Racial Capitalism in ‘Black No More’ Anh Thu Nguyen College

‘Black No More’ by George Schuyler is a satirical race novel that is set during the 1940s America, a time when segregation and racism were highly prominent among white and black Americans. The plot of ‘Black No More’ narrates the consequence when black Americans are able to transform into a Caucasian (including erasing all African features); however, their black traces can still be detected in their offspring (whom shall have black skin like their once-black parents). The main theme is Racial Capitalism because Race and Capitalism are two elements that define the democracy of the United States. In Chapter 4, the main character Matthew, a successful outcome of Black No More, Inc., begins to witness the changes in society when the black community is starting to diminish. This passage marks Matthew’s moment of realization about Racial Capitalism and his intention to take advantage of it for his profitable benefit.

Once he becomes a Caucasian, he is in a period of ‘idleness’ and ‘soft-living’ which depicts his white privilege. The life of a Caucasian is breezy and stress-less. ‘Soft-living’ implies luxury because he doesn’t have to care about the struggle of race condemnation. ‘Soft’ has connotations to delicacy and ‘-living’ is...