The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, a 1912 novel by James Weldon Johnson, is a fictional autobiography which was originally published anonymously. It chronicles the intricacies of racial identity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the life of its biracial narrator. The book portrays his journey through America's color lines, from his attendance of a black college in Florida to an elite New York nightclub, from the rural South to the suburbs of the Northeast, and a visit to Europe. Throughout the work, the author employs places, character, and incidents from his own life, making it a fine example of a "roman à clef." The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man inspired a generation of writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright.