And don't forget that the movie was about the flag raisers, and how Iwo Jima affected them. And none of those flag raisers were African-American. Get a life, Spike.

And Letters from Iwo Jima had an all Japanese cast. Which being that it was told through the perspective of the Japanese on the island made sense. It makes me wounder if Lee actually watched either movie before he shot his mouth off.

He could have still included at least a couple of black extras. That actually would have added to the accuracy.
"One of the marines I interviewed said that the people who were filming newsreel footage on Iwo Jima deliberately turned their cameras away when black folks came by."
" "The people carrying the ammunition were 90% black, so that's an opportunity to show black soldiers. These are our films and very often they become our history, historical documents." "
I think Lauren Williams is correct.
It is a slap in the face that blacks are not getting represented in Eastwood's Iwo Jima films. All the veterans are asking for is one fucking extra.

I don't know about you, ilna, but I wasn't playing "Spot the Black Guys" or "Guess the Extras' Racial Heritage" while watching the film. Instead, I was watching the film, paying attention to the story and characters. So I can't recall if there were any black extras. It just isn't that important, IMHO.

of course you didn't notice run-dms. why should you? i agree with ilna. but i have met spike lee and he is arrogant to say the least. lol.

“[Eastwood] is not my father and we’re not on a plantation either."

That should be in the dictionary as the definition of playing the race card. Last time I checked, Spike, simply disagreeing with a black man does not equal racism. Ignoring history to make a story more politically correct, does.

Black troops in WW2 served honorably and came home to lynchings, jim crow laws and back door entries to businesses.
Spike Lee is not arrogant, rather he is well- educated and and able to discern racism when he sees it.
If the claim of only 8% of WW2 soldiers being black, is true, this means they represented every 13 soldier- hardly invisible.
My dad would be better able to answer particulars about this subject, he served during WW2 and was a scholar of the war's history, like so many returning G.I.s. Too bad he's gone, taking his shrapnel with him.
I would like to think every person who returns from a war front is honored and respected, and history has shown us this isn't so.
Spike made a valid statement, and unfortunately one of my favorite actors was unable this time to make a more discreet retort to an opinion he disputed.

blackberry, the stat is 0.8 per cent (eight-tenths of one per cent) of U.S. soldiers at Iwo Jimo. Not 1 in 13, but less than 1 in 100.
And as I said before, the movie is about the soldiers who raised the flag and the battle's aftermath for them. None of those soldiers were black.
I think we should be careful about crying "racism." Overuse of the term will render it meaningless.
Can anyone actually confirm that there are no black extras in the battle scenes? I can't recall, because I wasn't watching it for racial content. Maybe Spike Lee was.

OK. I'm getting so flipping tired of all this talk of racism. I do not for one minute think Clint Eastwood has a racist thought in his head let alone the "vision" to put anything like that on the big screen. I think Spike Lee is a cry baby. When was the last time he gave a interview where he wasn't talking trash about any other film maker out there who didn't have a cast that was at least 85% black? Racism exists because opinionated people like Spike Lee won't move past it. Yes I agree the though of racism is horrible, I'm thankful that I didn't live when it was a regular occurance, I couldn't sit at a table in a restaurant knowing my black or hispanic or etc neighbor wouldn't have been allowed to join me. It's time that the non-slave generation is responsible & uses history not as a crutch or excuse to not be prosperous but just as it is, HISTORY. I'm Native American but I don't depend on gambling to support me, I'm making my own way & using the history of my ancestors to appreciate what they worked so hard for. You get respect when you give it, it's not something you're entitled to just because of the color of your skin or ancestry. Grow up America.

As someone who knew nothing about this conflict until today, I really appreciate the intelligent back-and-forth that's going on here. It's what message boards are all about.

Racism occurs all the time now. Just because lynchings aren't regular happening, doesn't mean there isn't plenty of racism about. And very widespread.

just because black people no longer have their own separate drinking fountain doesn't mean that racism is no longer a "regular occurrence."

Racism exists because opinionated people won't move past it? Um, what!?!?!

oh, and the last major film spike directed, inside man, was chock full of white folks: clive owen, jodie foster, christopher plummer willem dafoe to go along with the "85% black cast", chiwetel ejiofor and denzel washington.

@celebsarewhack: "Racism exists because opinionated people like Spike Lee won’t move past it."

Um, actually racism exists because people in power know that it keeps them in power. And it perpetuates when people who aren't subject to racism tell others to "just get over it."

Historical accuracies or inaccuracies aside, I think Clint did show himself to be a cranky old white man. Throwing in the "Well, I made the movie 'Bird'!" is akin to people saying, "Well, I have a black friend!"

Sylvie,

I don't believe that racism exists to keep the people in power, the people in power. What people are you talking about? White people? More and more black people are being elected and put into seats of power than ever before.

White people being racist towards black people is not the only racism. The opposite is true as well. Where ever there are people that wish to be close-minded, prejudice will exist. People are people, and people suck. Get over yourself. Enjoy life, instead of wasting anger over something you can't control. And while I'm white, when I was kid I grew up in a Black school. I got into fights every year because of that fact, but I do not hate black people or are angry at them for that. I have also been victimized by white people as well, but I don't find myself crying every time it happens or find myself hating white people. I learn that a certain individual is an arse and move on.

I think Spike Lee may have overreacted, but I think Eastwood did as well. So they're even. Eastwood probably did not think about what happened, and was concentrating on the film. Not appeasing the masses. Lee made the assumption that Eastwood was being racist when there were no black people in the movie. I personally respect both, and hope they both make more movies. I would rather they focus on making a movie of quality than a movie of political correctness.*shrug*