Spike Lee has stated that Black people are "still hunted down like animals" in the US as he slammed world leaders including former president Donald Trump. The 64-year-old film director, who is the first Black person to lead the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, spoke passionately about recent racial tensions in America at the renowned festival. "When you see brother Eric Garner, when you see king George Floyd, murdered, lynched, you would think, you would hope that thirty-some motherf***ing years later Black people would stop being hunted down like animals," he said, per <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/spike-lee-tells-cannes-black-people-still-hunted-down-like-animals-2021-07-06/">Reuters</a>. The Do The Right Thing director even wore a cap with "1619" printed on it in reference to the date which saw the arrival of the first African slaves in Virginia. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1412937728379875331]] Using his nickname for Trump, Agent Orange, Lee went on to say in response to a question about anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, per <a href="https://people.com/movies/spike-lee-says-black-people-are-still-hunted-down-like-animals-in-america/">People</a>: "This world is run by gangsters: Agent Orange [Donald Trump], there’s a guy in Brazil and Putin. That’s it: they’re gangsters. "They have no morals, no scruples. That’s the world we live in. We have to speak out against gangsters like that." In an interview with <a href="https://people.com/movies/spike-lee-says-black-people-are-still-hunted-down-like-animals-in-america/">People</a> last year, Lee spoke about what action needed to be taken in the US in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. He said: "We have to look at everything as we enter A.C., or After Corona. The inequality between the have and have nots, the racial injustices. This country has to, and must, rectify what's wrong." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1412409183606120448]] Lee added: "We have to make a concerted effort at all levels to address American life, and the areas where we've been lacking. All those deaths will have been in vain if we go back to the same thing." This year at the festival, five of the nine-member jury are women, which means they are a majority for the fourth time in Cannes' history. Needless to say, the topic of female representation was also a point of discussion at the festival. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal said, per <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/world-run-gangsters-spike-lee-150924908.html">Yahoo! News</a>: "When women are listening to themselves and really expressing themselves, even inside of a very, very male culture, we make movies differently, we tell stories differently." <h6>Featured image credit: PA Images / Alamy</h6>

Spike Lee says Black people are 'still hunted down like animals' in America

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