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MOVIE REVIEW
AMERICA AT 250 – A BLACK RETROSPECTIVE
THE BIRTH OF A NATION( 1915) AND WITHIN OUR GATES( 1920)
By OSARETIN IYARE
D. W. Griffith’ s The Birth of a Nation was released five years before Oscar Micheaux’ s Within Our Gates. Both films offer radically opposing answers to a lingering but fundamental question: What does it mean to be American?
Griffith’ s film imagined America’ s“ birth” as requiring the subjugation of Black people. Micheaux’ s response insisted that Black Americans were central to and not enemies of the nation’ s promise.
Technically, Griffith was a genius. He pioneered film techniques we still use today: cross-cutting between parallel actions, close-ups to show emotion, tracking shots, large-scale battle choreography, and sophisticated editing to build suspense. The film became the highest-grossing movie of the silent era. President Woodrow Wilson screened it at the White House.
Oscar Micheaux understood that cinema was a weapon and that Griffith had deployed it to great effect. Within Our Gates was Micheaux’ s direct response, a counter-narrative that insisted Black Americans were entitled to full citizenship and that White violence, not Black freedom, was the real threat to American democracy.
Where Griffith’ s film portrayed the Klan as heroes, Micheaux showed the brutal reality of White mob violence. Where Griffith showed Black political participation as chaos, Micheaux showed Black communities building schools, churches, and institutions despite systematic oppression.
Micheaux worked with a fraction of Griffith’ s budget, but his cinematic choices were equally deliberate. The flashback structure forces viewers to piece together the truth gradually. Most importantly, Micheaux refused to present Black Americans as passive victims, insisting that Black Americans already embodied the American ideals of hard work, education, family, and selfdetermination.
Two films. Two visions of America. One made to justify a racial order; one made to dismantle it. As the nation marks its 250th year, the question it must answer is: Which vision- Griffith’ s or Micheaux’ s- will define this nation’ s future? •
Osaretin Iyare is the research director and associate producer at the Center for New Media and Strategic Initiatives.
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