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What Sal Owes Mookie: What Do The Right Thing and Mangrove Teach us About Business Ethics

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  • Abraham Singer

    (Loyola University Chicago)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss popular conceptions of business ethics and their relationship to the problem of racial injustice by way of reviewing Spike Lee’s (1989) Do the Right Thing. Taking place on one day in late 80’s Bedford-Stuyvesant, and set against a tense decade of racial conflict in New York City, Spike Lee’s masterpiece has deeply influenced American discourse on race, capturing many of the complex interpersonal dynamics that are both constitutive and consequence of American racial hierarchies. Instead of focusing on shareholders and stakeholders, I argue that Do The Right Thing suggests a more political understanding of business’s ethical obligations: a business’s ethical obligations don’t emanate from internal relations but from its social and political position. I conclude by discussing a more recent film, Steve McQueen’s (2020) Mangrove. Like Do the Right Thing, Mangrove also focuses on a business that is at the center of an urban racial conflict, but which stands in a very different relationship to this tension, providing an alternative illustration of business ethics informed by political and social positioning.

Suggested Citation

  • Abraham Singer, 2023. "What Sal Owes Mookie: What Do The Right Thing and Mangrove Teach us About Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 419-427, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:188:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05309-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05309-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Daniel S. Lacerda & Fabio B. Meira & Vanessa Brulon, 2021. "Spatial Ethics Beyond the North–South Dichotomy: Moral Dilemmas in Favelas," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(4), pages 695-707, July.
    5. Hsieh, Nien-hê, 2009. "Does Global Business Have a Responsibility to Promote Just Institutions?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 251-273, April.
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