What took place in front of movie theatres after the release of 'Birth of a Nation' and how did those events change the characterization of African Americans for a few decades to follow?

Hamlet.

Well, it was a racist movie that depicted blacks as inferiors...so I am sure that it had a negative effect on the struggle of blacks for equality. Oct 31 03, 5:43 PM

lothruin

Riots called for, and sometimes organized by, the NAACP plagued movie theaters across the country that showed this movie. Following the release of the movie, a large number of African Americans got together to make movies depicting themselves and other people of color in a better light. Judging by the already poor status of African Americans at the time of the release of the movie, which was 1915, I doubt it had a HUGE effect on the struggle for equality, aside from the fact that a vigorous resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, peaking in the early 1920's is credited entirely to the release of the movie. Having never seen it myself, I'm not sure I can really say for sure, but it's worth pointing out that the quality of racism in any given piece of media should be judged against the time it was made. Oct 31 03, 9:17 PM