The Birth of a Race

The Birth of a Race is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by John W. Noble. It was made as a response to the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, and was meant to discredit the negative stereotypes perpetuated by the film. Initially, it was intended to be a short answer film that could be appended to The Birth of a Nation in 1915, but a combination of weak financial backing and growing ambitions delayed its completion for more than two years. When finally released in December 1918, The Birth of a Race was a two-hour feature-length film nothing like producer Emmett Jay Scott's original vision. A large quantity of footage highlighting the achievements of black people specifically was removed from the final film. The film premiered in Chicago in December, 1918, to great ballyhoo but was a commercial and critical failure. After two public showings, the film was cut from 2.5 hours to a shorter 60-minute version, which is preserved at the Library of Congress.