onstrate disgust for anyone who they feel threaten their "identity." Buggin' Out's advice of "stay black Mooke," and Pino's suggestion to his brother, "your name isn't Vito Mohammed," exemplifies their insecurities of being influenced in another way, by someone of another racial group. While we might see this as expanding one's mind of another culture and attempting to view the world from another angle, these two see this as a threat and possible deficiency in the strength of their own identity. They are afraid of their rigid constructs collapsing, if they are proven wrong about the vast generalizations of other racial groups. So instead of dealing with chaos, they push themselves away.
             This adherence to the rigid structure is what Lee is perpetuating. Throughout the movie we see a tense neighborhood, yes, but one that functions anyway. The boundaries have been blurred slightly along the racial lines, resulting in the various groups present in the Brooklyn of Bed-Sty to depend on each other. Radio Raheem, who represents the static, yet strong power, finds his "voice" in the embodiment of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" and holds to his belief in love's ability to conquer hate. Yet while he never physically attacked anyone until his "voice" was destroyed, Malcolm X's concept of violence as a means of defense had already existed in his mind. It's interesting that the process by which love eventually destroys hate in his tale to Mookie, is shown by the brass knuckles on Radio Raheem's hands in a role playing sequence of love's dominance through violent punches.
             The Love Daddy's reference to the "truth Ruth" made me think about William James conception of pragmatism and instrumental truth. While many might have not beleived Tawana's truth, no one's conceptualization of truth is absolute. According to James, "Truth in our ideas and beliefs. . . become true just in so far as they help us to get into satisfactory relation with other par...