to basically do some research and to kiss my ass when they were done. Oh! I also old them to make sure they put on some "Chap Stick" first because no one kisses my ass with chapped lips!

Again, I urge you all to read the piece, but I'm going to share a crucial part of the article with you that proves, indisputably, Eastwood has no excuse for denying black soldiers their moment of glory in both his films.

"Each Memorial Day, I salute all those who fought and died for this country, but I offer special acknowledgements to all the black veterans of the World War II era. I am a huge fan of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, but they must be called out for continuing the tradition of ignoring the accomplishments made by African-Americans during WW II. The two mega-stars highlighted how Private Ryan was saved, and posthumously saluted a band of brothers in an HBO series. If director Penny Marshall could brilliantly, and I do mean brilliantly, capture the momentous contribution made by Negro League baseball players in her classic film "A League of Their Own", in just a two-minute scene, surely Hanks and Spielberg could've done the same for black soldiers."

Eastwood publicly acknowledged the presence of black soldiers at Iwo Jima by stating, "There was a small detachment of black troops on Iwo Jima as part of a munitions company, but they didn't raise the flag." Dude, they may not have helped raise the flag, but they were risking life and limb, just like their white counterparts, for honor, glory and a country that denied them civil rights and lynched them from the highest trees. A simple one-minute shot of them in the background would've served as a fitting and moving tribute to those who died in combat and never had their stories told.