Henry Louis Gates, Jr. argues that "race" is not itself a natural entity, but rather a synthetic construct used to degrade certain peoples. It implores society to move forward free from the shackles of categorization, freeing itself from a false reality. While this commentary has significant merits and noble intentions, its overly utopian core fails to take into consideration the great inability of members of society to overcome its long-held values ​​and beliefs. Undeniably, humanity sees through a shaded lens, and while racial schism may be artificial rather than biological in origin, it has and still very much shapes the world we live in. In no work is the color line so unambiguously scaled as it is in James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. The subject of the story is the benefactor of a social anomaly: he is able to oscillate and transcend the color barrier, somehow protecting himself from the partial operation of the white faction and the intense oppression that encompasses the black one. Along with this trait there is a completely methodical and presumptuous personality that pervades the entire text. In place of these structures, the Ex-Black Man receives only a fleeting glimpse of both worlds; he is never fully assimilated into either realm. The notable absence of emotion prevents an emotional bond with a category that further inhibits the traditional association with race. The narrator then completely loses sight of the color line as his presumptuous nature disconnects him from racial networks. As a result, just one dramatic encounter is enough to tint the subject's faint sense of color line and amplify their presence. The Ex-Black Man's fleeting glimpse into the domains of black and white shapes assumptions that are demolished in a single instant, leaving him with an eternal regret for his lack of social experience. Indeed, the absence of a racial identity excludes man from the existence he desired to appreciate. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Rather than growing up as an active, cultured member of society, the former black man seems to develop more as a opinionated commentator. He does not hesitate to reveal his vision of racial America, continually affirming his beliefs involving black and white dynamics. At the beginning of the story, the speaker confidently states "I believe it to be a fact that the colored people of this country know and understand white people better than white people know and understand them" (403). The subtle labeling of "people of color" and "white people" combined with the absence of a collective "we" corroborates his individualistic personality, lacking racial identification. Although it externally shapes him as an impartial individual (a traditionally positive attribute), the the narrator's presumptions ultimately prevent him from cultivating a definite ethnic association. He pedantically states "...This ability to laugh heartily is, in part, the salvation of the American Negro; does much to prevent him from going the way of an Indian" (423), degrading much of his potential character. Giving even a little credit for the providence of a race to so trivial a source as laughter not only devalues black autonomy and intelligibility, but also isolates the Ex-Black Man from that group It becomes impossible to develop a strong black self because he himself devalues ​​their existence, going so far as to label them as “creatures” (477). The speaker states: “It's a struggle; for though the black man fights passively, yet he fights...bears the fury of the storm like the willow" (434) - an edictwhich seems to convey a certain sense of self - until it is juxtaposed with a white contest: "...For though the Southern white man may be too proud to admit it, he is still using his best energies in the competition; yes he is devoting most of his thought and effort to it" (434). The prototypical activism of the first statement shades into ambivalence when it adds a vaguely positive reference to prevailing white oppression. The branding of the immense racial struggle as a "contest" further shows its uncertainty and desperate impartiality; he cannot commit himself anywhere as long as he channels his perceptions into generalizations of both the white and black spheres. The narrator is surprisingly unsentimental; evaluates even the most epic episodes in a callous and analytical way. For this reason, they handicap themselves, reducing the acculturation necessary for an enriching social experience. His detachment grows from an underlying selfishness that already envisages an almost elementary economic existence, he admits "I felt that 'Red Head' - as I involuntarily called him - and I had to be friends. I have no doubt that this feeling was strengthened by the fact that I had been quick enough to understand that a big, strong boy was a desirable friend in a public school..." (397). Racial identification is not yet a matter of great importance to young people, rather peer association serves as an early indicator of self-definition. Since he was a child, the Ex-Black Man has sought to develop a symbiotic relationship. He seeks to improve his own situation rather than value the bond at its purest level, foreshadowing similar activity even after the racial construct has been presented to the boy. This is not to say that the speaker is a completely insensitive and disinterested being, on the contrary, he shows a deep love for his mother and, later, for these women, however, they are not the subject's source of identification. His lasting pain does not stem from those relationships (despite their tragic end), but instead arises from a desire for social functionality in a racial sense. As a male, the former black man would have traditionally drawn many roles from his father, but he reveals that “I somehow failed to arouse any considerable feeling of need for a father” (410). The parent attempts to contact his child, although it proves unsuccessful. The boy withdraws into himself and shows the nascent selfish and materialistic attitude that will mature later in the piece by remembering "I thought, almost with remorse, about how I had left my father; but, even so, for a moment it crossed my mind mind a feeling of disappointment because the piano was not a grand piano" (413). As an adult, the narrator questions his own attitude regarding his assimilation, reflecting, “Was it more a desire to help those I considered my people, or more a desire to stand out… That's a question I've never asked answered definitively" (474). The answer appears to be quite open, however, as he concludes "...I would have a better chance of attracting attention as a black composer than as a white composer" (474). 'Ex-Black Man uses racial identification as a tool to improve his material position, thus displacing ethnicity from his self-definition. This paradigm progresses into a deep ambivalence for racial interactions, the speaker recalls: “I was sick at heart. Yet I must confess that beneath it all I felt a sort of admiration for the man who could not be influenced by what he believed to be his principles" (484). The Ex-Colored Man can only feel ephemeral empathy for his black roots and simply.