Spike Lee Says Hip Hop Changed American Politics, Race Relations

With a body of work that includes Bamboozled, Jungle Fever and Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee has never been gun shy about voicing his opinion on race relations in America. When the Academy Award nominated director was asked about the "Bradley Effect" and how it relates to the upcoming presidential election, his candid answer gave credit to an unlikely source.

"I don't go with this Bradley Effect," Lee tells MSNBC's Joe Scarborough. "That was what, 1984? That's last century. America's made a seismic shift as far as race goes. These young white kids who grew up listening to Hip Hop don't have the same views that their parents and grandparents had. I think these polls aren't reaching these young white kids. There aren't enough African Americans in this country to get Obama elected. He took the Iowa caucus! There's two black people in Iowa...maybe three."

When the subject turned to Lee's beloved New York Knicks, he said he still held out hope of landing LeBron James as a free agent in 2010. Since Jay-Z [click to read] has a minority stake in the team, there has been speculation that James will to join the Nets when they move to Brooklyn.

"LeBron told me himself, that his decision will not be based upon his friendship with 'Hova,'" says Lee. His hopes for James to join the Knicks come as an unnamed New Jersey Nets official, tells the Bergen Record that the current financial crunch is having adverse effects on the team's hopes of moving to Brooklyn.

"Bruce [Ratner] just wont end up with the money to do it," the official said. "Forget it."

Spike Lee's latest directorial effort, Miracle At St. Anna, is in theaters now. Lee can also be found alongside Ludacris [click to read], 9th Wonder [click to read] and Common [click to read] on "Do the Right Thing" from Ludacris' upcoming album Theater of the Mind.