Civil Rights groups set up in front of the movie house to voice opposition and greet movie fans. D.W. Griffith's flick inspired from a Ku Klux Klan propaganda piece entitled "Clansman" inspired hate against blacks after its debut and continues to spark controversy.

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Founder of The National Black Anti-defamation Association
International Action Center

Earl Ofari Hutchinson - driving force in the action
Rabbi Sees the Light


Adaptation of the Clansman
Maybe Not a Classic?

Founder of The National Black Anti-defamation Association

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Cancellation brings criticism from some theatre patrons.

Duration 00:4:29

“In my mind, again no one can defend this film, on any grounds, it’s a racist film. I mean that’s well been established. It is the Mother of racist films, so in 2004 you don’t defend the film based on that…” --- Earl Ofari Hutchinson

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Came thinking one thing, now says scrap public screening of B of N.

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I FULLY agree with the protestors regarding the abhorrent racist film, "Birth of a Nation." As one demonstrator had printed on his sign... "Racism is not art!"

However... such angry demonstrators are good at denouncing films like "Birth of a Nation", they excel in voicing their opposition... but where is there SUPPORT and advocacy for LIVING artists who are struggling just to stay alive?

No one on the left or the right seems to care whether an artist has the choice of paying their rent or buying food, paying for utilities or buying art supplies... or whether the artist simply starves to death.

The great majority of "activists" do not buy art, go to galleries, support local artists... or even pay attention to what goes on in the arts community! Oh, but they sure can get riled up over a stupid damn movie! Hypocrites.

Maybe Propaganda?

The Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith, 1915, silent black and white film. The scene depicts the "renegade Negro," Gus, played by white actor Walter Long in blackface, in the hands of the Klan, from Part II of The Birth of a Nation. Museum of Modern Art, Film Stills Archive.

Regardless of its obvious racism, the film is an important historical artifiact that needs to be studied and viewed by anyone serious about learning the history of racism, its legacy, and how racist ideas were and are promulgated.

I'm sorry but this protest was a stupid idea. My college film class watched this movie because it's a historical piece that we could learn from. It's one of our earliest films and is an important piece to preserve and show for anyone interested in becoming a filmmaker. The students in my class who watched it were most definately NOT all white kids. We were a very mixed class and we all watched the film and laughed at the way it portrayed people because we were smart enough to know these depictions were silly and wrong.

This film is Klan/nazi propaganda? I suppose it could very well be if played to the right people in the right setting...but shown in a theatre to people looking to see an old historical film I HIGHLY doubt it will cause any racial hatred.

The MORE "Nazi" thing going on it seems was your shutting down of this event. I'm a serious activist and while I may disagree with many things I don't call for them to be shut down!

This censorship at the hands of you "activists" is apalling!

Way to discredit the left, guys! You've just made countless right-wingers, including their pundits, inestimably happy by handing them ready-made images of authoritarian leftist hypocrisy on a silver platter. Keep up the good work.

photo provided by -- jlr

Funny everybody's talking about censorship of this “major cinematic milestone” I look at it a little differently. The film really was a product of turn of the century racist mindset, indeed it caused pain, it caused death, that’s a fact, right? Check out Earl Ofari Hutchinson audio he lays out the purpose of the action. It kinda goes like this, Our people got fuck’ed up by this flick, if you wanna see it, we’re going to tell you about it, hey for me that’s fair, if it happened to yours you’d do the same.

Let’s turn the tables a bit, why do you want to censor folks voicing for those who have been shit on for the last 400 years?

just be quiet, pass the popcorn, ain't going to happen with this one!

builder123, nobody said a single word about wanting to censor *you*. You're perfectly free, as you should be, to advocate for authoritarianism of the left. And I'm free to point it out for what it is: authoritarianism. You want to be able to suppress things that offend you. So does Jerry Falwell, so does Tipper Gore, so does Osama bin Laden. And before you drag out the old argument that this is different because you are defending the disempowered and disenfranchised from the hurtful power of these images, please consider for a moment that Falwell, Gore, and bin Laden all fancy themselves the defenders of some beleaguered minority or another. I say it's authoritarianism and I say the hell with it.

idiot: "I'm free to point it out for what it is: authoritarianism."

In that case, I am free to point out that you are an idiot.

How the fuck is demonstrating against an offensive movie "authoritarian"? There is no conspiricy of government or other powerful individuals, just locals acting on a local level. There are no laws being enacted to restrict such movies. Nobody got "disappeared" or sent to a fuckin concentration camp. The movie is not being destroyed...hell, you can rent the fuckin' thing out and watch it at home! Shit, by your definition, da shrub, his administration, Republicans and Disney are all "authoritarian" for trying to stop "F 9/11" from being seen.

...but I don't remember your pastey white ass whining about that one....

You could give every Black man, woman and child $250,000 tax-free tomorrow and they'd still whine about Whitey.

The house Negroes that make up the democrat party don't need to be consoled or listened to.

Jeez, is EVERY Republican a living, breathing non-sequitor?

This is so incredibly stupid. I can see being against it to some degree but to actually protest it and not protest the many other things from modern day society that are exploiting black people and hip hop / gang aesthetics. Especially the show COPS that further pushes the fact that black people are for the most part criminals and drug addicts. And even down to Method and Red that just makes them look stupid.
Now, i'm no racist (i happen to think it's more about classism), if anything i hate my own people but this is the kind of thing that always makes me feel sorry for them. I mean, you're going to protest a silent movie theatre while endless rappers and such will hype Ford and BMW vehicles? I mean hello, birth of a nation is just a movie (and griffith was not racist), BMW (my benzo as epmd would say) actually helped build hitler's army!
Although i'm jsut a dorky white guy who shouldn't have an opinion on it, i must say that having grown up with all black people, it sickens me the way they are treated by mainstream media more than any old ass movie. Like rap acts acting as advertising for white devil products while simultaneously slipping in a pro-black line for ghetto appeal. (not that all rappers are like the stereotype you see on tv. You won't see Tragedy Khadafi on MTV riding jet-skis and driving a fleet of suv's down the street.) I know this issue isn't all about rap but it's a good example of something more important and of the moment.
Go protest something worthwhile, not some barely making rent silent movie theatre in LA. I mean come on, KKK is so played out anyway, i'd be more worried about the big media companies than those primates.