[TUCKER]

You know SPIKE LEE never misses an opportunity to do a little self promotion. This suggestion about Eastwood's war films not portraying Blacks is another of Spike's jabs. Don't get me wrong, I like him per se and I believe in what he's doing and saying and he's right about the Eastwood films that were mentioned, but I think the purpose of those films was to depict some of the atrocities of war that civilians never see or hear about. I'm a VIET NAM veteran, trained to kill and NEVER deprogrammed and theres little I haven't seen if it could be done by man to man in war.

Certainly one overlooks the whole thing "WARs THEMSELVES ARE RACIST" if you want to look at it that way. I'm not mellowing out on this racist issue at all and I never will, but I aint about to let SPIKE LEE, a guy though well intended I suppose, send me out on a bullshyt tip! Spike aint no veteran and all he knows is what someone told him about it. He has no 1st hand knowledge of which he speaks. He glamorizes and colorizes his stories just like Eastwood and all the others. He didn't spend much time on the dark side of his characterization of MALCOLM X because he knew that would be box office suicide. Now hes pretty much arrived as far as finances and notoriety. He acts like all the other Hollywood Big Shots, imo. Especially the Black ones, who weren't used to having nothing. He aint trying to open no doors for noone as far as I know. He did his best Clarence Thomas impression with me and my dealings with him. "See my assistant" was one of his favorite lines. Hes a media darling because they don't want him making a documentary about them. He has this love/hate relationship with the press, but it works for him.

You recall the line hes best known for "WAKE UP!" Used to say it at the end of all his films.

"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."

In battle conditions, I've seen some Blacks desert their posts, but I've seen 3x as many barbarians break and run. Anyone remember the scene in PLATOON when ol boy took off and ran straight into that girl holding the bayonet? To keep it balanced, the barbarian sgt pulled a body over his head and hid out. Remember the kid who stabbed himself in the foot so he could go home? That movie is one of the most accurate portrayals of what military life is like that I've seen todate. Remember all the pot heads hung out together? Remember there were few Blacks in the platoon, but they took care of each other and didn't necessarily hang together? Remember all the barbarians like BUNNY were heroes, ready to kill something in a heartbeat? Remember how they thought of and treated those people in that village? Oliver Stone is not my hero by any stretch of the imagination, but he portrayed the military, Viet Nam, racism, and everything else about life in the military, as accurately as I've ever seen it in Platoon. If you haven't seen PLATOON, maybe you should. (generally speaking) BTW check out the HOWARD ROLLINS production of 'A SOLDIER'S STORY." Your life will be more enriched than it already is if you see this movie.

Alls I'm saying is apply a little common sense to all these calls to glory. Don't be nobodys pawn in a situation that does not need Hollywood putting no spin on it for dramatic affect or realism. RACISM is real, and its everywhere. It is just as prevelant today as it was in the era Spike nem talking about. Like everything else, its manifestation has evolved. Your sight must evolve accordingly.

MY MOTTO: "EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION!"

I'd use the get off the soap box smiley here if someone hadn't been tinkering with the damn things and took them all away!