Autobiography Of An Ex Colored Man Essay - 1449 Words

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored, Still-Clueless Man The narrator of The Autobiography grows up his whole life thinking that he is white. It is not until one fateful day in school where a teacher indirectly tells him that he is black that he finds out. This revelation, which he himself describes as â€Å"a sword-thrust† (Johnson 13), suggests a transformation, a great change, a development in the Ex-Colored Man’s racial consciousness in the future. However, as M. Giulia Fabi says, â€Å"[The ECM’s] proclaimed loyalty to his ‘mother’s people’ is continuously undercut by his admiration for and identification with mainstream white America† (375). She also indicates how when contrasted with previous passers, â€Å"the Ex-Colored Man’s oft-noted cowardice,†¦show more content†¦However, if he’s unaware of it, then it could happen again in the future and he, having learned nothing from his past because of this obliviousness, will still be unaware of it in the future. Addi tionally, he is unable to see the ways in which his relationship echoes that of slavery as well as his mother and father’s relationship (Somerville 397), which subtly illustrates his ignorance. Another consequence that result from this lack of â€Å"race consciousness† is his interaction with black music and culture. As Robert B. Stepto argues in â€Å"Lost in a Quest,† the ECM is â€Å"caught†¦in a kind of illiteracy that argues that technique can pass for art†¦[mistaking] the modulation and exploitation of race rituals along the color line for proper relations between artist and audience† (368). Additionally, Stepto argues that the ECM, â€Å"alienated from the deepest bonds of his race†¦learns to play music without reference to who is ‘in the other room’† (368). Ragtime, as Edward A. Berlin states in Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, derived from â€Å"the ‘coon song,’ a Negro dialect song frequently, but not always, of an offensively denigrating nature† (205). As someone who has â€Å"dreams of bringing glory and honor to the Negro race† (Johnson 26), it is very problematic for the narrator not understand the cultural and racial significance of the music he wants to play. For himself, he fails to gain any real understanding and he becomes, as Stepto says, â€Å"aShow MoreRelated Racial Identity in The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man Essay1327 Words   |  6 Pagescommunity in his novel â€Å"The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.† One does not only read this book, but instead one takes a journey alongside a burdened mulatto man as he struggles to claim one race as his own. In Johnsons novel, the young mulatto boy is at first completely unaware of his unique circumstance, and lives life comfortably and oblivious to the oppression of the black race outside of his home in Connecticut. He is characterized as a bright, quick learning young man whose talents do not ceaseRead MoreThe Autobiography of the Ex-Colored Man: The Ability to Pass Essay1120 Words   |  5 Pages The Autobiography of the Ex-Colored Man: The Ability to Pass The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man depicts the narrator as a liminal character. Beginning with an oblivious knowledge of race as a child, and which racial group he belonged, to his well knowing of â€Å"white† and â€Å"black† and the ability to pass as both. On the account of liminality, the narrator is presenting himself as an outsider. Because he is both a â€Å"white† and â€Å"black† male, he does not fit in with either racial group. In the autobiographyRead MoreAutobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Book Review Essay775 Words   |  4 PagesKevin Rance HIST3102 Pratt 8 September 2011 The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man Book Review The novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson shows a story of a man with mixed blood of white and coloured. Throughout the story, the man is conflicted with his heritage, sometimes accepting his coloured heritage and at other times rejecting his coloured heritage and passing himself off as a white man. The main character travels all around the United StatesRead MoreEssay about Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Jews Without Money877 Words   |  4 PagesAutobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Jews Without Money To be a minority is a very difficult task. Fighting daily prejudices and trying to establish a unique identity that fits into society at the same time is often one of the hardest things for a â€Å"different† person to do. Deciding one’s daily activities and then watching the repercussions of those activities can be discouraging at times. In the novels, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, and Jews Without Money, two characters, theRead MoreAdoption Are Beating The Adoption Odds By Cynthia D. Martin1035 Words   |  5 PagesNoble. N.p., 30 Nov. 8319. Web. 27 Nov. 2016. 1a. Three books and authors dealing with the subject of urban violence are Don’t shoot: One man, a street fellowship, and the end of violence in inner city America by David M. Kennedy, Street Wars: Gangs and the future of violence by Tom Hayden, and The Fallen by Paul Langan. Kennedy, David M. Don t Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America. Alibris. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016. Hayden, Tom. Street Wars: GangsRead MoreThe Identity Of African Americans1758 Words   |  8 PagesRace was a primary factor used to shape the identity of African Americans which was seen through their culture. Race is portrayed through the narratives such as The life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglass and the Autobiography of an Ex-colored man by James Weldon Johnson. In both the narratives, they state they are slaves due their race. First, this idea is supported in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass when he states in the preface, â€Å"he was a slave â€Å"too (Douglass 325).Read More James Weldon Johnson Essay654 Words   |  3 Pageshe was a proponent. While Johnson was a highly celebrated and versatile literary figure, his most well known work is The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man . Even though this title suggests that this work was his own story, it was actually a novel, the first African-American one to mask itself as an autobiography. In this novel, the illegitimate son of a southern white man and his mulatto mistress struggles to find his identity and place in the world. Being light-skinned, he does not discover hisRead MoreJames Weldon Johnson s The Autobiography Of An Former Colored Man And Nella Larsen s Passing3489 Words   |  14 PagesThe Theme of Passing, Racial Prejudice and Internalized Racism in James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Nella Larsen’s Passing The concept of racial passing refers to the occurrence in which an individual is able to transcend racial boundaries. During the Harlem Renaissance, the term â€Å"passing† meant to signify mixed race individuals who were light skinned enough to pass as white and mingle freely within white society, almost completely undetected. This was significantRead MoreOn James Weldon Johnson’s â€Å"The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man†2065 Words   |  9 Pageselevations which would not have happened otherwise. Ruotolo points out in her essay â€Å"James Weldon Johnson and the Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Musician†, the narrator earns a living in order to attend college by playing Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata to a white Connecticut audience† (Ruotolo 252). While in Florida, Ruotolo goes on to say, the narrator gives piano lessons so that he may be able to interact with the better class of colored people in that area. Why the narrator chooses Beethoven’s PathetiqueRead MoreJazz Music Of The Time1559 Words   |  7 Pagesjazz bands in the area. He popularized the skill of scat, or improvisations, over top of some never-before-seen rhythmic stylings. Cab Calloway dazzled audiences with his vast range and mastery of scat. â€Å"The Hi De Ho Man†, as he soon became known, was often seen as a charismatic man with a love for his craft. Unlike the other two musicians, Calloway grew up comfortably in a middle class household where his parents actively supported his skills through private lessons. His breakout solo, â€Å"Minnie the