The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
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Added by Hextor · 2 months ago
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🎙️ SYSK Episodes
#072724
Selects: The Tulsa 'Race Riots'
"Birth of a Nation, which depicts the clan coming to the aid of white women"
— Chuck
Referenced to explain the historical racist narrative that fueled fear of Black men and justified lynchings.
Jul 27, 2024
#122722
Juicy: The Fried Chicken Story
"it makes an appearance in birth of a nation that's like the ultimate stamp of racism"
— Chuck
Referenced as an example of how racist imagery and stereotypes about fried chicken were used in mainstream media to demean Black people.
Dec 27, 2022
#031922
Selects: How Hate Works
"D. W. Griffith's awful movie. Awful in content. Birth of a Nation from 1915."
— Josh
Discussed as an example of a film that successfully incited hatred against Black people through storytelling.
Mar 19, 2022
#020421
The NAACP
"We talked about Birth of a Nation in our episode on the Klan. And they, the NAACP got together and said, let's boycott this terrible movie."
— Chuck
The NAACP organized a boycott of this racist film, which brought them mainstream publicity despite not shutting down the movie.
Feb 4, 2021
#012621
The KKK: Loathsome Cosplay Rednecks
"Birth of a Nation was a movie based on a play that was based on a book from Thomas Dixon Jr."
— Chuck
Discussed how this film created the visual iconography of the KKK and sparked the second wave of the organization.
Jan 26, 2021
#011620
The Tulsa 'Race Riots'
"that was the view of black guys at the time, that that's just how it was. Birth of a Nation, which depicts the clan"
— Josh
Josh references Birth of a Nation as a film that popularized racist stereotypes about Black men and white women, explaining the mentality of the era.
Jan 16, 2020
Cast
Lillian Gish
Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
Mae Marsh
Flora Cameron
Henry B. Walthall
Col. Ben Cameron
Miriam Cooper
Margaret Cameron
Mary Alden
Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia
Ralph Lewis
Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman
George Siegmann
Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch
Walter Long
Gus
Robert Harron
Tod
Wallace Reid
Jeff, the Blacksmith
Joseph Henabery
Abraham Lincoln
Elmer Clifton
Stoneman's Elder Son Phil
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