The Lynching in "Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man"

            In James Weldon Johnson’s novel, Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the lynching of a black man black man by a crowd of people. At the time of the execution, the people had originally decided to hang him, but they ultimately decided to burn him alive instead. When the burning took place, the Ex-Colored Man describes the horrifying situation – “Some of the crowd yelled and cheered, others seemed appalled at what they had done, and there were those who turned away sickened at the sight. I was fixed to the spot where I stood, powerless to take my eyes from what I did not want to see.” In this scene, he truly sees the racism in society and the characteristics of lynching that make it such a powerful aspect of southern culture. He is in such disbelief and shock that he is actually incapable of moving and taking his eyes from the sight, even though it is something that he does not want to ever witness.

            I think that this scene is extremely important in that it seems to help the Ex-Colored Man decide how he wants to live his life. Before the lynching, his ambitious and dreams were focused around the pride of his African American culture by writing music. Unfortunately, after the lynching, he decides to just give that up and just live his life in convenience as a white man. While he decides to live his life this way, it is also important to understand that he does not necessarily declare that he is either white or black. The narrator mentions, “I argued that to forsake one's race to better one's condition was no less worthy an action than to forsake one's country for the same purpose. I finally made up my mind that I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race.” Personally, I don’t necessarily admire how he gives up and does not stand by his culture, but I do admire the fact that he realizes to abandon it entirely is a dishonorable action. In a way though, by the end of the novel I feel like he has abandoned it by marrying a white woman, raising a family, and owning a somewhat successful business. I am happy that she accepts him when he tells her about his problems, because that seems to be one of the only forms of acceptance that he experiences, but at the same time I still don’t really know if I respect his decisions based off of his fear of being black—which I guess is pretty easy for me to say considering I am not an African American (so I haven’t really made up my mind when it comes to how I personally feel about his decisions).