Essay Questions

Why does Stoneman change his stance on supporting Lynch's desire to marry a white woman?

Lynch is in love with Elsie, a young white woman and decides he wants to marry her. He tells Stoneman who is quite pleased to hear this and encourages Lynch with the proposal. Only, when Stoneman finds out that the white woman Lynch wants to marry is his daughter he quickly changes his tune. Stoneman becomes outraged at the idea. This reveals the reality of a "one foot in one foot out" mentality and belief system with whites who agree with the change in society belonging both to African Americans and white people.

Why is it ironic that Stoneman considers the African Americans in legislature putting their feet on the desk inappropriate?

Stoneman is with Lynch and sees the newly elected members of legislature in South Caroline taking their shoes off and putting them on the desk. This is one of many things that Stoneman considers inappropriate behavior by leaders of the communities they represent. The irony is that though the white leaders that were predecessors of these current legislatures didn't put their bare feet on desks (for all we know) they allowed for the mistreatment and segregation and perpetration of hatred upon black men and women of their communities.

What does the imagery of the Ku Klux Klan stopping voting mean?

We see black voters coming to make their voice heard in order to elect African Americans to office once more, but they are stopped short. When they arrive at the polling place there are Klansmen waiting for them, threatening them with violence if they attempt to vote. This imagery, over 100 years old, is shocking to see in our time today. Not because it is in this film, as 1915 was a time full of men and women still deeply connected to slavery, but because this same circumstance happened during the 2016 Presidential elections, when reports of dramatic voter suppression re-emerged. We have a long way to go.