'School Daze' Is Dazzling

WITH his new movie "School Daze," Spike Lee has struck at the most controversial issues facing the Black community and has managed to produce an accurate picture of Blacks on college campuses.

As director and screenwriter, Lee ventures where no man has been--he probes the problems of intra-racism in the Black community and the difference between the privileged and the underprivileged. These divisions are clearly demonstrated in the movie by the split between the Mission College students who strive to emulate the larger white society and those who accentuate the look and essence of their Blackness.

Intra-racism among Blacks does exist, and it is a problem that can be traced back to slave days, when darker-skinned Blacks were forced to work in more strenuous jobs than lighter-skinned Blacks. For years, some Blacks have straightened their hair, lightened their skin, and more recently changed their eye color to blue or green in order to conform to the white standard of beauty. The problem has never been so clearly portrayed on screen as it was in Lee's movie.

Lee staged a big musical number in a beauty parlor to exaggerate the problem--the doctored, lighter Black women fought their darker, more natural rivals. The scene was especially appropriate because it centered on hair, which has always been a symbol of the conflict between emulation of whites and "Black is beautiful."

Lee's use of humor may have blown the reality of both viewpoints out of proportion, but he did drive his point home. Time and time again darker women have been pushed aside as the myth of lighter-equals-better gets played out. Even in the movie, the dark-skinned president of the college was married to a lighter-skinned woman. Lee proved that beauty can be found in short, natural afros and brown eyes as well as in long, straight hair and blue-colored contact lenses.

LEE not only stressed the importance of unity between Black Americans, he also grappled with the ties between Black Americans and their brothers across the sea. Dap, a militant student, struggled to bring together the brothers and sisters in protest to force the school to divest from South Africa.

By showing divestment activists who really didn't want to risk their college social life or career prospects by giving their all to the movement, the movie made the point that everyone in the Black community should not be expected to protest for divestment. Although Black people are lumped together in one group due to the color of their skin, Blacks remain individuals and it stands to reason that every Black would not be pro-divestment.

In the portrayal of a college president who felt restrained from divesting because of the school's white founders, the movie also highlighted a current dilemma which besets many historically Black colleges--the lack of financial security. Despite the fact that many schools like Fisk, Moorehouse, and Morgan State are attended by mostly Black students, these schools are often not supported solely by Blacks. Instead they depend heavily on white benefactors. Lee clearly was calling for Blacks to rally together in support of their colleges, so they can be financially solvent and independent of outside interference.

Lee also addressed the significance of Blacks' receiving an education. In one scene Dap and his friends are forced to confront some local yokels. The townies resent Dap and his friends for getting the opportunity that they never had--attending college.

Lee could have taken this scene to many conclusions, but the one he chose was by far the best. Dap and his buddies attempted to make peace with the locals instead of putting them down for their lack of education. While the movie made the point that not all Black college students reflect Dap's mature thinking, this scene showcased another fine attempt at intra-racial unity.

It is the responsibility of young, educated Blacks to at least attempt to understand the circumstances of their peers who didn't have such an opportunity. Some Black college students today are lucky enough to have two generations of graduates behind them, but many are not. The movie made the point that Black students today should not be quick to put down other Blacks for their lack of educational opportunity.

WHEN Lee strayed from the issues of unity and education and attempted to depict campus social life, he blew reality entirely out of proportion.

It is no secret to most Blacks that fraternities and sororities play an enormous role in socialization on predominantly-Black campuses. However Lee gave an inaccurate view of Greek life. He portrayed the head of the Gamma Fraternity, Julian Eaves, as a sadistic, egotistical creep. The sheer pain that Eaves put his pledges through may happen on an isolated basis, but this behavior would not be condoned by any national chapter of a Greek organization.

In the past Lee has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Greeks, and he used his movie as a vehicle to defame them. Problems do exist in Black Greek organizations--such as undue violence and the lack of community outreach work--but these problems are the exception, rather than the norm. Unfortunately a movie-goer with no knowledge of these organizations may be inclined to take Lee's word as gospel.

Overall, however, Lee did give the viewers a fair insight into what life might be like at a Black college. And Lee managed to bring attention to the issues that have torn the Black community apart for years. He made a clear plea for Blacks to throw aside their differences and join together, united once and for all. Lee's message rang through every scene and was spotlighted in the finale: it is time for Black Americans to "wake-up" to their problems and together find new ways to solve them.