Within Our Gates and An Interview with Mary Beth Norton

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Film History
Within Our Gates and An Interview with Mary Beth Norton
Summary
Within Our Gates is an American silent film directed by Oscar Micheaux in 1920. The story is about an African-American woman, Sylvia Landry, who is raising money to help the rural schools for blacks. Rev. Jacobs is almost giving up on these schools because of government underfunding. The film has different themes that inform it, but the most open theme is racism against the black race ("Within Our Gates" [Video file]). Other themes include romance, murder, and self-sacrifice for the good of others, among other themes.
Micheaux explores the theme of racism in the film, which was set in the 19th century when America was still experiencing challenges with racial discrimination and other historical injustices. Sylvia decides to go to the north to look for money to fund the education of the African American children in the rural areas who were discriminated by the government ("Within Our Gates" [Video file]). Rev Jacobs was almost giving up the care for the school children saying that the government was not giving enough money to run the learning institutions despite America being a financially stable country. The whites undermined the ability of the black race during the 19th century. It is an issue that Micheaux wanted to bring forth to advocate for racial unity and collaboration.
The reading material on An Interview with Mary Beth Norton addresses another colonial injustice, just like the movie. The difference is that the reading material looks into gender discrimination and inequalities. Norton is a researcher who specializes in gender oppression. She explains how females were sidelined in many issues affecting the community; a colonial injustice has continued to impact the world just like racism ("Journal For Multimedia History - Volume 3 (2000) Contents Page: An Interview With Mary Beth Norton").
Issues addressed
The film exposes some social, political, and historical issues. The children of the blacks were not allowed to interact with those of the whites directly. This is evident from how the schools were separated. Rev Jacobs was in charge of a rural school for the blacks only. This is both social and historical injustice because all races are the same, and they should be treated equally. The governments did not value the lives of the children from black families. Sylvia dedicated her life to looking for funding for the African American school underfunded by the government. We can undoubtedly say that the school that the children of the whites attended was well off. Hence, another social injustice that we get from the film ("Within Our Gates" [Video f...