In Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Black Man the author James Weldon Johnson tells the story of a black man passing as a white man. That is the major theme in this novel; “passing” in the early 1900’s in order to escape the horrors of racism towards the black race to succeed in white America.

The crisis throughout the novel centers on the ex-colored man discovering his identity, and this uncertainty is the central idea of the novel. From the book, “I finally made up my mind I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name raise a moustache, and let the world take me for what it would;…”(Chapter 10). By saying this, the ex-colored man can live his life free of fear from the white man and lead a better life than a black would.

There are many causes that lead to his reasons for passing as a white man. Many influences give the idea onto the character, that in order to be successful in life you must be white. Since the ex-colored man was well educated unlike most, of the black culture it was easy for him to adapt to the whit culture. In the book the ex-colored man experiences the good and the bad of both races and perceives

Through out his journey the ex-colored man wanted to be known for his abilities as an artist all over the world and not just in the black society and not just seen as a black man in the white society, so the ex-colored man began to course into books and music in order to forget his black culture. In order to do so he had to abandon his black identity and become white. The ex-colored man didn’t want the average salary of a black man; he wanted what he deserved despite of his color and race. He wanted to be well recognized musically, and get paid properly for it. “There were two immediate reasons of my forced loneliness; I began to find company in books and greater pleasure in music” (Chapter 2). The ex-colored man wanted to “bringing glory and honor to the Negro race” (Chapter 3).

A major influence on the ex-colored man was his white friend. His millionaire friend gives him a choice by saying, “My boy, you are by blood, by appearance, by education and by tastes, a white man. Now why do you want to throw your life away amidst the poverty and ignorance, in the hopeless struggle of the black people of the Unites States?”(Chapter 9) His friend told the ex-colored man that how his music will never be recognized if he is looked at as a Negro in the

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