Title: How It Feels to Be Colored Me Summary & Analysis | LitCharts
Headings: How It Feels to Be Colored Me
Everything you need
for every book you read.
How It Feels to Be Colored Me Summary & Analysis

Content: She describes the centuries of slavery as a sacrifice so that African-Americans could gain freedom and opportunity, “the price paid for civilization.” Elaborating on her view of history, Hurston suggests that people who emphasize the continuing impact of slavery may be hindering her by putting obstacles in her path. Her own history of race describes it as a steady evolution towards black freedom and empowerment. She acknowledges that this happened only through tremendous sacrifice. This transactional view of history diverges sharply from the views of many black thinkers, then and now, demonstrating a diversity of thought for African-American historians and anthropologists as well as a characteristic optimism and self-confidence. Active Themes
Hurston describes her experience now as an adventure and a grand opportunity for glory. As an African-American, she’s viewed by whites as a representative of her race, which raises the stakes for her conduct and achievement. The scrutiny of white America creates a “national” stage on which Hurston can hold her performance. Here, the theme of performance is directly invoked as a way to understand race relations in the American 1920s. Whereas white people get the privilege of being treated as individuals whose conduct doesn’t bear on their larger racial group, a single African-American’s behavior will necessarily stand in for that of all African-Americans in the eyes of white America.