Stop the Silence!

            After watching the 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation, I’m pretty sure I stared at my computer screen in complete shock and horror for a couple of minutes. Actually, I was probably doing that throughout the entire film. Seriously. It was that bad! And I don’t mean bad as in “boring movie” sort of bad. I mean bad as in completely, totally, and horrifically racist! I understand that it was produced in 1915, but it shocked me that human beings could actually produce a film that completely dehumanizes African Americans the way this film does, even back then. In the scope of three hours, the movie promoted the Klu Klux Klan, depicted African American men as uneducated, lazy, and violent, basically designated African American involvement in politics as a terrible idea, and contained so much more content completely inappropriate and terrible towards African Americans. Not to mention, after researching a bit, I found that the film was actually extremely popular back in the early twentieth century. I felt sick. Though I guess I really shouldn’t have been surprised that our nation was capable of producing and promoting something like that. It was definitely an eye opener.

            Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article, “The Case for Reparations,” says that “between 1882 and 1968 more black people were lynched in Mississippi that in any other state.” Coates also discusses how the Jim Crow laws basically came about because of how many African American people were denied a vote. The Birth of a Nation displays the absolutely terrible and just plain stupid thought process of white people in the 20^th century when these awful attacks on African Americans occurred and when laws against them were made. The movie depicts African Americans in office and basically makes them look as if they are not only incapable of behaving intelligently but also portrays them as corrupt and twisted. I think the white people back then should have rethought whom they’re calling “twisted.” Also, in the movie, lynching was depicted as a “heroic act” to save the damsel in distress, who just so happened to be white. Not only were African Americans depicted as incapable of politics but also as monsters towards women. Yeah… it was literally horrific. One of my least favorite scenes in the movie was when many African American people were elected to office and depicted as drunk, lazy, and partaking in inappropriate business behavior, such as putting their feet on the desk while working. Also, the movie depicts Lynch, a biracial man, as being elected simply because African Americans stuffed the ballot box. I think this movie displays how completely self absorbed white people in the 20^th century were to assume that behavior of African Americans, when they were the ones who not only prevented African Americans from voting but also began publically torturing them. 

            However, what’s sad is that this thought process has not gone away. Watching The Birth of a Nation and reading Coates’s article allowed me to visualize the terrible thought process of white people in the 20^th century while at the same time seeing how African Americans were actually affected. The Birth of a Nation depicts African Americans as awful people and completely dehumanizes them. However, how is the treatment of African Americans by police today any different than this? What about the way the media constantly portrays African Americans involved in crime? What about their unequal treatment in regards to politics? As Coates’s article shows, the racist treatment of African Americans has not gone away over the years; the ways in which racism occurs have just changed. While the actions in The Birth of a Nation seemed absolutely shocking to me, what occurs on TV today is not really any different. African Americans are still treated as criminals and are treated unequally. The question is, how do we stop it? This same issue has occurred for years, and the terrible stereotypes towards African Americans have not stopped. While there may not be any set answer on how to stop racism, I do think it can be done. For one thing, society can stop promoting awful stereotypes. The media can stop depicting every crime committed by an African American and hiding crimes by white people. Also, I think we all need to stop being silent! These issues need to be addressed and fought. People like to avoid them, but avoidance isn’t the answer. Racism is too important of an issue to avoid. While we may no longer make movies supporting public lynching like The Birth of a Nation, we can do more to ensure African Americans are treated equally. It may be hard, but I do believe this terrible thought process that has been handed down for years and years can be erased by refusing to sit back and be silent!