Bruce Lee gave voice to Black Americans
By Thomas Lee
Editorial Director of “We Are Bruce Lee”
In one scene from the 1973 film "Enter the Dragon," Williams, played by African American actor Jim Kelly, is walking down the street when a police car suddenly pulls up behind him.
Two white cops get out and start harassing Williams for no particular reason. They search him and find a ticket to Hong Kong via Hawaii.
"You're not going to Hawaii!" one cop sneers.
Without a word, Williams, a martial arts expert, proceeds to methodically beat up the cops, even throwing one through a wooden fence. He then steals the police car and drives away.
The scene had no relevance to the overall plot but probably enthralled African Americans who have experienced decades of police brutality. Finally, a black man gave the cops what they deserved.
Scenes from George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis. (Photos by Thomas Lee)
A trip to Minneapolis
Alas, "Enter the Dragon" is mere fiction. Fantasy. Nothing reminded me more of this fact than a recent trip to Minneapolis, where I lived for a decade. I was visiting a friend and he suggested we go to 38th St. and Chicago Avenue, the site of George Floyd's murder.
I must have driven through this intersection dozens of times. But now, it has become an international shrine to police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Last year, police stopped Floyd, whom they suspected of passing a bad check. Officer Derek Chavin pressed his knee against the back of Floyd's neck while he was handcuffed and lying on the ground. Floyd died.
A large black and white mural of Floyd hangs on the side of a store. Messages of both grief and anger are everywhere: "RIP George" someone wrote on a pillar, right below a sticker that says "Murderous Police."
It was deathly quiet. No one dared speak above a whisper.
At the spot where Floyd passed away, someone drew an image of a body with the phrase "Can't breathe" beneath it.
One black man in 1973 beating the snot out of racist cops. Another black man begging for his life while literally under the knee of a cop in 2020. The juxtaposition could not be more jarring.
Yet the two scenes are intimately related. Pop culture mirrors not only our worst fears but our deepest desires. Movies, television shows, comic books, music... they not only reflect people and society as they exist but also the people and society we wish to become.
Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly in Enter the Dragon. (Image from IMDB/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Bruce Lee and African Americans
That's why many African Americans — then and now — love Bruce Lee. In his movies, Lee embodied strength and power, which he used to fight injustice and oppression.
"The frequent message of fighting back against the system of oppression resonated with Black American audiences," author and pop culture critic David Walker wrote. "This is where Bruce Lee and kung fu movies come into the picture of Black liberation and self-identification, which addressed such universal concepts as the desire of the oppressed to usurp the oppressor."
People often confuse actors and the characters they play on screen. Take romance. Audiences often wish the onscreen couple were a real-life couple because we have so much invested in them.
In Bruce Lee's case, it was truly hard to distinguish the man from the myth. For one thing, he really was a martial arts legend. He preferred his own stunts. He also choreographed the fight scenes, such as Williams' confrontation with the cops in "Enter the Dragon." The dialogue Lee spoke often reflected his real-life beliefs and philosophies. Lee also lived an extraordinary life and tragically died at a young age.
Perhaps that's why Lee has arguably become more of an icon to the Black community than Jim Kelly. It must have been gratifying to see Kelly, also a real-life martial artist, confront those cops in the movie. But if that ever happened in real life, the police would have shot him dead.
Or press a knee onto the back of Williams' neck until he passed away.
Disappointment and inspiration
Jim Kelly talks about his friendship with Bruce Lee during his appearance at WonderCon 2010 in San Francisco, CA.
But fighting against injustice doesn't always mean physical violence. Bruce Lee didn't march in the civil rights protests but he did lead by example.
He also had a good social and business sense to cast Jim Kelly in "Enter the Dragon." The scene with the cops had nothing to do with the movie's overall plot but Lee instinctively knew it would appeal to Black audiences in the United States.
In fact, you could draw a straight line from Bruce Lee and Hong Kong kung fu movies to, as David Walker had argued, Black liberation and empowerment, which gave us Blaxploitation films, hip-hop culture, and now the Black Lives Matter movement.
Bruce Lee also instinctively understood something about America. He could have stayed in Hong Kong where he was already a star. But in order to project global influence, Lee knew he needed the United States.
For all of it warts and flaws, America acts as a megaphone for the rest of the world. For all of the talk about the decline of American influence overseas, especially under the Trump Administration, the United States still holds an unshakable grasp on the world's soul and conscience. China will one day overtake America as the world's largest economy but it can never really match the United States in this regard.
Case in point: George Floyd. He has become an international symbol for social justice, everywhere from Syria and Sydney to Brazil and Belgium.
"Floyd's killing triggered something in the planetary psychosocial algorithm," read an article from the Atlantic Council. "What it has underscored is that even as American influence has declined and the mythology associated with American exceptionalism has faded, events in the United States continue -- whether by way of disappointment or inspiration-- to shape the course of events around the world."
Disappointment and inspiration. Stone cold reality and lofty aspiration. There are no words that better describe the contradiction that the United States represents.
The image of a Black man defiantly resisting police brutality in the movies. The image of a Black man lying dead face first on a street in Minneapolis.
This is America.