Ethnic and Personal Passing in the Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man

Abstract

Passing has multiple meanings in African American literature, especially in the area of personal identity in distinct races. In The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man, James Weldon Johnson describes many aspects of passing, which mainly focus on suspicious of their individual identity and inquisitiveness between two races. Among the series of passing, James Weldon Johnson lay emphasis on the ethnic passing, which refers to the particular way that both black and white people used to cross the border of racial segregation, which could help them overcome the difficulties or comprehend the other races. It could be physical, emotional, or even cognitive. On the other hand, Johnson also depicts the characters identities passing both from black to white and white to black. This paper analyzed The autobiography of an Ex-colored Man, trying to find out the series of passing and their indicated meanings, which may have repercussions for how future scholars interpret this literature.