The Birth of a Nation, was celebrated as cinematic brilliance. Directed by D.W. Griffith, the 1915 silent film was adapted from Thomas Dixon’s novel, “The Clansmen” the film starred Lillian Gish and was a blockbuster film for Hollywood. President Wilson had a private screening at the White House.
The Birth of a Nation is a racist story about a “helpless white minority” and the evil Negros who take over the country after the Civil War. The film shows a terrified white world created by D.W. Griffith, in which whites are forced to salute Negro soldiers and where legislation is passed allowing interracial marriage. Until…the white robed Ku Klux Klan rides in to save America (the white woman specifically) from the savage freed slaves with no decorum, eating chicken and drinking on the House floor.
The juxtaposition of The Birth of a Nation, a racist fictional film that was praised and pushed the KKK, along side an actual coup orchestrated by Donald and his Republicans, at the nation’s Capitol to overthrow democracy, is relevant. It reflects the grievance of the white man then and now. Both replete with Confederate flags and violence. Stop romanticizing the Civil War. Stop romanticizing MAGA. Stop diminishing Donald’s threats and calls for violence.
Fast forward to the coup. Donald Trump lost the election, yet he lied to the nation that the election was stolen. The election was free and fair, it was not stolen. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election. Full stop. Now, President Biden is fighting for, the soul of the nation,” while Republicans fight for a return to a version of, The Birth of a Nation. Donald, along with his Republicans and MAGA supporters orchestrated a violent coup to overthrow democracy to keep Donald Trump in power. This happened…not on a Hollywood set, it happened at the Capitol. Do not confuse or conflate fiction with fact. The calls for violence remain intact. Pay attention. Donald, his Republicans, and his MAGA supporters keep referring to civil war. Since his felony conviction, Donald’s open talk of threat and intimidation have not stopped. This is not normal and should not be ignored. January 6 is the new “Lost Cause” for the current Republican Party, it is their attempt to rewrite events as a mythical MAGA moment. The current Republican Party is actively working to destroy democracy. This cannot be treated as normal.