Jasmine Mattey, “Negotiating Humanity: Race, Representation, and Privilege in James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man,” 3rd Place.
There is no more powerful position than that of being “just” human. The claim to power is the claim to speak for the commonality of humanity. Raced people can’t do that—they can only speak for their race.
-Richard Dyer, White (1997)
In the early twentieth century, the United States was a nation in flux, grappling with the aftermath of Reconstruction and the throes of the Great Migration. This period was marked by heightened racial tensions, exacerbated by Jim Crow laws that institutionalized racial domination. Against this backdrop of systemic discrimination and xenophobia, James Weldon Johnson wrote his novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Central to the biracial protagonist’s experience is his decision to pass as white, a choice that is portrayed not merely as a personal survival strategy but as commentary on the unearned advantages that arbitrary whiteness confers. Johnson’s novel explores not only the societal mandate to assimilate but also the immense pressure imposed on marginalized individuals who are compelled to represent and “uplift” their entire race—a concept that reflects a dual expectation: externally from a society that demands infallibility exclusively from people of color as a condition for basic respect, and internally from within the Black community itself, which often pressures its members to behave as paragons of virtue and success to counteract pervasive, dehumanizing stereotypes. By embedding his protagonist in these complex social dynamics, Johnson critiques the injustices of a system entrenched in white supremacy and advocates for the recognition of the inherent humanity of all people of color, urging a reevaluation of the burdensome expectation placed on individuals to uplift and represent their race.
With over twenty years of experience advocating for human rights, Tarah Demant provides an indispensable lens for examining racial dynamics. In her work Impossible Whiteness: Race, Gender, and American Identity in Early Twentieth-Century American Literature, she points out an “underlying bias that understands non-whites as raced while implicitly understanding whites as lacking race” (1–2). This perspective sheds light on the systemic “invisibility of whiteness” (Demant 2), which is treated as a default state, thereby exempting it from the racial scrutiny and burdens imposed on non-white identities. This invisibility allows whiteness to maintain its position at the top of the social hierarchy, subtly yet powerfully dictating societal norms and expectations. American activist and scholar Peggy McIntosh builds on this idea in her article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” when she expresses how “Whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow ‘them’ to be more like ‘us’” (1). This pervasive invisibility of whiteness reinforces societal structures that Johnson explores in his novel, where the perceived neutrality of whiteness exacerbates and justifies systemic inequalities and racial prejudices. In his novel, Johnson articulates the systemic oppression embedded within societal interactions and expectations:
[W]hen the white race assumes as a hypothesis that it is the main object of creation and that all things else are merely subsidiary to its well being, sophism, subterfuge, perversion of conscience, arrogance, injustice, oppression, cruelty, sacrifice of human blood, all are required to maintain the position, and its dealing with other races become indeed a problem, a problem which, if based on hypothesis of common humanity, could be solved by the simple rules of justice (Johnson 167).
The Ex-Colored Man’s observation highlights the drastic measures taken to sustain white supremacy, illustrating Demant and McIntosh’s notion—the systemic bias that renders whiteness as the normative state not only exempts it from scrutiny but also fortifies a racial hierarchy that disproportionately burdens people of color with the need to constantly prove their humanity.
From the very beginning of the novel, Johnson sets the stage for the novel’s exploration of racial dynamics, where the protagonist’s personal narrative serves as a microcosm for broader racial issues. It directly engages with Demant’s critique of the racial dynamics that underpin American literature and society, where whiteness is the invisible, unmarked norm that all other identities are measured against. The preface is a fictive publisher’s letter to an imagined white audience in which he promises to “draw aside” a “veil” and offer “a view of the inner life of the Negro in America” (Johnson xii). In his article, “Narrative Order, Racial Hierarchy, and ‘White’ Discourse in James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Along This Way,” Professor of English at Florida Gulf Coast University, Masami Sugimori argues that “Johnson foregrounds [. . .] an imagined white audience to indicate how the narrative’s racial and logical order derives from the dictation of white hegemony” (41). Johnson’s deliberate critique of the default invisibility and normativity of whiteness reveals how deeply embedded white hegemony is within the fabric of societal narratives. This hegemonic structure shapes the narrative order and dictates the conditions under which stories about racial identity are told and received.
The fictive publisher goes on to explain how “writers, in nearly every instance, have treated the colored American as a whole; each has taken some one [. . .] of the race to prove his case” (Johnson xi). Johnson’s strategic narrative framing in the preface serves as a critical foundation for the entire novel—an assumed white readership that scrutinizes people of color not as individuals but as representatives of their entire race—challenges readers to recognize the constructed nature of racial identities and the disparities in how these identities are portrayed and perceived. By addressing a ‘white’ readership, Johnson not only exposes the normativity of whiteness but also implicates it as a central force in sustaining racial hierarchies. This approach effectively mirrors and critiques the societal expectations placed upon people of color to perform and represent their races under the omnipresent gaze of a predominantly white society. This biased expectation is a clear illustration of the systemic invisibility of whiteness that Demant discusses, where white individuals are rarely, if ever, seen as stand-ins for their entire race.
Johnson’s narrative strategies manipulate and expose the constraints of racial categories, especially through the protagonist, who navigates between racial identities. This narrative exploration is crucial as it highlights the psychological and social burdens of racial passing—a literal embodiment of the burden of representation. Johnson poignantly captures the constant consciousness of race that his protagonist must endure, writing, “each and every colored man in the United States [. . .] is forced to take his outlook on all things, not from the viewpoint of a citizen, or a man, or even a human being, but from the viewpoint of a colored man” (21). This perspective reshapes every interaction and experience, encasing the individual in a predefined racial identity that predetermines societal responses and personal limitations. The Ex-Colored Man’s life under this constrained viewpoint becomes a series of navigations within the “dominating,” “all-pervading white supremacy” that colors his perception of himself and others (Sugimori 41). He expresses the suffocating impact of these imposed identities, noting: “I looked out through other eyes, my thoughts were colored, my words dictated, my actions limited by one dominating, all-pervading idea which constantly increased in force and weight until I finally realized it in great, tangible fact” (Johnson 21). This “force” and “weight”—born from the understanding that society views him through the lens of racial stereotypes—drive the narrator to his decision to pass as white, illustrating the extreme measures taken to escape the oppressive scrutiny of racial gaze. Sugimori’s analysis further complicates this narrative by revealing how “white hegemony reproduces itself by limiting one’s ability to speak outside of the white/black binary opposition” (38). The protagonist’s life thus illustrates the complexities and pressures of having to represent or misrepresent one’s race in different societal contexts, constantly judged not as an individual but as a symbol of a broader racial narrative. Through the narrative, Johnson’s Ex-Colored Man exposes the personal costs of these societal structures and also challenges the reader to confront the pervasive and often unspoken rules that govern racial interactions.
Expanding on this exploration of racial visibility and representation, McIntosh elucidates the specific privileges afforded by the invisibility of whiteness. She defines white privilege as “an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day” (McIntosh 1), highlighting the ease with which white individuals navigate social structures that are fraught with obstacles for others. This “invisible package” grants white individuals fluidity and freedom within societal boundaries that remain rigid and confining for people of color. Particularly relevant is her observation that she is “never asked to speak for all the people of [her] racial group” (McIntosh 2), a privilege starkly absent for people of color who often find themselves involuntarily thrust into the role of racial spokespersons. This burden is not only an imposition but also a manifestation of societal expectations that demand people of color to constantly prove their worth and represent racial stereotypes in ways that are both affirming and countering prevalent biases.
In response to the stark disparities in racial expectations, the ideology of “uplifting the race” emerged as both a beacon of hope and a source of immense pressure within Black communities. Promoted by leaders like Booker T. Washington, this movement called upon Black individuals to demonstrate their worth through education and moral excellence, ostensibly to counteract systemic marginalization. Yet, this ideology imposed a double burden: externally, white privileging society expected Black individuals to be paragons of virtue to earn basic respect, and internally, the community pressured each member to adhere to an impeccable standard as representatives of their race. The term “uplift the race” thus evolved into a rallying cry, symbolizing a push for self-improvement as a strategy to combat racial discrimination.
However, this well-intentioned ideology also reinforced the inhumane expectation of infallibility and perfection, standards uniquely and unfairly applied to those oppressed within a marginalizing system. Johnson illustrates these dynamics in the novel when, during a graduation ceremony, the protagonist observes his classmate, Shiny, noting, “I think that solitary little black figure standing there felt for the particular time and place he bore the weight and responsibility of his race” (Johnson 44). Shiny, despite his personal achievements, is not seen merely as an individual but as a representative of an entire race tasked with uplifting collective perceptions through individual success. This scene highlights not only the external pressures exerted by a society that watches and judges each action but also the internal pressures within the Black community to combat stereotypes through exceptionalism. Further exploring these internal dynamics, Johnson writes, “among the blacks, they [. . .] defend their faults and failings [. . .] whenever white people are concerned. And yet, among themselves, they are their own most merciless critics. I have never heard the race so terribly arraigned as I have by colored speakers to strictly colored audiences” (165). This observation underscores the paradox of the “uplift” ideology—while it serves as a defense mechanism against pervasive societal racism, it also subjects individuals within the Black community to relentless scrutiny and an unachievable standard of perfection. Such a duality underscores the inherent inhumanity of a system where the privileged wield dehumanization as a tool to maintain power, continually dictating that the marginalized must prove their humanity time and again.
The early twentieth-century was a critical period in American history, characterized by significant social and political upheavals that deeply influenced the literary expressions of the time. While Johnson was responding to the specific societal conditions of early twentieth-century America, the themes of racial representation and the burden of perfection they explored remain painfully relevant. Through his compelling narrative, Johnson does not merely recount a biracial character’s experiences with passing; he challenges the reader to confront the systemic inequalities that define these experiences. By highlighting the oppressive demands of representation and perfection, his work advocates for a societal shift towards recognizing and respecting the inherent humanity of all individuals, irrespective of race. This recognition is crucial not only for historical understanding but also for dismantling the oppressive structures that continue to impact marginalized communities today.
Works Cited
Demant, Tarah, “Impossible Whiteness: Race, Gender, and American Identity in Early Twentieth-Century American Literature” (2010). All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). 87. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7QN64T0.
Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Hill and Wang, 1960.
McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Wellesley Centers for Women, 28 Jan. 2009, https://www.nationalseedproject.org/images/documents/Knapsack_plus_Notes-Peggy_McIntosh.pdf.
Sugimori, Masami. “Narrative Order, Racial Hierarchy, and ‘White’ Discourse in James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Along This Way.” MELUS, vol. 36, no. 3, Fall 2011, pp. 37+. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A268870487/BIC?u=mlin_s_umass&sid=summon&xid=a19fba26.