Swift and stealthy as Indians, the Black men passed from house to house,—not pausing, not hesitating, as their terrible work went on. In one thing they were more humane than Indians or than White men fighting against Indians,—there was no gratuitous outrage beyond the death-blow itself, no insult, no mutilation; but in every house they entered, that blow fell on man, woman, and child,—nothing that had a White skin was spared.
Sean Yoes
The above is part of the narrative in “Nat Turner’s Insurrection,” published in 1831 by The Atlantic, which described the rebellion of slaves and free Blacks in Southhampton County, Va. led by Turner, which ended in the death of at least 60 White men, women and children. In retaliation for Turner and his soldiers rising up against slave owners and the inhuman institution of American slavery, hundreds of Black men, women and children who were not involved with the revolt were slaughtered by White militias. 57 Blacks accused of being part of the uprising were executed. After eluding capture for about two months, Turner gave himself up, was tried, convicted, sentenced to death and hanged. Then, according to some accounts, his body was cut up and buried in different locations for fear the “supernatural” Turner might reassemble himself and slaughter more Whites.
Nate Parker’s epic film, “Birth of a Nation,” opened last weekend in theaters around the country. I saw it. It is a brilliantly crafted film; the acting, writing and photography. It is a very plausible re-enactment of the events depicted in Nat Turner’s Insurrection in 1831. And it is deeply disturbing, mainly because it is a reminder that the dynamics of race in America have remained mostly intact since Turner and his men revolted with violence against the so-called “peculiar institution.”
It should be required viewing for every student, teacher and administrator in the Baltimore City Public Schools.
The movie documents how modern law enforcement is rooted in Antebellum slave catching, as well as the systemic, brutal denial of Black humanity. And draws unmistakable parallels from 19th century America to this “modern” era accented by Black Lives Matter and “Trumpism.”
But, perhaps more important than the 21st century lessons offered by “Birth of a Nation,” is the historic significance of the film. It counters the prevailing and erroneous historic narrative that Black Americans were almost uniformly passive or docile in reference to their enslavement, that they broadly did not resist and perhaps implicit in that position, were even at peace with their plight. The story of Nat Turner rebukes that false overarching narrative.
I suspect the details of Nat Turner’s Insurrection are largely unknown to most Americans, including school age children. However, the real truth is Turner’s actions in Southhampton in 1831 was just one of many slave uprisings in the South. Some scholars have documented more than 300 American and Colonial American slave revolts, some of them more violent and deadly than Turner’s.
The essence of “The Miseducation of the Negro” still looms large from our homes to our classrooms (from kindergarten to college), often because the Black American narrative is far too seldom crafted by Black hands and derived from Black minds and souls. “Birth of a Nation,” and movies and stories like it, are beginning to change that trajectory.
Ultimately, you can’t truly know what America is all about until you understand the history of the Civil War. And you can’t fully comprehend the Civil War, until you understand the American institution of slavery.
Unfortunately, far too many of us still dwell in the dark shadows of the often inaccurate annals of American history.
Sean Yoes is a senior contributor for the AFRO and host and executive producer of AFRO First Edition, which airs Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on WEAA 88.9.
