In October, Nate Parker releases his Nat Turner narrative: the movie The Birth of a Nation. The fiercely imagined and overpowering him, directed and written by Parker (who also portrays Turner), was the hit of Sundance this year, winning the Grand Jury Prize, and was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a record $17.5 million. Parker had first heard about Turner's slave revolt as a college student, despite the fact that he'd grown up in Virginia, about 50 miles from where Turner lived and died. He became obsessed with the idea of telling Turner's story and, in seeking historical fidelity in his depiction of the leader of the rebellion, enlisted respected scholars such as Kelley Deetz and met with Turner's living descendants. He held Turner's sword (purportedly used in the massacre) at the Museum of Southampton History and examined Turner's Bible in the Smithsonian.

Vanity Fair asked Parker to reflect on Styron's book.

V.F.: What are your thoughts on Styron's approach to history—and the ensuing controversy?

PARKER: Styron published his novel at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, at a moment where Black Power was becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to passive resistance. Nat Turner's choice to revolt echoed [powerfully] during that era in ways not seen since the American Revolution in the 18th century. Styron's novel ignited much-deserved criticism as he annihilated Turner's character, painting him to be both a sexually disturbed lunatic whose sole motivation hinged on his uncontrollable lusts for white women, and a rebel who lacked any real purpose or intelligence.

Shielded by his self-proclaimed liberalism, Styron sought to provide an interpretation to white America regarding black revolutionary thought at a time when pervasive racism was under fierce attack. He provided this premise through a lens that conceived Turner as an inept, violent, impotent, self-loathing fanatic.

That said, the most important fact to consider when reflecting upon Styron's work is that it is a work of fiction—by his own admission a "reimagining" of Nat's life and motivations. With that in mind, I find it interesting [that] his fictionalized interpretation of a true event is so often the subject [of] exploration. The truth is, this is not an uncommon methodology within the usual presentation of [the] historical record. As with Styron's novel, many representations of American chattel slavery and similar acts of oppression offer a narrative that is both sanitized and mythological. This approach leaves... the reader to rely on an imagined reality to best interpret the actual reality. This is especially dangerous when defining the legacy of a perceived hero.

V.F.: Have ideas about slavery and race in America changed in the 50 years since?

PARKER: The Civil Rights Movement undoubtedly had an effect on the legal rights of Blacks in this country; however, it's evident it did not change the ideology of most white Americans. One cannot legislate conditioning, indifference, opinion, or respect. And while "Jim Crow" overt racism seemed to subside, other interpretations of that same systemic and institutionalized racism manifested in more covert forms. With our barometer set on the achievements of a few, we saw [that the] following decades [were] wrought with racial injustices in education, criminal justice, and economic disempowerment. With the election of President Barack Obama, America sought to claim immunity from transgressions past, declaring victory over racism, ushering in the proclamation of a "post-racial society." It didn't take long for the true feelings and injuries surrounding race to surface.

The Black Lives Matter movement provided a platform to bring race back into public discourse and remind the nation that racism is still very much with us. The truth is, we have never healed from slavery, because [we] have been unwilling to confront it honestly. When a nation refuses [to] admit its wrongs and its citizens aren't able to discuss their shared histories and injuries, it cannot and will not heal....

The atrocities of chattel slavery—the greatest American tragedy to date—[remain] a tragedy that has been systematically sanitized and all but erased from the narrative of this country. James Baldwin has often noted when considering events in our country's history, "It is one thing to have done something, it's another thing to deny it."