Mulattoes as Mediators in Frances Harper's Iola Leroy and James W. Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Abstract

The primary focus of this study is on the urgent task of black community during the Reconstruction Era in terms of (re)shaping communal life by and for the black race. A lot of literary works by Afro-American writers have dealt with the issue of identity from various perspectives, for it has much to do with the issue of collective identity for black race in general. One specific topic about the problems of identity appears in the form of passing for white, and the texts by Harper and Johnson no doubt deal with the same topic as one of important events the protagonists are to experience. Unlike other works by Afro-American authors, the texts discussed in this study approach the issue of identity both in individual and communal level. That the protagonists from each text is mixed-blooded persons, namely mulattoes, casts a suggestive question to readers when it comes to the complicated issue of racial identity for the black race. Moreover, Harper’s text presents a mulatto girl as a communal leader, and it gives another question of the qualification of a mulatto girl’s leading role for black community. Throughout her text, Harper makes it clear that what is most needed for black community is mental growth, which seems to supercede material betterment. As an ardent social activist for her race, Harper has witnessed man’s liability to follies much greater than woman’s, and thus asserted woman’s role to lead the community. Iola’s position as a mulatto schoolteacher fits the role Harper thinks best. As a mixed-blooded person, Iola can bridge the two opposite worlds of black and white, and the role of a schoolteacher enables her to educate her race the sound sense of morality, which is indispensible for blacks to maintain not only social virtues but also, and more importantly, their racial identity. Iola’s role as an implied communal leader gives many suggestions to readers. Harper implicitly overturns the conventional notion of gender role and of “true womanhood” of her time. Also, Iola is used to criticize the prejudices of both black and white people. Iola Leroy well portrays the message of Harper, who has worked to enhance the conditions of black race. Johnson’s text clearly shows the different choice of the main character after witnessing white people’s cruelty against black people. The educational benefit he has acquired enables him to succeed in society and he has enjoyed his personal happiness as a white man. His longing for his own people, however, comes strong after he has lost his wife, and this longing is suggestive of his desire to belong to a certain group, which is black society, without any sense of oscillation between the two worlds of black and white. One more thing worth to be noted is that women play a significant role in a black society to maintain racial identity and racial legacy as well. This is why Harper has a female as the main character, and Johnson has his protagonist longing for people of his mother’s, not of his father’s. This emphasis on woman’s role to a degree casts a doubt on man’s role in a black community, and seems to suggest an alternative to the current social structure of black community. Woman and feminine virtues are what Harper strongly advocates for the betterment of the whole black race in terms of moral growth.