Infiltrating Hate
How Ron Stallworth’s fight against oppression is captured in one scene
By AJ Jacobs and Luke Gardner
“BLACK MAN INFILTRATES KU KLUX KLAN” — as ironic as it sounds, these six words were all it took to convince Spike Lee to direct BlacKKKlansman. The movie follows the true story of Ron Stallworth, the first black police officer in the Colorado Springs Department, and his undercover operation into the KKK. Adapted from Stallworth’s memoir, Spike Lee’s 22nd film is a testament to Stallworth’s heroic fight against racism.
In the middle of the film, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) and his partner Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) unravel the Klan’s plot to bomb the National Black Student Union meeting. They successfully prevent the incident, and lives are saved. Expecting a happy ending around the corner, we are blindsided with reality.
Ron and his love interest Patrice (Laura Harrier) are discussing their future together when they hear a sudden knock on the door. Startled, Ron and Patrice both arm themselves to the teeth, ready for anything to come. The hallway door is opened, and ominous music plays. With the protagonists centered, pointing guns down the hallway, Spike Lee pulls off his trademark Double Dolly Shot. Ron and Patrice remain motionless while the background is slowly being drawn away from them. The Double Dolly shot allows Lee to portray Ron and Patrice as the blaxploitation heroes they are destined to be.
The camera then cuts to reveal what they can see: a burning cross surrounded by a dozen Klansmen. Ron and Patrice have stopped the bombing, but the battle has just begun. From here the music only gets louder as we watch the KKK’s horrific ritual. Before, these men looked comedic and weak, now, they seem scary and powerful in their pointed white robes. With a low, tilted angle, the Klansmen look menacing, a sad reminder that there’s no happy ending.
In the clips to come, Spike Lee shows a montage of the 2017 Charlottesville riots. Almost 50 years later, America is still torn by strife and racism. We hear the same anti-Semitism from the film and watch David Duke, the leader of the KKK in Blackkklansman, spread racist rhetoric in the present. The rollercoaster of emotions comes to a halting stop with the American flag upside down, a known symbol of distress. The music cuts, and the flag fades to black and white.
On MLK Day, our school tasked us with watching a powerful film based on racial injustices. Choosing BlacKKKlansman, we knew we were going into a deep movie. The entire movie was spent with our jaws on the floor. After the film, the room was filled with deafening silence. A scene that stood out to us the most was the Black Power vs. White Power scene. In this scene, we see two different perspectives: One being a former slave’s perspective and the other being a KKK perspective. Towards the end of the scene, the black side chants “Black Power” while the other side chants “White Power”. Earlier in the film, the Colorado College Black Student Union says “All Lives, All Power.” We support this more because, rather than promoting only one race, it promotes the equality of all races, which is a substance of true equality.
We were also surprised by how friendly Ron’s peers in the police force were to him. Unfortunately, there was one man who was a corrupt cop. This was just one person, and we were expecting the whole police department to be racist. However, for the rest of the movie, nothing else surprised us. We witnessed exactly what they taught us in history class, such as Social Darwinism, KKK terrorism, and how Blacks weren’t the only oppressed minority group — Flip’s dealing with the Klan forced him to confront his suppressed Jewish identity.
We related to the brotherhood behind Ron. Most of the police force had Ron Stallworth’s back and considered him a part of their family. From beginning, the Chief of Police promises to protect Ron as long as he doesn’t do anything stupid. Later on, Flip Zimmerman saves Ron from racist police who beat Ron and refuse to believe that he is undercover.
“Develop a kind of dangerous unselflessness.” — Martin Luther King Jr
In BlacKKKlansman, Ron Stallworth proves that he is the embodiment of this dangerous unselfishness. When presented with tackling an impossible mission, Ron and Flip put their lives on the line. Flip stares down the barrel of a pistol in his initiation, and Ron has to present himself as a bodyguard to the leader of the KKK, David Duke. Both Flip and Ron take hold of MLK’s dream to one day see a black man and a white man work as brothers to bring justice to the system.
We should all be inspired by Ron’s lifetime work. When there was work to be done, he was willing to put his life on the line. What should we do today to pursue MLK’s dream? Everything.
