This Day in History: , 'Do the Right Thing' Is
Released in Theaters.
June 30, 1989.
'Do the Right Thing' is
American auteur-director
Spike Lee's third film.
The film takes place over the course
of the hottest day of the year in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
It examines racial tensions in
the neighborhood that result in the
police killing of an unarmed black man.
In a scene that has played out
countless times since the film was released,
the character Radio Raheem is put in
a chokehold by police until he suffocates to death.
Now considered a seminal
American film addressing the issue of race,
'Do the Right Thing' was controversial
when it was released.
Lee was nominated for a
Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
Danny Aiello was also nominated for
Best Supporting Actor