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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/opinion/11patterson.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=2dba2d60Q2FeQ7EfreX,Ycd,,i7e7Q3EQ3EQ60eQ3EIe..e,BxQ23x,Q23e..BFiifdc,Q23Q2BNiQ5B)","20080311191547","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1205262947"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>The Red Phone in Black and White - The New York Times </title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <script language="JavaScript" src="/web/20080311191547js_/http://www.nytimes.com/js/browserSize.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script language="JavaScript" src="/web/20080311191547js_/http://www.nytimes.com/js/mc_app1.js" type="text/javascript"></script><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20080311191547cs_/http://www.nytimes.com/css/regi.css"> </head> <body onload="document.login.USERID.focus();"> <div id="header"> <div class="nytLogo"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547/http://www.nytimes.com/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547im_/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/article/header/nytlogoleft_article.gif" width="184" height="40" border="0" alt="The New York Times"></a></div> <div class="nytHeader"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547im_/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/article/header/sect_opinion.gif" width="400" height="40" border="0" alt="The New York Times Member Center"></div> <div class="loginRule"></div> </div> <div id="nytLogin"> <ul> <li class="noLink">NYTimes:</li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547/http://www.nytimes.com/">Home</a> - </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547/http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/siteindex.html">Site Index</a> - </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547/http://query.nytimes.com/search/archive.html">Archive</a> - </li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547/http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/sitehelp.html">Help</a></li> </ul> <div class="loginRule"></div> </div> <div id="mainContainer"> <div class="articleContent"> <div class="kicker">OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR</div> <h3>The Red Phone in Black and White</h3> <div class="byline">By ORLANDO PATTERSON</div> <div class="pubDate"> Published: March 11, 2008</div> <div class="summary">The central image in Hillary Clinton’s ad brought to mind D. W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation,” the movie that helped revive the Ku Klux Klan.</div> <div class="toContinue"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547im_/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/apps/regi2/abstract_header_tocontinue.gif" alt="For free access to this article and more, you must be a registered member of NYTimes.com" width="658" height="55"></div> <div class="registerTable"><table width="658" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#F7F7F1"><tr> <td width="15" align="left" valign="top"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547im_/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/spacer.gif" width="15" height="15" alt=""></td> <td width="320" align="left" valign="top"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191547im_/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/spacer.gif" width="15" height="15" alt=""><br><table width="320" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><form name="register" method="post" 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