Plum Bun

Fauset, Jessie R. "Plum Bun." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David L. Lewis. New York: Viking Penguin, 1994. 348-50. Print.

This short little piece brought a question to my mind. Perhaps I just don’t understand the mentality of racism, but to what purpose serves “finding out” people as black or white? If they look, act, and present themselves in a certain way, why do people like the teacher in this short story find it necessary to investigate further? The parallels to the rampant homophobia in this country are obvious, but I never thought that such a secretive nature could apply to black Americans. After all, if you’re black it should be pretty obvious.

The only conclusion I can come up with is that people like the teacher don’t hate people solely because of their skin color, but hate their family ties and style of life as well. It’s like during the holocaust where if any of your ancestors were Jewish, you were considered a Jew in spite of any sort of mixing of races. And, of course, it’s ridiculous.

The final line is somewhat funny, where Angela states that she never would have considered admitting that she was colored when asked by her teacher. The matter-of-fact way she says it makes it seem like she understands the need for disguising herself (like in Passing) as white.