Do The Right Thing

In Do The Right Thing, Sal is the Italian-American owner of the neighborhood pizzeria. Having owned the shop for twenty-five years, Sal and his pizzas are known by everyone. On the surface, he seems like a nice and accepting person. But there are several instances in the film that seem to suggest that Sal may not be as accepting as he appears. For one, Sal always refers to the black customers as “them” and “they.” He also refers to hip-hop music “jungle music” multiple times. Additionally, early on in the film, we see Sal give money to Da Mayor in exchange for sweeping the block and learn that Sal does this often. And later on in the film, Sal offers Smiley some money after Sal’s son gets into an argument with him. In a way, this suggests that Sal is offering people money to make them go away. And Sal’s racist outburst at the film’s climax also suggests that Sal is not a complete nice guy. In the aftermath of Radio Raheem’s death, Sal’s explanation is simply “You do what you’ve gotta do.” It almost seems like he does not care about what he just witnessed.
In response to Sal’s son telling his father that he is tired of working near black people, Sal says “I watched these little kids get old, and I see the old people get older.” and “they grew up on my food.” Sal seems to genuinely like the neighborhood and its residents. Sal even assures Mookie that he will always have a place in the pizzeria. Sal also says that he sees the delivery boy as a son. And while Sal’s response to Radio Raheem’s death was definitely inappropriate, his outburst in the pizzeria was understandable. It was not the right thing to do, but Sal’s anger got the best of