The film has been repeatedly censored over the years. In its first outing, the rape and lynching scenes were heavily edited as they were deemed too provocative after the 1919 Chicago race riots.
This is the earliest known surviving film directed by an African-American.
This film was thought to be lost until it resurfaced in the early-1990s, in the Filmoteca Espanol in Madrid, Spain.
Originally seven or eight reels in length, this film was re-cut to six reels and reissued about six months after its first run.