Decoding The Birth Of A Nation

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

Today America is one of the wealthiest, strongest, and hardworking countries in the world. It has population of over three hundred million and growth rate of 0.97% annually. America as a nation is known to have done many great contributions to the world such as: the idea of presidency, inventing telephone, discovering electricity, inventing planes, the first nation to put a man on moon, and many more. America has grown and multiplied over time and it is still increasing. Even though today America stands out apart from other countries, it was built from nothing but scrap.

Birth of a Nation uses its histrionic plot to show how tangled destinies of a southern and northern family before and after the Civil War. It willingly portrays southern blacks as spiteful and uncivil, the northern whites as crafty, dishonest, and conceited, and the film’s southern whites as anguish recurrent radical and erotic mortifications at the hands of white northerners and black southerners before factually being saved by the thoughtful, Ku Klux Klan. The film is divided to show the different aspects of those two sides during this historical time. During this time Africans were coming to America and it started the reconstruction on our country. D.W. Griffith made this film to show us the reality of racism at this point in time.

In 1619, early American colonists began bringing in slaves from parts of Africa to aid in the production of tobacco and other crops. Abraham Lincoln became the President of the United States on November 6, 1860 and began to work towards ending slavery. The Birth of a Nation, which hit the big screen in 2016, is a historical film based on an enslaved Baptist preacher named Nat Turner who led the only successful slave rebellion in 1831. The making of this film has sparked a national controversy over its depiction of racism and a fictional rape scene.

In this movie the African Americans were treated nicely but in reality they did not feel this way. The masters mistreated their slaves but in the movie they were actually having conversations. There is a scene in the movie where a group of African Americans were shaking hands with the white Americans. The producer of the movie wanted to inform others that the “birth” of America was founded on the basis of equality rather than discrimination. If the producer of the movie did not show how the slaves were mistreated, the people will just see the world in only that point of view; the slaves’ point of view does not exist. Ruling countries oppressed both the undeveloped, barren places and the African Americans. The Birth of the Nation is a perfect example of a form of travel writing; the Americans wanted to inform others about America but this movie was only produced in their perspective. Rather than recording the reality, the produces or writers record history with the input of their own influences.

The history of African Americans in early Hollywood films originated with blacks representing preconceived stereotypes. D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, stirred many controversial issues within the black community. The fact that Griffith used white actors in blackface to portray black people showed how little he knew about African Americans. Bosley Crowther’s article “The Birth of Birth of a Nation” emphasizes that the film was a “highly pro-South drama of the American Civil War and the Period of Reconstruction, and it glorified the role of the Ku Klux Klan” (76). While viewing this film, one would assert that the Ku Klux Klan members are heroic forces that rescue white women from sexually abusive black men. Griffith

Obesity is a constantly growing issue in the world, but mostly saturated in the United States. As the amount of people with extreme obesity increase rapidly are increasing as well. People with morbid to severe obesity often experience physical and psychological distress, and limitations with daily life activities. Stigma and the visibility of obesity is a huge issue in our society, media portrayal of obesity and popular culture are also contributors and how obese individuals are viewed.

The main thesis of Gibbs’s book One Nation Under God: Ten Things Every Christian Should Know About the Founding of America is that the United States was founded on Christian principles, and that the nation of America is slowly sliding away from these basic principles. In this book, Gibbs lists ten important things that show that biblical Christianity is the driving force behind the founding of America as a nation. Dr. David C. Gibbs accomplishes his goal of explaining ten important things that every Christian should know about the founding of the United States of America because he clearly states ten things, and backs them all up with factual information. One of the major points that Gibbs uses in his book is that “Christopher Columbus was

In the video The Men Who Made America names such as Rockerfeller, Vanderbuilt and J.P. Morgan were mentioned. These names are possibly some of the most iconic names linked to some of the most iconic men who as the name suggest "made america". The video compares them to our modern day Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Names in which we associate wealth, power and innovation. What we do not seem to understand is that is without the names of Rockerfeller, Morgan and Vanderbilt our country would not be what it is today. These men paved the way thought hard work, intutuion and what some consider brute force the very essience of who we are and what we have grown accustome to may not be what we see today. Vanderbilt linked the country with itself through

The turn of the 20th century was an important time for the history of cinema. With the implementation of appealing movie stars and extravagant sets, Hollywood had found a new formula for success in the form of blockbuster films. The Birth of a Nation, directed by D.W Griffith, being one of the first feature-length films of its time, was heralded for both its technical advancements and aesthetic appeal. Despite being criticized for its racist legacy, The Birth of a Nation, set what would become the new standard for Hollywood blockbuster films in film production techniques.

[1] Before I start this essay, I feel the need to remind the reader that I find slavery in all its forms to be an oppressive and terrible institution, and I firmly believe that for centuries (including this one) bigotry is one of the most terrible stains on our civilization. The views I intend to express in the following essay are in no way meant to condone the practices of slavery or racism; they are meant only to evaluate and interpret the construction of slavery in film.

As we stand here today of this great nation, we celebrate, not the winning of sides, but celebrate the unity of our great country. We have been in a storm of chaos, wanting change, fearing that we will divide once again, but we will stand firm together to fight for peace and equality. For way too long, have the capital of our great nation taken the rewards of our government while the people suffer the cost. Washington has thrived, but the people do not get to share in its success. While we celebrate our nation's great success, there is still little to celebrate as for struggling families of our nation’s, but this all can change starting right here right now because this is your moment, your spotlight, and your triumphs. What truly matters right

In 1915, D.W.Griffith released The Birth of a Nation. It’s a three-hour black and white film without sound which depict the reconstruction in South Carolina. In this epic, the Negroes and the white republicans attempt to seize control of the state government while the Ku Klux Klan have saved the states. The film unleased racist violence and hence was banned in Pasadena, California. The sound version of the Birth of a nation was released in 1930

In the movie, “American History X”, the plot surrounds the life of two brothers who are involved with the D.O.C. a well-known white supremacist group in Venice Beach. Danny Vinyard is a high school student who admires his older brother, Derek, a former skinhead. Through the incarceration of his brother Derek, Danny becomes more affiliated with the skinheads and is mentioned at times as being the resemblance of his elder brother. The movie begins with flashbacks of Derek’s incarceration, and everything that leads him into being a prominent member of the skinheads. Throughout the movie, the audience witnesses the murder of two African-American men by the hands of Derek; while Danny watches in fear and in disbelief. After the murders, Derek is immediately arrested and is sentenced to three years for voluntary manslaughter. Throughout the three years of Derek’s imprisonment, Danny has become more involved in the white supremacist groups and begins following in the same dogma; which is that whites should hate all that are not part of the superior race. Due to his growing belief, Danny is sent to the principle’s office for writing a paper on Adolph Hitler’s book, “Mein Kampf”; which ultimately leads to principal Sweeney becoming his new history teacher and assigning him his first assignment. Danny is instructed to write a paper surrounding events that would ultimately lead to Derek’s imprisonment and how his imprisonment affected Danny’s perception of all the people around him.

D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation has been accused of being deliberately untruthful and has been compared to other pieces of political propaganda. As Walter Edgar describes in his piece “South Carolina: A History”, the conditions under which those living in former confederate states were far more nuanced and complicated than those depicted in the film. That being said it is near impossible for a film to act as a completely accurate historical account and an entertainment success which leaves us with the question: to what extent does the film show accurate reconstruction conditions and to what extent is it a fabrication praying on societal biases?