Who Is D. W. Griffith's Birth Of A Nation?

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.

The Ku Klux Klan was a secret terrorist organization that was created by six well educated Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee in the December of 1865. Their main objective was to restore white supremacy through acts of violence such as murder, against both Black and White Republicans. The KKK had eventually spread to every southern state, and Klansmen would often terrorize republicans regardless of their race. Members of the KKK believed that African Americans were inferior to Whites and did not believe that Blacks deserved equal rights. Although the rebel groups were outlawed and made illegal, many of them remained in existence and appeared after the reconstruction had ended. This proved the Reconstruction to be ineffective as many Southerners were still fighting against the government and opposed them. In addition, African Americans were still deprived of their rights by these

Forever. 170). The Klan were white southerners who were organized and committed to the breaking down of Reconstruction. By methods of brutality, “the Klan during Reconstruction offers the most extensive example of homegrown terrorism in American history” (Foner. Forever. 171). The Ku Klux Klan as well as other groups killed or tormented black politicians or threatened the blacks who voted in elections. The Klan strongly disagreed with the northern idea that slaves should become part of the government. The Historian Kenneth M. Stampp states, “for their [the North] supreme offense was not corruption but attempting to organize the Negroes for political action” (Stampp. Era. 159). This corresponds with Foner’s idea that the South was not open to the idea of change but more so consumed with the idea of recreating a society similar to one of the past. However, the goal of white power groups was not just politics. The Klan wanted to restore the hierarchy once controlling the South. Foner observes that, “the organization took on the function of the antebellum slave patrols: making sure that blacks did not violate the rules and etiquette of white supremacy” (Foner. Forever. 172). Like the power the southern whites formerly held over the slave population, the Ku Klux Klan wanted to control the African American population still living in the South. They did not want the freedmen to become integrated into their society because they saw them as lesser people. By suppressing and

The Birth of a Nation, arguably one of the most ambiguous names in the history of cinema, is only about to get more complex and chaotic. The Birth of a Nation was originally the title of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist propaganda film about the rise of the Ku Klux Klan who “saved” the South from being dictated by blacks during the Reconstruction era when the North tried to rebuild the South after the Civil War. Now, that title poises a new movie written, directed, produced, and starring actor Nate Parker that dramatizes the 1831 slave rebellion led by enslaved African-American Nat Turner.

In the fourth chapter of The Cultures of American Film, author Robert Kolker, indulges into the legacy of one of the most well-known writers, producers, and directors in early cinema – D.W. Griffith. Kolker dissects the cultural and racial implications of Griffiths most successful film, The Birth of a Nation, as well as, how Griffith impacted film. Griffith’s use of naturalism, parallel editing, and formal methods separated himself from other’s in the film business. We also get a look at how Oscar Micheaux responded to The Birth of a Nation, and became one of the first African-American filmmakers.

The KKK's treatment of African Americans was flourishing because people in the south wanted to dominate over the African Americans.They did not agree with the government giving African Americans more rights.They believed African Americans should have no rights and should be separated from whites. The KKK would bomb buildings, steal from people who were helping the African Americans.

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.

Within Our Gates plot and characters challenges the prejudice shown in the film Birth of a Nation. For instance, the character Efrem is an example of Uncle Tom because he tells his white master

They even dance with excitement as their master looks on. Critics argue that this is a distorted view on racial history. Since the standpoint of the film revolves around white southerners, the scene attempts to glamorize slavery. In another display of discrimination, a newly elected group of Black legislators begin session. While in debate, african americans are shown drinking whiskey, devouring chicken, and removing their shoes. The purpose of this scene was to show the inability of African Americans to govern a nation. In illustrating blacks as barbaric and ill-mannered, the movie exhibits why the elite whites need to stay in power. With a focus on the Lost Cause, Birth of a Nation put a favorable stance on the South’s ideologies. One of those ideologies being white superiority.

The Ku Klux Klan were a racist white supremacy group established by people who believed that white people were better and wanted to see black people remaining slaves. It began in the southern states at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. In the 1920’s there was a resurgence of the Klan whose members wore white masks and cloaks. Only a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (a ‘WASP’) was eligible for membership. They were a danger to the community because they used violence and terror to scare any American black or white, who advocated equal rights. The Klan was not only hostile to blacks but to Catholics, Jews and immigrants also. Most Klansmen supported the upsurge of religious fundamentalism (A conservative movement in theology among 19th and 20th century Christians. Fundamentalists believe that the statements in the Bible are literally true.) By 1925, the Klan’s peak, they had 5 million members, including police officers, judges, and politicians. It was a powerful influence in several

Stereotypes of African-American women have been portrayed in American pop culture date back to when African-American slavery. Many authors credit the majority of stereotypes regarding African-American people to the 1915 film Birth of a Nation, which was based on a novel called The Clansman (Carpenter, 2012). In reaction to the quick development of the African-American community in the United States during reconstruction, this film declared that African-Americans were dangerous, uncivilized, and undeserving of their freedom (National Public Radio, 2015). The film resulted in the second resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, and introduced many of the African-American stereotypes still prominent in American media today, including the Mammy and the

Material that was available to the people of Springfield were newspapers and occasionally plays. A play that was taking place almost a year before a riot was seriously on the minds of Springfield citizens was The Birth of a Nation. A major occurrence that happened almost every time this play was to take place in a northern community was interracial violence in and around the theaters that offered it (Roche pg. 25). It may have been a mistake, but Springfield’s black newspaper the Forum claimed that

Mr. Parker wrote, directed, produced and stars in the movie “The Birth of a Nation,” which chronicles the life of Nat Turner and the slave rebellion he led in Virginia in 1831. The story the movie tells is

Albeit it’s obvious propagandistic nature, It was very well received in New York. It had done so well that it reopened three times in the same city in 1921, 1922, and 1930. Although, some audiences were disturbed by the glorification of the Klan. The main character was depicted saving a white damsel in distress from losing her virtue while trapped in a room with a vulgar Black carpet bagger. It depicted the Klan being heroic and victorious for the south. The heroes of the south. Griffith played to a purely southern audience seeking redemption from an image battered history. “Griffith made movies which reflected popular understanding rather than instructed it. A birth Of A Nation magnified convictions already there” according to Jack Temple Kirby in Media Made

Being an international student, I have seen racism in many fields, no matter how much of a good person you are. Racism comes within, it’s not something an individual is born with it. Environment and surroundings of a person force him/her to be involved in racism. “The Birth of a Nation” is one of the most repulsive films of the history. “The Birth of a Nation” is a silent drama film produced by D.W. Griffith. It is one of the most dominant creatures in the film history. The movie is known to be cover the context of racism and troubles that come with it. The film features racism between African Americans and Anglo Americans. The film is featured on two families: the Camerons and the Stonemans. It is an ultimate work of reality. The general subject of the film is the first misdeed of the closeness of the white and dark races. The very idea of racial virtue is at the center of the film. However, the substance of the film's tasteful power—and of its persevering centrality—is its inborn heterogeneity. The dilemma that starts the revolt of Southern whites is the blacks' claim to one deserved of intermarriage. Many disagreements and riots were caused when the movie was released and also banned in few cities to get the system in order. The movie expressed political views and society views. Many people change their opinion after seeing the movie because hatred can grow as much as an individual wants it to but love and peace can only be settled once. The expectation around the film