How did The Birth of a Nation portray the Ku Klux Klan?

In the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, director D.W. Griffith portrays the Ku Klux Klan in a heroic light. The film depicts the organization as a necessary, healing force that restores order to the American South during the Reconstruction era, which the movie sensationalizes as a period of chaos and lawlessness caused by Black political participation.12

This positive, romanticized depiction was a central element of the film's narrative, which was adapted from Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman. By framing the Klan as heroic, the film served as a powerful piece of racist propaganda that directly inspired the revival of the organization in the 20th century. Following the film's release, Col. William J. Simmons founded a new iteration of the Klan in Georgia, explicitly drawing inspiration from the imagery and themes presented in Griffith’s work. The film's blatant appeals to racism and its glorification of the Klan sparked widespread outrage and protests led by the NAACP, as it promoted harmful stereotypes and racial violence.123