One year before the essay “Strivings of the Negro People” was published in 1897, Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation where the services were supposedly equal in quality. This is where “separate but equal” originated from. The author of this essay, W.E.B. DuBois, was a prominent African-American political figure during this time and he co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. This organization’s main goal was to overturn the decision of Plessy vs. Ferguson. This essay is thought of as a response to that court decision. 

The intended audience for this essay was white people who were open to hearing these stories, or who were “on the fence” on black issues. DuBois used emotional appeals such as pathos to attempt to sway his audience to share his way of thinking, or at least open their minds to different perspectives. At this time in society, blacks and whites were still very much unequal and tensions were high. He couldn’t provide science for them or any concrete evidence, so he had to use emotional appeals. By using personal testimony and emotional discussion, DuBois tries to invoke empathy with people who may not share any hardships or any of the same perspectives. This can be a very hard thing to do, because people who don’t experience the same things as other people can be either stubborn or ignorant. 

DuBois admired fellow intellectual Booker T. Washington, but eventually distanced himself from his “accommodationist” way of thinking. He took a more assertive stand for blacks around the time he published this essay. DuBois stressed the need for the right to vote and the necessity for higher education for black people. Even though it’s never explicitly mentioned in his writing, his words challenge the court case Plessy vs. Ferguson.  He could’ve gotten killed for this, he had to hold back due to the time period.

DuBois uses emotion in his essay. For example, he talks about his childhood. He discusses how he was treated as a black child in New England. He writes, “Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different than the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil.” “With other black boys the strife was not so fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking distrust of everything white; or wasted itself in a bitter cry, ‘Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?’” Childhood is a time of your life where you are (ideally) supposed to be carefree and naive and not have a worry in the world. This was not true for Black children during this time. They didn’t get the same experiences that White children had. Hoping to find common ground on the value of childhood, DuBois made sure to include this in his essay.

I believe his aim of argument was to convince. He wanted to convince (white) people to understand and see the oppression and hardships that Black people had faced. If people weren’t experiencing it for themselves, then they weren’t necessarily concerned with the topic. A lot of white people just watched as it happened and didn’t do much, partly because it was normal in society back then. As more and more Black writers published works, and Black political figures took office, things started to change and people started to listen. 

“Birth of a Nation” is a 1919 silent film directed by D.W Griffith. It was praised for its innovative use of editing and camera work. It was nothing like the 20th century film industry had ever seen before. It takes place in South Carolina during the Civil War and then during Reconstruction. The lengthy storyline follows two families; one from the North, the Stoneman’s, and one from the South, the Cameron’s. This movie is very controversial because it is very racist toward Black people. It portrays them as aggressive, unintelligent, and unequal. Scenes of slaves were shown where they were “happy” to be working on a White man’s field, this was false propaganda. It also depicts the White supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, as the ones who “save the day for helpless Whites” from a Black militia at the end of the film. Having people see them as heroes and saviors was dangerous, as this film contributed to the Ku Klux Klan actually being revived in real life in the 1920s. This message is a sharp contrast from the writings of W.E.B DuBois. His 1897 essay, “Strivings of the Negro People”, discusses hardships and reality of what Black people in America at that period of time struggled with on a daily basis. He was writing with a hope that people would understand their trials and tribulations. He used emotional appeals to try to invoke any empathy from white people. The term “double-consciousness” was coined in this essay. He wrote about how black people have a hard time finding their sense of self, because they have more than one social identity. One was who society sees you as, and the other was who you really were. Although both the film and the essay both use emotional appeals (on opposite sides), I believe that “Birth of a Nation” was more effective in getting their appeals and message across, just because it was the most famous silent film ever, and it resulted in the KKK being revived, so people were obviously inspired somehow. 

The film used many editing styles and camera techniques that brought the story to life. For example, there is an excerpt from the movie that shows a young white girl, Flora Cameron, running from a “renegade” black man, Gus. Flora Cameron is the daughter of Dr. Cameron, a landowner in the South. She is made to seem innocent and child-like through the use of light and airy music, bright lighting, and naive actions. The scene where she sits on a log and watches a squirrel in a tree supports the “child-like demeanor” because she is very easily entertained by the animal, who is focused on by using an iris. However, Gus is depicted as dangerous to the young girl. He is wearing dirty clothing and is following her around. Darker, more suspenseful music is played and lower lights are used when he is on the screen. When the chasing begins, the scenes are edited in a way that they cut to parallel scenes very fast, this makes the viewer feel on edge or anxious. These techniques play into the emotion of fear. By utilizing these styles, D.W Griffith was able to make audiences sympathize with the young white girl against the black man. Flora ends up jumping off a cliff just to avoid Gus, and she later dies. Gus is then hunted by the KKK and murdered. This sequence of actions brings out a lot of emotion in a 20th century viewer; first it was fear, then it was anger. This is part of the reason why this film helped revive the KKK. W.E.B DuBois also used emotional appeals for his work, but much different emotions than “Birth of a Nation” used. In “Strivings of the Negro People”, DuBois discussed his actual personal experiences. Not a movie screenplay, but real life. His work on double-consciousness was meant to bring out sadness, empathy, and understanding. It’s a shame that a harmful film that was not very historically accurate had more attention than a genuine, personal essay.

In the 20th century, many published works had false information and data. Works such as the “Mismeasure of Man” exposed these truths. Scientists like Samuel George Morton did experiments on human skulls, comparing whites’ and blacks’ skulls. He falsified the information and spread inaccurate data. This is harmful because it just contributes to the racism and oppression already being faced by Black people. This was very typical for the 20th century. That’s why “Birth of a Nation” was more persuasive to the general public. It was accessible for all to see, and it made the situations in the movie seem true and real. Because of the mindset and perspectives of people and society at this time, it invoked fear and spread hate.

“Birth of a Nation” is a 1919 silent film directed by D.W Griffith. It was praised for its innovative use of editing and camera work. It was nothing like the 20th century film industry had ever seen before. It takes place in South Carolina during the Civil War and then during Reconstruction. The lengthy storyline follows two families; one from the North, the Stoneman’s, and one from the South, the Cameron’s. This movie is very controversial because it is very racist toward Black people. It portrays them as aggressive, unintelligent, and unequal. Scenes of slaves were shown where they were “happy” to be working on a White man’s field, this was false propaganda. It also depicts the White supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, as the ones who “save the day for helpless Whites” from a Black militia at the end of the film. Having people see them as heroes and saviors was dangerous, as this film contributed to the Ku Klux Klan actually being revived in real life in the 1920s.

This message is a sharp contrast from the writings of W.E.B DuBois. His 1897 essay, “Strivings of the Negro People”, discusses hardships and reality of what Black people in America at that period of time struggled with on a daily basis. He was writing with a hope that people would understand their trials and tribulations. He used emotional appeals to try to invoke any empathy from white people. The term “double-consciousness” was coined in this essay. He wrote about how black people have a hard time finding their sense of self, because they have more than one social identity. One was who society sees you as, and the other was who you really were. Although both the film and the essay both use emotional appeals (on opposite sides), I believe that “Birth of a Nation” was more effective in getting their appeals and message across, just because it was the most famous silent film ever, and it resulted in the KKK being revived, so people were obviously inspired somehow. 

My thesis:

Although both the film and the essay both use emotional appeals (on opposite sides), I believe that “Birth of a Nation” was more effective in getting their appeals and message across, just because it was the most famous silent film ever, and it resulted in the KKK being revived, so people were obviously inspired somehow. 

Long story short- If a racist is making laws, then the laws are going to be racist.

They called the people living in the US territories “alien races” and that they can’t understand Anglo-Saxon principles. They are being discriminated against because they are a 98% minority population.

I’m gonna be using Pages for my documents.

Discourse communities can be very exclusive and shut out a lot of people. It reminds me of a high school clique. Some of these discourse communities, especially during this period of time, would spread misinformation and false data & stereotypes. When these racist discourse communities, like White supremacists, create films and publish writings it can cause a new wave of ignorance. Griffith probably felt confident that his biased message would get across to the audience because movies are so “life-like”. If someone sees it on a big screen, it “must be true and occurring in the world”. That’s what I took away from it. People can be very impressionable and if they see something, they’ll take it and run with it.

1. newspaper: The Guardian; organization: National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
2. groups and organizations were effective ways to build a stronger platform
3. DuBois focused on people being on his side & was gentle; Trotter was more aggressive.
4. critics called it racist, and that it helped revive the KKK
5. Lynching/hanging, stoning. This was all prevalent in the film. People are impressionable.

I feel like since the veterans wouldn’t let Dr. Cameron give himself up, he just wanted to “protect his daughters” from the black people by bashing their heads in? He probably believed they were going to come in and rape the women, because that was a major stereotype of black men during this time. They were hypersexualized and depicted as rapists of helpless white women. This was embedded in writings published during this period of time. He didn’t want race mixing to occur.

Griffith is trying to portray White supremacy as the law of the land and that it’s an ideal perfect world for whites. The city on the hill represents the whites being “safe from the black mobs”. He is also saying that Jesus is totally okay with all of this. It’s all just very racist.

1. he looks like a bum, in dirty clothing; we are made to feel he is not a good man.
2. she is wearing a nice/wealthy-looking gown; shows higher status in social class, seemingly good person.
3. the particular lighting creates thoughts of “he’s a villian”
4. the particular lighting creates thoughts of “decency”; lighting is soft and not ominous like before
5. this is giving off predatory behavior; not looking too good.
6. day-dreaming and staring off into space are child-like behaviors
7. the music for Gus is dark; the music for Flora is light
8. shows both sides of the situation; shows fear and worry
9. this film entertains the racism that is very evident in their writings.