It never gets old. Working with youth produces a never-ending series of unique, poignant, hilarious, and frustrating experiences. Several weeks ago, a young man who I read books with asked me for some suggestions of historical films that depict the roots of American racism. Of course, I suggested THE classic American racist film, D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation.” After he watched the film (and I doubt that he sat through the whole thing), I received the following text: “That’s some bogus shit; it’s just some crazy white people on horses.” I burst into fits of laughter when I read what he wrote.

The film is of course a lot more than “just some crazy white people on horses” and we have since had a discussion about its meaning and importance in the history of American racism. While most 15 year olds in 2012 haven’t seen the film and as evidenced by my young friend may not understand it, it is still used by the Ku Klux Klan today as a form of propaganda.

Birth of a Nation was released in 1915 and is based on a book by Thomas Dixon Jr (a North Carolina minister). D.W.Griffith directed the film which was supposed to describe the events leading up to the Civil War along with the War and its aftermath. Basically the film focuses on the love story between a Southern military man named Ben Cameron and a prison nurse who tends to him when he is injured. The young nurse’s father is a horrible Northern congressman who was supposed to be modeled after Thaddeus Stevens. Other characters in the film include servants, slaves, soldiers, a rapist, and Reconstruction era politicians (all black). In depicting the life of black slaves before the Civil War, Griffith shows them to be happy and contented. The “free” blacks from the Reconstruction era are portrayed as lazy, miserable, and savage. They are encouraged to ravage their former owners by the evil Northern congressman. The final plot twist involves Ben Cameron’s (the Southern colonel) sister jumping to her death as she escapes a black rapist. This incident leads to the Ku Klux Klan emerging to restore order by riding to rescue of the white people being terrorized by the violent black Southerners.

If you haven’t seen “Birth of a Nation,” you must. The film was a sensation in its day. People paid $2 (about $45 today) to watch it and the theaters were packed. President Woodrow Wilson had a personal screening of the film and proclaimed it “like writing history with lightning.” He added: “my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.”

I’ve learned a lesson about recommending “Birth of a Nation” to a contemporary teenager. I won’t do it again unless we can watch it together. It appears that what I find self-explanatory actually isn’t. Next time, a young person asks me for a film recommendation about the roots of American racism, I might recommend a documentary like Trouble Behind instead.