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Birth Of A Nation Controversy

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During the early 1900s there was much controversy over a film called The Birth of a Nation directed by D.W. Griffith. This film release in 1915, which started a public uproar in most African American communities due to its prominent (easily seen) display of racism. Protestors of this film tried again and again to find a way to get this film censored, but it never happened. Because of the time period in which this film was made, not many people were for the idea of censoring the film. The writers and producers of this film possessed no moral obligation to avoid using racial stereotypes. They did not have a fair representation of minorities for the time era they were attempting to portray. People claimed in this time period that since they are in a democracy this film would go under the category of freedom of expression and that censoring is unjustifiable. This statement confirms how a democracy can make people think they can say what they want. Censoring The Birth of a Nation …show more content…

It gave the wrong representation of African Americans which changed peoples view on them. The image they used to display African Americans in this film was completely inaccurate. They wouldn’t even use real black actors they would use white actors and overdo the darkness of their faces and dress them poor. The depiction of blacks changed peoples view on them which started the reawakening of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). According to http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6689 (KKK rally, Washington DC, 1925) “...forty thousand members of the Klan march down Pennsylvania Avenue on August 8, 1925. Organized to counter reports of faltering enrollment, this “konklave“ succeeded in attracting national attention but marked the peak of Klan power in the 1920s.” This was what the “Birth of a Nation” caused, KKK power, which caused black murders such as lynching. It is clear that not censoring this film was not worth

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