Marc,
 
You might want to check out an article from the _Wide Angle_ issues on Black
film (13n3&4) titled "The Re-Birth of the Aesthetic in Cinema" by Clyde Taylor.
 When I teach _The Birth of a Nation_ I use this article (and Michael
Rogin's piece and others) to locate the film
 within social history, film history, and the  history of film studies
 literature. If you'd like more sources on the film's racism
 (or if your library doesn't carry back issues of _Wide Angle_),
 feel free to contact me directly and I'll mail it to you.
 
Jim Castonguay
UW-Milwaukee
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