Identity

In the Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the issue of identity is a present theme throughout. Individuals during this time who grew up as half-black and half-white, such as the mulatto's we have discussed, usually are faced with this questioning of who they are. After being told by his principle that he was "colored", he really becomes a new person and takes on a different view of the colored and white people around him. Along with the colored identity issue, there is also this distinct classification of blacks that he poses in the beginning. He does not want to be seen as a "poor black man", and greatly opposes this label. After experiencing the lynching, he comes to conclusion that there isn't a need for him to differentiate himself between the two races of black and white; he is not seen as any race anymore, but "let the world take him for what it would".