It took Martin Scorsese this long to win a Best Picture/Best Director.

Ron Howard? Cali guy.
Paul Haggis? Cali guy.
Clint Eastwood? Cali guy.
Steven Spielberg? Cali guy.
Soderbergh? Cali guy.
Tarantino? Cmon.

Outside of Woody, Marty, and Oliver Stone, there have been no NYC-based directors to get nommed for, let alone win, an Oscar. You've got Cali folks, Brits, longtime established icons, and the occasional other foreigner. Very very very few NYC directors.

Does this mean Spike deserves to get nommed for this? Not necessarily. But he's been passed up twice for what should have been locked nominations, passed up for Brits and established folks (ironically, Woody took what might have been his spot in 1989).

I know it's silly, it's coppin pleas, blah blah blah. But if you're Spike Lee, and you're looking at the history of Oscar, and you see lots of LA, lots of UK, and very few NY, it's easy to see how he draws his conclusion.