James Weldon Johnson

 An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

James Weldon Johnson

About the Author

Born in 1871, Johnson's mother was a musician and school teacher, imparting him with knowledge of classical music and English literature. Well known for his leadership with the NCAAP, Johnson was also known as a writer, musician, and being one of the first African American professors as New York University. 

About An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Telling the tale of a biracial man capable of passing for white, Johnson pulls upon his knowledge of both classical European and contemporary rag-time music in his novel.  The narrator is forced to choose between living as a white man, or living up to his African American culture by expressing himself through rag-time music.  This novel plays heavily on the idea of passing, as well as W. E. B. Dubois' idea of the double consciousness and the color line.

Dicussion Question 1

The narrator of the story claims to find three separate classes of black people, the desperate class, the domestic service class, and the independent workman. How do you feel he came up with such classes and developments and throughout the story, and do you think they apply to modern day society?

Discussion Question 2

Throughout the novel, the narrator struggles with his racial identity. What situations tend to cause him to reject his identity and at what situations cause him to embrace it? How does this apply to the fact he is "passing" throughout the novel, as a white man?

Fact 1

Author, James Weldon Johnson wrote the melody for the song "Dem Bones" and worked in Broadway with his brother. Below is a video with the song "Dem Bones"

Analytic Paragraph

Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a fictional, coming-of-age story about a young mulatto man in the early 20th century. The narrator of the story is unnamed, and his mother was a white woman, while his father was black. His mixed heritage however, has resulted in the ability for him to pass as white. While most would use the ability to pass to an advantage, his emotional connections to his black heritage prevent him from completely immersing himself in the white world. The novel begins as the ex-colored man describes his life at home with his mother, then continues on as he attends school. He then goes on to detail his life, where he has decided to pass as a white man. Towards the end of the novel, he describes how white people treat and hold blacks in respect, even so long after the civil war. He explains how Southern whites, “they love the Negro better than the Northern whites do” because Northern white people view blacks “in a sort of an abstract way, as a race...Yet, generally speaking, they have no particular liking for individuals of the race” (80). For Southern whites, the opposite occurs, they “despise the Negro as a race...but for certain individuals they have a strong affection” (80). Perhaps this is the true reason as to why our narrator has decided to continue to pass for white, or is it, because of the lynching? Whatever his reason, it is clear to us, as readers that he regrets his decision in the end. Despite marrying and having a wife and two children, he fretted about being found out until after his wife's death. And, despite the life and family he has had, the narrator feels his life is unfulfilled. He has traded in his race for security and lost all of the heritage and culture that he may have grown to love. He explains how he is a coward, and how men like Booker T. Washington “are making history and a race” and how he wishes “I, too, might have taken part in a work so glorious” but instead he considers himself a “coward, a deserter” in regards to his Negro heritage (99).