Why did civil rights advocates protest The Birth of a Nation?

Civil rights advocates, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), protested D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) because of its overt racism and inflammatory depiction of the Reconstruction era.12

The film drew intense condemnation for several reasons:

• Harmful Stereotypes: It portrayed Black people as the root of societal collapse, depicting them as unworthy of freedom or voting rights and characterizing Black men as predatory toward white women.2
• Glorification of the KKK: The film presented the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic, healing force that restored order to the South, which directly contributed to the organization's revival.12
• Promotion of Racial Violence: By sensationalizing images of miscegenation and racial conflict, the film provoked fear and disgust, leading to riots in several cities.12

Activists, including William Monroe Trotter, utilized mass rallies and legal challenges to attempt to ban the film. While these efforts did not stop its national distribution, they were instrumental in galvanizing the civil rights movement and highlighting the dangers of racial stereotyping in media.12