The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man — John Shaqi
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored ManJohnson, James Weldon
General
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Johnson, James Weldon
African American men -- Fiction; Racially mixed people -- Fiction
The second class, as regards the relation between blacks and whites,
comprises the servants, the washerwomen, the waiters, the cooks,
the coachmen, and all who are connected with the whites by domestic
service. These may be generally characterized as simple, kind-hearted,
and faithful; not over-fine in their moral deductions, but intensely
religious, and relatively--such matters can be judged only
relatively--about as honest and wholesome in their lives as any other
grade of society. Any white person is "good" who treats them kindly,
and they love him for that kindness. In return, the white people with
whom they have to do regard them with indulgent affection. They come
into close daily contact with the whites, and may be called the
connecting link between whites and blacks; in fact, it is through them
that the whites know the rest of their colored neighbors. Between this
class of the blacks and the whites there is little or no friction.
The third class is composed of the independent workmen and tradesmen,
and of the well-to-do and educated colored people; and, strange to
say, for a directly opposite reason they are as far removed from the
whites as the members of the first class I mentioned. These people
live in a little world of their own; in fact, I concluded that if a
colored man wanted to separate himself from his white neighbors, he
had but to acquire some money, education, and culture, and to live in
accordance. For example, the proudest and fairest lady in the South
could with propriety--and it is what she would most likely do--go to
the cabin of Aunt Mary, her cook, if Aunt Mary was sick, and minister
to her comfort with her own hands; but if Mary's daughter, Eliza, a
girl who used to run round my lady's kitchen, but who has received an
education and married a prosperous young colored man, were at death's
door, my lady would no more think of crossing the threshold of Eliza's
cottage than she would of going into a bar-room for a drink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account