Dr. Daniel M. Scott is a Professor of English and African American Studies at Rhode Island College. He co-authored, with Amrit Singh, "The Collected Writings of Wallace Thurman: A Harlem Renaissance Reader."
The Harlem Renaissance on Film: Some Examples
November 10, 2010
4:00pm
Fortes Room (room 409)
On November 10, 2010 Dr. Daniel Scott III, Professor of English and African American Studies at RIC, presented a lecture on the Harlem Renaissance and it’s representation in film. Dr. Scott used film clips and literature written by famous Harlem Renaissance authors to describe how African Americans were portrayed in the early 1900s and 1920s.
I was particularly affected by the Birth of a Nation film clips that Dr. Scott showed and how the film’s impact was so profound across the United States. I had never seen or heard of this film and was astounded at its racist portrayal of African Americans. African American men are portrayed as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women. This film also portrayed the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic entity. The film was released in 1915 and was the highest-grossing film of the silent film ever. Birth of a Nation was the first film shown at the White House. President Woodrow Wilson was quoted as saying “…like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true”. This part of Dr. Scott’s lecture made it so very clear how far we’ve come in 100 years since this film’s release but also how much more we have to do to combat racism in the United States.
*Note: This article, by Brian Baker, was published as part of Adams Library's Spring 2011 newsletter, viewable here: