Essay On Banning The Birth Of A Nation

It is without a question that the Birth of a Nation perpetuates an unfair bias against African Americans. Whether we should ban the viewing of this show from the public, however, would not be a solution to this answer. Although we do regret our past we should not shut the door on it. There are an incredible amount of valuable lessons we can learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. Without proper education and prevention, history is bound to repeat itself. Banning this film would be a short term solution to a long term problem. With the proper setting, I believe that this can be the used as a tool for good rather than one for destruction. Running away from our past is foolish and cowardice. Watching this film in our modern day society is difficult for several reasons. One, because it is very historically inaccurate. Second, it displays the African American in an incredibly offensive way. Third, well it’s a silent black and white film that is three hours long. We see blacks portrayed as uneducated, primitive animals throughout the film. We are presented a story
Banning this would almost be rude, it would be like saying “hey sorry for enslaving, discriminating, and persecuting you guys for centuries, but if we just get rid of this film we will be even right?” No, it’s of paramount importance that we show this in a progressive and educational setting to learn what not to be. Knowledge is power and without examples like these, we will be powerless. It would be easy to unintentionally relapse to our old habits and repeat history. Doing the right thing is not always easy, and if watching this film is not easy, that is a good thing. It means we are finally getting to a point of understanding, sympathy and regret. Afterall you learn the greatest lessons from the greatest