Ex-Colored Man: Navigating Racial Differences in Modern America - Essay Sample

Introduction

".The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" captures the racial differences experienced in modern America. The narrator, who is nameless throughout the text, captures himself living white and black. At one point, he envisions himself white due to his naivety at a young age, but later, he realizes he does not fit in the white category. He embarks into finding his identity as a black man, but in the end, he gravitates towards the white race to gain society privileges for himself and his family. ".The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” outline a modernist perspective as it illustrates the existing tension between two races post-civil war, creating a reason for self-consciousness. Although the civil war era is past, the people of color in a modern society remained underprivileged, a familiar scene in the American population.

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"It is difficult for me to analyze my feelings concerning my present position in the world. Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro, that I have been only a privileged spectator of their inner life; at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter, and I am possessed by a strange longing for my mother's people" (Johnson 119). The quote expresses a modernist perspective where the author is unable to tell of her position in a society where people are defined by race. He is self-conscious of her black American origin, which he tries to identify with for some time, but he feels that he does not belong due to white privileges he experiences being an Ex-Colored Man. The author introduces a conflicting theme, unlike other authors in his time who openly declared their black American positions and affiliation in their narratives.

Another modernist aspect, the narrator chooses to remain anonymous, reducing instances of biasness while drawing attention to the plights of the black man in America from the eyes of a black and white man. The anonymity of the leader makes his work acceptable to both races, as his originality does not influence people. The narrator also intended to pass the message that race is a social construct that cannot be defined by genetics nor biology. He states, “My mother broke the spell by calling me by name and saying” (Johnson 20). The author fails to mention his mane and he refers to himself "by the name." From a modernist aspect, the narrator intends to challenge the reader to seek diversity in reason, self-identity, and interest. The anonymous status gives the author the freedom to explore and self-create a narrative that suits his intentions.

Part 2

The narrator admits of being born from a middle-class family, by a black mother and a white father who lived separately; however, his father sent money, allowing him and his mother to live a decent life. The narrator does not identify as black; however, he does not fit as white. The color of his skin distinguished him from other African Americans making him privileged. Often the white people did not look down upon on him, nor was he facing threats of lynching and ridicule in school.

In a new school on Connecticut, the narrator managed to associate well with other students, regardless of race. Within a few days in his new school, he had managed to make enough friends. He was friendly with a RedHead who was white and shiny, who was black. The narrator was smart in school, hence Red Head found a study partner and friend in him. Shiny attracted the narrator in his first days in school due to his black skin and white teeth. The narrator quotes, "One of the boys strongly attracted my attention from the first day I saw him. His face was as black as night, but it shone as though it were polished; he had sparkling eyes and displayed glistening white teeth. It struck appropriate to call him "Shiny Face," or "Shiny Eyes," or "Shiny Teeth" (Johnson 9).

Shiny was the best speller in class, but the color of his skin made him and other students of color ridiculed. Other students referred often students of colour as nigger. "Nigger, nigger, never die, Blackface and shiny eye." (Johnson 10).The ridicule often led to a fight, and the narrator often supported the white boys in school. He was privileged enough to make friends with the white boys in school, and he joined in fighting the black students who clashed with his white friends. For two terms since joining the school, he never felt less or ridiculed because his fellow student accepted him as white.

Although he was privileged, he was made conscious of his skin color and race at the end of the second, when the teacher asked the all-white student to stand, and naively he stood. He was asked to sit and stand with the black American student and for the first time he discovered a part of his life he was not aware of. Often the white boys would discriminate and insult the students of African American descent, but from that day, he was referred to as a nigger like others. "A few of the white boys jeered me, saying: "Oh, you're a nigger too." I heard some black children say: "We knew he was coloured." (Johnson 11). Although he did not understands why he was black, this fateful day made him conscious of his skin color, and he began making radical changes to identify with people of his race. Since that day, the narrator strives to find his identity as a black American with the roots of his mother. In the end however, he gave up the search for his identity, and he identifies with the whites to enjoy white man privileges.

Works Cited

Johnson, James Weldon. The autobiography of an ex-colored man. Penguin, 1990. https://library.um.edu.mo/ebooks/b28045877.pdf