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Quote by James Weldon Johnson

“I finally made up my mind that I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name, raise a mustache, and let the world take me for what it would; that it was not necessary for me to go about with a label of inferiority pasted across my forehead.”

Quote by James Weldon Johnson

Book:The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Work

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

This novel is a first-person account of a man who passes as white in a society that is deeply divided along racial lines. The story delves into the complexities of his life, his struggle for self-identity, and the challenges he faces as he navigates the complexities of the post-Civil War South. more

Author

James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson was an American author, poet, musician, and civil rights activist. He is known for his poetry, novels, and musical compositions, and was a significant figure in the American civil rights movement. more

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“A great wave of humiliation and shame swept over me. Shame that I belonged to a race that could be so dealt with; and shame for my country, that it, the great example of democracy to the world, should be the only civilized, if not the only state on earth, where a human being would be burned alive.”

Source: The Selected Writings of James Weldon Johnson: Social, political, and literary essays

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