Director Spike Lee always gives good interview, and he didn’t disappoint with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight last night.

When Obama won the election last year you could have been forgiven for thinking from some of the media coverage that Martin Luther King’s objectives had all been achieved, the dream realised.

But however significant Obama’s victory was – and it was – it did not eliminate racism and discrimination in America.

Talking to Paxman,  Spike Lee reasserted the historic nature of Obama’s victory, but also stressed the need the need to deal with racism in US society. He agreed with former President Jimmy Carter that racism was at the heart of much of the reaction to the first black President, heckled as a liar by Joe Wilson during a joint session of Congress.

One victory does not end the problem: “I never drank that post-racial Kool Aid,” said Lee.

• Footnote: Spike Lee’s interview also includes the highly entertaining  “how long have you been black?” exchange with Jeremy Paxman. Watch this segment here.

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UPDATE: A fuller version of the interview is now on the BBC website.