Film/TV

The Birth of a Nation

1915

Associated Excerpts

Movie poster of The Birth of a Nation depicting a Ku Klux Klan member as a knight.

How the Work of Thomas Dixon Shaped White America’s Racist Fantasies

On the literary and cinematic legacy of white supremacy in the United States.

Mocking the Klan

Was cartoonist Billy Ireland’s pen really mightier than the burning crosses of the KKK?
Still from "Apocolypse Now"

How a Wagner Opera Defined the Sound of Hollywood Blockbusters

“Ride of the Valkyries” has been featured in hundreds of films, including 'The Birth of a Nation,' 'Jarhead,' and most famously, Apocalypse Now.'
Robert Smalls

What Woodrow Wilson Did to Robert Smalls

We all know, in the abstract, that Wilson was a white supremacist. But here’s how he wielded his racism against one accomplished Black American.
Protester at an "America First" rally.

The Great-Granddaddy of White Nationalism

Thomas Dixon’s racist discourse lurks in American politics and society even today.
A scene from Birth of a Nation.

Births of a Nation

Cedric Robinson has a great deal to teach us about Trumpism and the significance of resistance in determining the future.
KKK march in Washington in 1925.

When Bigotry Paraded Through the Streets

A century ago, millions of Americans banded together to reform the KKK, the rest turned a blind eye.

How the Klan Got Its Hood

Members of the Ku Klux Klan did not wear their distinctive white uniform until Hollywood—and a mail-order catalog—intervened.
Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson Was Extremely Racist — Even By the Standards of His Time

He called black people "an ignorant and inferior race," and it gets worse.