NAACP POSITION

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I have written the follow letter to Dean Watson:

It was brought to my attention that the movie "Birth of a Nation" was not shown at Harvard last Friday as scheduled due to pressure from the Boston Branch NAACP. A telegram dated May 2, 1948, was displayed as evidence of the pressure exerted by the association.

It is true that we have in the past protested the public showing of this film. However, for the record, I wish to state that the NAACP had no knowledge that the "Birth of a Nation" was scheduled to be shown at Harvard October 31, 1952, and no protest was made by the association at this time.

We recognize that the "Birth of a Nation" represents the first great film masterpiece in motion picture art. It is not our intention to deprive the student of the art of motion pictures the opportunity to see the technical advances exhibited by this film.

We fully realize that through evoking the full power of the motion picture "Birth of a Nation" placed the film on the same level with the press and stage as a provocator of arguments. It is so powerful that harm may be done if it is shown indiscriminately without a sober discussion of its social implications. We do not endorse the theme of this film. We do not approve its biased attitude. Its message of racial superiority is repugnant to our national ideal of racial equality and to all fair-minded people. There are historical inaccuracies and exaggerations in the depiction of the Reconstruction Period. From a social standpoint, the study of this film may be compared with the study of enemy propaganda--to learn how we may best counteract and defeat it.

The American way to combat the argument of someone with whom we disagree is not to suppress the utterance of another person's opinion, but to disprove it. It the long years wrich have followed the Civil War, the race against which this film discriminates has produced a more than ample record of equal and responsible citizenship.

We protest the public showing of the "Birth of a Nation" in commercial theatres. However, we feel that its showing to an audience of enlightened, adult, sincere students of motion picture history will result in appreciation of the film as art, without any resulting injustice to anyone.

We would appreciate it if you would read this letter or make appropriate introductory remarks to the showing of the "Birth of a Nation." Lionel O. Lindsay   President