Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man: Jim Crow Narrative
Two of the stories L-352 have engaged with for American Literature have been Autobiography of An Ex-Colored and The Lynching of Jube Benson. They are written by James Weldon Johnson and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man is set in the early 1900's during Jim Crow South, and it is based on a biracial man who passes for white in order to avoid the racialized violenced the main character witnessed upon a black man. The novel follows the biracial man through childhood to adulthood where he passes for white but does not believe he fits in anywhere with society. In Jube Benson, the story is set in the South depicting a black man who is fatally accused of murdering a white …show more content…
Each story reflects the flaws of racial identity and racism during Jim Crow South. In both stories read, there are moments in each story that leaves the reader to investigate and critique the Jim Crow South. These factors include racism, assertion of white superiority, juxtapostion between black brutalization and white superiority, and the flawed system of Jim Crow. The main themes of American Litature post-slavery and in the midst of Jim Crow is the detriment of racialized violence upon African-Americans. Although readers and historians view post-slavery as a time of progression, both stories read in class tell an alternative account of life for African-Americans after slavery. The South during and after slavery show its affect-effects with laws called …show more content…
However, An Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man not only tells a story about a "colored" man through the authorship of an African-American man, but the story investigates the Jim Crow South and the violence that was involved with it. This narrative was written during a time where it was "The Rise of the Jim Crow Colonization" between 1865-1920. Since the story is set around the 1920 mark, the reader is invited to the perspective of a narrative that rises and provocates questions about knowledge and racial identity (Hinrichsen). The "One Drop Rule" was a law sat during Jim Crow to determine whether a person was white or of "colored" status. The law entailed that if someone had a small percentage of black in them, they were considered black. It is implied that both the narrator and his mother are mixed race but are considered black because of the law. This reference is made clear when the narrator asks his mother on page 12 if he is a "nigger." His mother does confirm this, but they both appear upset by this knowledge. As well as that, the mother tries assuring the young narrator that in spite of her not being white, his father is and he has the "best blood of the South" in him (12). Therefore, because he has white blood in him,
Two of the stories L-352 have engaged with for American Literature have been Autobiography of An Ex-Colored and The Lynching of Jube Benson. They are written by James Weldon Johnson and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man is set in the early 1900's during Jim Crow South, and it is based on a biracial man who passes for white in order to avoid the racialized violenced the main character witnessed upon a black man. The novel follows the biracial man through childhood to adulthood where he passes for white but does not believe he fits in anywhere with society. In Jube Benson, the story is set in the South depicting a black man who is fatally accused of murdering a white …show more content…
Each story reflects the flaws of racial identity and racism during Jim Crow South. In both stories read, there are moments in each story that leaves the reader to investigate and critique the Jim Crow South. These factors include racism, assertion of white superiority, juxtapostion between black brutalization and white superiority, and the flawed system of Jim Crow. The main themes of American Litature post-slavery and in the midst of Jim Crow is the detriment of racialized violence upon African-Americans. Although readers and historians view post-slavery as a time of progression, both stories read in class tell an alternative account of life for African-Americans after slavery. The South during and after slavery show its affect-effects with laws called …show more content…
However, An Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man not only tells a story about a "colored" man through the authorship of an African-American man, but the story investigates the Jim Crow South and the violence that was involved with it. This narrative was written during a time where it was "The Rise of the Jim Crow Colonization" between 1865-1920. Since the story is set around the 1920 mark, the reader is invited to the perspective of a narrative that rises and provocates questions about knowledge and racial identity (Hinrichsen). The "One Drop Rule" was a law sat during Jim Crow to determine whether a person was white or of "colored" status. The law entailed that if someone had a small percentage of black in them, they were considered black. It is implied that both the narrator and his mother are mixed race but are considered black because of the law. This reference is made clear when the narrator asks his mother on page 12 if he is a "nigger." His mother does confirm this, but they both appear upset by this knowledge. As well as that, the mother tries assuring the young narrator that in spite of her not being white, his father is and he has the "best blood of the South" in him (12). Therefore, because he has white blood in him,