The Souls of Black Folk and The Birth of a Nation

"Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their soul and not by their skins" (214).

The issue of slavery in America puts a brand on our ancestry. There was a time when black people were legally property. Today, although legally blacks and whites are equal, black people still fight to rise above "the veil." Prejudice exists, and Du Bois recognizes that men are still judged by their skin color in contemporary America.

In my melodrama class, we recently watched The Birth of a Nation, one of the most influential and important films ever made. Interestingly enough, the film was made in 1915, Du Bois published his book in 1903. The movie is a love story and a radical political piece; it shows the events leading up to, during, and following the civil war from a southern point of view. It promotes the disenfranchisement of the black people and glorifies the KKK as the organization appears to "restore order" after the blacks are freed. We are studying the film because it is revolutionary in the way it was made and one of the first movies to have a melodramatic narrative, but the blatant political aspect of the movie cannot be ignored. The NAACP banned the movie and it has been denounced by many organizations. The black people in America still struggle today to be seen as equals in schools, in the workplace, and in politics. We have come a long way from the days of slavery, but prejudice still exists and, sadly, so does "the veil."