In The Souls of Black Folk W.E.B. Du Bois wrote that the problem of the 20th Century is the problem of the color-line (Du Bois 3). Written in 1903, Du Bois' analysis proved correct for the rest of the century, particularly the first two-thirds of the 20th Century when Hollywood films depicted blacks as inferiors. A comparison of the portrayal of African Americans in Souls of Black Folk with D.W. Griffith's 1915 landmark film "Birth of a Nation" reveals a vivid contrast in the depiction of African Americans.
A historian, teacher and sociologist, Du Bois remains one of the most important leaders of African American protest in the United States, and during the first half of the 20th Century, he was the leading black opponent of racial discrimination. Even at his most critical, Du Bois expressed the hope and faith that blacks and whites would unite and that race relations would greatly improve. In Souls of Black Folk Du Bois portrays African Americans as a people who experience racial suffering and injustices, but also as a people with great strengths and resources who must fight ABy every civilized and peaceful method...for the rights which the world accords to men, clinging unwaveringly to those great words which the sons of the Fathers would fain forget: >We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal...=@ (Du Bois 48). In addition, Du Bois believed that if blacks could reasonably explain black reality to whites, then whites would change their minds and hearts and give blacks what they deserve. He believed it was up to black leaders to make clear to whites that blacks deserved the same rights as whites. It can be inferred from this that Du Bois was seeking a kind of spiritual awakening on the part of whites. However, the depiction of African Americans in "Birth of a Nation" and the actions of whites make Du Bois' beliefs appear fantastically optimistic.
Before the release of "Birth of a Nation" black...