The show will go on.
Despite a plea from the mayor and opposition from Rome’s black leaders, the Capitol Theatre still plans to show the racially-charged movie “The Birth of a Nation” on Saturday, April 17.
Nearly 20 concerned citizens and leaders from the African-American community gathered at City Hall Monday, where Mayor James F. Brown tried to broker a compromise with Art Pierce, the theater’s executive director.
Pierce today had a different take on the meeting. “We actually thought the meeting was to discuss it, but it seemed the mayor had already made up his mind.” He continued, “Nobody really wanted to compromise. It’s hard when you have 25 people to work out a compromise.”
Mayor Brown(1) has asked that the screening be canceled. “This movie is racially inflammatory, insensitive and its showing comes at a difficult time in our nation,” Brown said. “Hate crimes and racially-motivated violence continue to be problems in our state and nation. Although I personally do not believe that the Capitol’s management supports or tolerates racism in any way, I am, however, concerned that many people in other communities who support the film’s overt racism may come to attend the screening.”
The 1915 silent film shows the Civil War and Reconstruction, but depicts the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light. It was initially recognized for its pioneering use of camera techniques and huge battle scenes. At the time, it was the highest grossing film when it took in $10 million. It was also massive — clocking in at 190 minutes. It was voted 44th on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 American films in 1998.
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In the Sentinel of March 24, Mayor Brown expressed his fear of groups who would use the showing of “The Birth of a Nation” at the Capitol Theater to sow discord and hate in our community. He seems to oppose the pandering to emotion and fear which so often characterizes prejudice and bigotry, but in this case it is Mayor Brown who is acting like the demagogue. While careful to throw a sop by claiming that he is not accusing any specific person of racism, the mayor implies that only people with racist tendencies and motives would have any desire to view the film. He then insinuates that merely showing the film will incite violence against minorities. This demagoguery is especially concerning because Mayor Brown doesn’t seem to have any concern for the “dehumanization” and “isolation” of minorities in other nations.
Though he is quick to denounce this isolated film, after his trip to Asia the mayor praised China’s government, culture and education, but was silent on their ethnic policies. The Communist Party of China claims to “respect” and protect the cultures of ethnic minorities there, but in reality is reducing them to confined tourist attractions, which the communists can use as pawns to showcase their “tolerance” to gullible Westerners. Tibet and Xinjiang, especially, are being flooded with the Han Chinese ethnic majority, who are preferentially selected for employment and government positions, in a thinly-veiled effort to eliminate the minorities from their society. By these policies the Chinese mimic the Soviet Union, which claimed to protect minorities from “imperialism” but actively forced them to live like Russians.
Mayor Brown has no public comments on these actions of the largest dictatorship in history, whose thugs he officially welcomed to Rome, but he denounces a film shown to willing audiences in a private establishment.
— Arlo S.
Westmoreland, NY