Jim Crow's : Racial Injury, Immobility, and the "Terrible Handicap" in the Literature of James Weldon Johnson

Dennis Tyler Jr.

African American Review, Volume 50, Number 2, Summer 2017, pp. 185-201 (Article)

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/afa.2017.0021

For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/665372

Access provided at 12 Sep 2019 22:37 GMT from University of Kentucky Tyler_Tyler 7/10/2017 8:05 PM Page 185

Dennis Tyler, Jr.

Jim Crow’s Disabilities: Racial Injury, Immobility, and the “Terrible Handicap” in the Literature of James Weldon Johnson

Recasting Race and

hileparticipatingintheannualQuizClubContestinEnglishComposition WandOratoryheldduringcommencementweekatAtlantaUniversity, JamesWeldonJohnsondeliveredawinningorationinMay1892thatillustrates thewaysblacknessbecameintimatelytetheredtodisabilityintheJimCrowera. Hisspeech,“TheBestMethodsof RemovingtheDisabilitiesof fromthe Negro,”offeredameasuredresponsetotheracistrhetoricof whitesupremacists, whoheldthatAfricanAmericanswereinherentlydisabled,whoclaimedthattheir innatedepravitymadethemunfitforfullcitizenship,andwhoarguedthatthey wouldsimplydisappearfromexistencepost-emancipation.1 Thesebeliefsabout racialdegeneracyandextinctionprovokedJohnson’spoliticalire,andhewanted nothingmorethantoputsuchnonsensetorest.Withthisobjectiveinmind,hetold hisaudiencethattherootsof disabilitylaynotinclaimsof racialcontaminationbut ratherintheracistviolenceandinjuriousnessoftheAmericancastesystemthatwas intended“tocrushoutof [theNegro]everysemblanceof manhood,intelligence andvirtue”and“toinscribeinhisverynatureeveryformof vice,superstitionand immorality”(425). TransitioningfromIndia’scastesystemanditsemphasisonreligionandprofes- siontotheEuropeancastesystemanditsemphasisonrankandpedigree,Johnson outlinedanalternativeformof casteintheUnitedStatesbyhighlightingitscrude racialhierarchy.Hewritesthat“casteinAmericaisthedistinctionbetweentwo greatraces,thewhiteandtheblack.Thewhitesmakethisdistinction.Itisnot mutual”(423).Here,casteissynonymouswithraceintheU.S.tosuchanextent thatitburdensracewithawiderangeof othersignifiers.2 Whatisradicalabout Johnson’sspeechisthemannerinwhichhemakesraceanddisabilityintotwo mutuallyconstitutivecategories.Hisspeechhighlightshowdisabilitywasracialized duringJimCrow. Inhisarticulationof the“disabilitiesof caste,”wherecasteturnsintoraceand whereraceismarkedbyskincolor,phenotype,andblood,Johnsoncitedseveral examplesofsubordinationinthelawashismostcompellingevidence.Inparticular, heexaminedJimCrowthroughthelensof disability.Asheputsit: ThedisabilitiesofcasteunderwhichtheNegrolaborsaremany,especiallyinthe South.Heisnotallowedinhotels,restaurants,oranyothersuchpublicplace,however wealthyhemaybe.Heiscompelledtorideinadirty,smokyrailroadcar,howeverrefined andcultured.Hedoesnotgetjusticeinthecourts;andforeveryslightoffensethefullest extentofthelawismetedouttohim.Heisdebarredfrommanyofthetradesandprofessions onaccountofhisrace.Infactheissubjectedtoeveryformofhumiliationand whichhumanityandarepublicanformofgovernmentwillallow.(423) Thislitanyof “disabilities”—thedenialof accesstoparticularpublicspaces, thefoulandshoddyconditionsof thesegregatedtraincar,thedisproportionate

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administrationof punishment,thelackof opportunitiesforupwardsocialmobility, andtheshamefulsubjectiontopublichumiliationandoppression—allservedthe ultimatepurposeofstigmatizingAfricanAmericansandrestrictingtheirmovement, ofthrustingthemintoasystemthatconspiredtobesmirchboththeirreputationand theirbodies.Thelaw’sproclivitytodisablefunctionedasanotherwaytodiscipline andcontrolblackbodiesthatitdeemeddeviantandunruly. Shiftingfromlawandpunishmenttohumiliationandoppression,Johnson offersanexpansiveunderstandingof disability,onethatalignswithhistoricaland theoreticaldefinitionsof theterm.Disability isdefinedasa“physicalormentalcon- ditionthatlimitsaperson’smovements,senses,oractivities”;andasan“[i]ncapacity intheeyeof thelaw,orcreatedbythelaw;arestrictionframedtopreventany personorclassof personsfromsharingindutiesorprivilegeswhichwouldother- wisebeopentothem”(OED).Thewordreferstobothaconditionandasystem— tosomethingthatrestrictsthemovements,functions,andactivitiesof apersonand tosomethingthatcreatesarestriction.3 Disabilityisoftenthesequelaof adisease, deformity,illness,injury,or alegalrestrictionanddisqualification.Thetermsinthis lexiconarenotthesame,buttheyarerelated.Thesevariousmeaningsattesttothe extraordinaryheterogeneityof disability,capableof beingusedbybothsupporters andopponentsof racialismandableism. Thecapaciousnessof thetermdisabilityanditsintertwinedhistorywithrace areevidentwhenweconsidertheeraof JimCrow.Asdisabilityscholarshave pointedout,raceanddisabilityshareanintimategenealogyinAmerica,particularly duringthenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies.SharonL.SnyderandDavidT. Mitchellidentifyaconvergencebetweenraceanddisabilitywithintheascendancy of ,whileSusanM.Schweiklocatesanaffinitybetweenthetwowithin municipallawsthattargetedthe“unsightlybeggar”inthelatenineteenthandearly twentiethcenturies(2).4 SnyderandMitchellarguethateugenics“exhibitedracist components,andracistcantellussomethingabouttheculturalconstruc- tionof disability”(101).“Itisnotcoincidental,”theyclaim,“thatthepoliciesthat hemmedinracializedgroupsinEuropeandtheUnitedStatesparalleledlegislation promotedbyeugenicistsagainstpeoplewithdisabilities.Legalized, whichcharacterizestheexistenceof aracistregime,findsitscorrelativesinthe policies[suchasmarriagerestrictionlaws,sterilization,institutionalization,and segregation]thatreflecteugenicsdiscoursesondisability”(127).Inherstudyof unsightly-beggarordinances,widelyknownasAmerican“uglylaws,”Schweikexam- inesthedisability-basedsegregationimposedbytheseordinancesascloselyinter- twinedwithrace-basedsegregationintheU.S.(9).Theuglylawstypicallystated that“[a]nypersonwhoisdiseased,maimed,mutilated,orinanywaydeformed, soastobeanunsightlyordisgustingobject,oranimproperperson...shallnot thereinorthereonexposehimself topublicview”(ChicagoCityCode1881qtd. inSchweik1-2).Theyaimedtosegregatethedisabledfrompublicview,whileJim Crowlawsaimedtosegregateblackpeoplefromwhitepeople.Schweikargues, “Theuglylawsarepartof thestoryof segregationandof profilingintheUnited States,partof thebodyof lawsthatspecifiedwhocouldbewhere,whowouldbe isolatedandexcluded,whohadtobewatched,whosecomfortmattered....[t]he twokindsof segregationwerenotsomuchcomparableasinseparable”(184,185). Mitchell,Snyder,andSchweikprovideadisabilityperspectiveforunderstanding Johnson’sparallelsbetweendisabilityandraceinJimCrow.5 Theirhistorical approachesspotlightthecombinationof corporeal,cultural,andsocialmeanings withintheworddisability andsignaltheimportanceof employingwhatTobin Sieberscallsa“theoryof complexembodiment,”onethat“valuesdisabilityasa formof humanvariation”and“viewstheeconomybetweensocialrepresentations andthebodynotasunidirectionalasinthesocialmodel,ornon-existentasinthe medicalmodel,butasreciprocal”(25).

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Thistheoreticalapproachputsblacknessanddisabilityintoproductiveconver- sationthroughanalogy.Whenexaminingtwocategoriesoridentities,onemust inevitablyconfronttheissueof analogy,whichcancreateafalseseparationand oppositionbetweentwocategoriesorgroups,obscuringtheimportanceof onein favorof another.Analogycanbedangerous,particularlywhendiscussingtheinter- sectionsof raceanddisability.AnnaMollowarguesthat“if raceanddisabilityare conceivedof asdiscretecategoriestobecompared,contrasted,orarrangedin orderof priority,itbecomesimpossibletothinkthroughcomplexintersectionsof andableisminthelivesof disabledpeopleof color”(69).WhileIagreewith Mollow,Irecognizethatanalogycanalsobebeneficial,bridgingadivideandforging aconnectionbetweendistinctthings;and,likemetaphor,analogysoinfusesour languagethatitcanbenearlyimpossibletoavoid.Ouraim,then,suggestsEllen Samuels,shouldnotbeto“attempttoescapefromanalogy,”butratherto“seekto employitmorecriticallythaninthepast”(236).Heedingthesesuggestions,Icare- fullyandcriticallyemployanalogyandmetaphorinthisessay,avoidingessentialist claimsandresistingtheimpulsetoflattenoutthevariousintersectionsof blackness anddisabilityinJohnson’swork. EmphasizinghowdisabilitywasnotinnatetobutratherimposedonAfrican AmericansduringJimCrow,Johnsonexposesnotonlythecapaciousnessof dis- abilitybutalsothereciprocitybetweensocialrepresentationandthebody.Attimes, Johnson’suseof disabilityco-articulatestermstypicallyemployedwhenreferringto JimCrow,suchasracialexclusion,segregation,andsubordination.YetJohnsonalso usesdisabilityinawaythatdivergesfromtheseterms,deployingittoemphasize howJimCrowaffectsthebodybyfocusingonracialstigmatization,immobilization, andbodilyinjuryanddeformation. Focusingonbothusesof disabilityinThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912)andAlong This Way (1933),IexaminehowJohnsonexposesdisabilityasan integral,notincidental,elementof theJimCrowregime.DemonstratingthatJim Crowwasmorethanasocialsystemthatseparatedblackpeoplefromwhitepeople, IarguethatJimCrowwasdesignedtodisableblackAmericanbodies—stigmatizing AfricanAmericansatlarge,restrictingtheirgeographicalmobilityandmovementin publicspaces,inflictingphysicalandpsychologicalwounds,anddiscipliningtheir bodiesasaformof controlandregulation.Wemustunderstandhowdisability functionedasaconduitforracialoppressionduringJimCrowforseveralreasons: itcallsattentiontohowsocialandlegalrestrictionsinflictedphysicalandpsycho- logicalinjuries;itshowshowJimCrowproduceddisabilityviatheenforcedimmo- bilityof segregationandthebodilydeformationandpsychologicaltraumaof ;anditchallengesourunderstandingof U.S.citizenshipandblackness, markingcitizenshipasapositionalgood(onethatcanbeenjoyedmorefullyby somewhenitisdeniedtoothers)whilehighlightingtheingenuityofblackresistance thatenabledAfricanAmericanstosurvivedespitetheonslaughtof disabilities imposedbyJimCrow. EventhetermJim Crow hasdisabilityembeddedinitsetymology.“JimCrow” becamepartof theAmericanlexiconasaresultof theminstrelperformancesof Thomas“Daddy”Rice,awhitemanwhoworeblackfaceandwhobasedhis“Jump JimCrow”actonaroutine,LeonF.Litwackexplains,“hehadseenperformedin 1828byanelderlyandcrippledLouisvillestablemanbelongingtoaMr.Crow” (xiv).6 AlthoughLitwackconcedesitisnotclear“howadancecreatedbyablack stablemanandimitatedbyawhitemanfortheamusementof whiteaudiences becamesynonymouswithasystemdesignedbywhitestosegregatetheraces”(xiv), itisclear,asIdemonstrateinthisarticle,thatJimCrowdistortedtherepresentation of blackbodiesthroughstigmatization,exclusion,andviolenceandthatthe rhetoricandpracticeof disabilitywereacrucialpartof thatprocess.

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Whilesomeblackwritersrefrainedfromportrayingtheblackbodyandmind asimpairedbyandJimCrowprimarilytorefutethewhitesupremacist argumentthatblacksareinnatelydefective,Johnsonwasamongseveralimportant blackwritersforwhomamorerigorousunderstandingof howblacknessintersects withdisabilitywasconsideredamatterof racialandsocialjustice.7 Ratherthan disassociatingracefromdisability,Johnsonengagedinacriticalexplorationof the intersectionsof blacknessanddisabilitytoenhanceourknowledgeof citizenship andtheracializedembodimentof AfricanAmericans.Ultimately,hestressedthat whiletheblackbodyisnotinherentlydisabled,theAmericaninstitutionsof segre- gation,lynching,andcorporalpunishmentaredisabling.“Inemphasizingnotonly theacceleratedmobilitybutalsothehandicappingcircumstances,”MarlonB.Ross argues,“new-centuryactivists[likeJohnson]hopedtoreconceptualizeradicallythe worth,status,andiconographyof therace”byfosteringattentiontothe“race’s rapidprogressdespitetheseverehandicapposedbysegregation,anti-blackviolence, disenfranchisement,unequaleconomicopportunity,andotherbarrierserectedby theJimCrowregime”(22). AlongsidescholarsinAfricanAmericanstudiesanddisabilitystudieswhohave expandedourknowledgeof JimCrow,Iillustratehowdisablementwasdiscreetly oneof JimCrow’smosteffectivetoolsof racialinjurybycloselyexamining Johnson’sfictionandnonfiction.8 First,IconsiderJohnson’spersonalencounters withthesystemof JimCrow—focusingonanincidentinwhichJohnsonposited theJimCrowrailcarasthelocusof disabilityandanotherinwhichtheNational Guardnearlybeathimtodeathandlefthimwithphysicalandpsychological injuries.Second,IanalyzehowdisabilityandstigmafunctioninJohnson’sonlynovel, payingcloseattentiontotheex-coloredman’switnessingof alynchingandits connectiontootherinstancesof disabilityandracialinjury.Givenhowinfluential Johnson’sownJimCrowexperiencesweretohisunderstandingof therelationship betweenraceanddisability,Ibeginwithhisstory.

Racial Stigma, Immobility, and Injury in Along This Way

ravelingfromNewYorktoJacksonville,Floridain1896,Johnsonendured Twhathedescribedasoneof hismost“ridiculous”encounterswithJim Crow’slegaldisability,an“injustice”soprofoundthatonlytherealizationof its “absurdity”quelledJohnson’sbitterness(Along This Way 86).Partof whatmade hisexperiencesoabsurdwasthesheercapriciousnessof latenineteenth-century segregationlaws.JimCrowlawsvariedfromstatetostate,andtheycompromised themovementof blacksinAmerica(oftenstigmatizingthemascontagiousand isolatingtheminpublicspaces)whileextendingwhites’freedomof mobilityand safeguardingtheirimmunity.Dependingonthesegregationlawsthatappliedduring interstatetravel,blackswereoftenshuttledfromonetraincartoanotherata moment’snotice. Johnson’spathtoFloridaentailedtravelingbysteamerfromNewYorkto Charleston,SouthCarolina,andthenbyrailfromCharlestontoJacksonville,which meantpassingthroughthestateof Georgiaalongtheway.Johnson’sjourneyfrom NorthtoSouthdemandedbothfamiliarityandcompliancewithvariousstatesegre- gationlaws.Hislife,liberty,andhealthdependedonit.AsJohnsonwrote,“South Carolinahadnotyetenacteditsseparatecarlaw,”sohecouldridecomfortablyin thefirst-classcarforwhichhepaid.But“itwasagainstthelawinGeorgiaforwhite andcoloredpeopletorideinthesamerailroadcar,”andaftercrossingtheGeorgia stateline,theconductoraskedJohnsontomoveintotheJimCrowcar.Because outrightrecalcitrance,heknew,wouldleadtohisarrestandimprisonment,Johnson

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reluctantlyagreedtoswitchtraincars—butnotbeforetaking“alookatthecar designatedfor[him]”(Along This Way 86). WhatJohnsondiscoveredafterinspectingtheothercarrevealsthesignificant roleofstigmaanddisabilityinthehistoryofJimCrow.Johnson’scoercedrelocation exposestwonoteworthyaspectsof theJimCrowsystem.First,hisrelocationshows thattheseparate-but-equaldoctrineofracialsegregationwasneitherwhollyseparate norequal:thecarsdesignatedforblackswereinworseshapethanthecarsdesignated forwhites;andasJusticeMarshallHarlanarguedinhisdissentfromPlessy v. Ferguson, thelandmark1896U.S.SupremeCourtcasethatupheldtheconstitutionalityof racialsegregation,segregationlawwasintendedprimarilytoimpedethemobilityof blacks,notthemobilityof whites.9 Second,Johnson’sforcedrelocationcrucially revealsthatracewasnotthesoledeterminingfactorwhensegregatingwhitesand blacksintoseparatetraincars.Disabilitywasconsideredtoo. Uponinspectionof the“colored”car,Johnsonimmediatelynoticeditspoor conditionsandpaltryaccommodations—familiarfeaturesof theJimCrowcarthat aimedtostigmatizeblackpeople.Johnsonwrote,“Itwastheusual‘JimCrow’ arrangement:one-half of abaggagecoach,unkempt,unclean,andillsmelling,with onetoiletforbothsexes”(Along This Way 86).Withlessspace,moredirt,foul smells,andonetoilet,the“colored”carpaledincomparisonwiththe“white” first-classcar,andtheconditionsof the“colored”carparalleledthoseJohnson describedinhis1892speechregardingthe“disabilitiesof caste,”whichindicated theparticularwaysthatdejuresegregationimmobilizedandstigmatizedblacksin America.Theconditionsof theJimCrowcaralsoforeshadowedwhattheSupreme CourtwouldeventuallyacknowledgeinPlessy v. Ferguson.JusticeHenryBillings Brown,deliveringthemajorityopinion,claimedthattheThirteenthAmendment wasintendedtoabolishslaveryandinvoluntaryservitudeandnot“toprotectthe coloredracefromcertainlawswhichhadbeenenactedintheSouthernstates, imposinguponthecoloredraceonerousdisabilitiesandburdens,andcurtailing theirrightsinthepursuitof life,liberty,andpropertytosuchanextentthattheir freedomwasof littlevalue.”ThewordthateffectivelyfueledtheJimCrowimagina- tionwas“disabilities,”andJohnson’searlyencounterwithracismonthesegregated trainrevealstheroleof disabilitywithinthestrangesocialmilieuof JimCrow. BylimitingblackmobilityanddenyingAfricanAmericanstherighttomovefreely withinwhite-designatedspaces,segregationlawseffectivelydiagnosedcasual contactandintimacywithblacksasacontagiousaffair,stirredfearsof racial contamination,andthencapitalizedonthatfeartojustifytheimmobilizationand quarantineof blackcitizensascompulsorymeasuresfortheprotectionof the healthybodypolitic.Johnson’sJimCrowexperienceinGeorgiawasnoexception tothisrule. Johnson’srelocationalsoexposedhowunderJimCrowlawsthe“colored”car functionedasthelocusof disability.Duringhisinspectionof theJimCrowcar, Johnsonobservedthepresenceof twowhitemen—oneof whomwasdisabled. Thesightof whitemeninaJimCrowcarwasnotespeciallyunusual.“Itwas,” wroteJohnson,“thecustomforwhitementogointothatcarwhenevertheyfeltlike doingthingsthatwouldnotbeallowedinthe‘white’car.Theywenttheretosmoke, todrink,andoftentogamble.Attimes,theobjectwastopickanacquaintancewith somelikely-lookingNegrogirl”(Along This Way 87).ThewayJohnsontellsit, theJimCrowcarwasabreedinggroundforwhitemaledebauchery—aloathsome, sometimeslascivious,spacewherewhitemendisplayedwantonandunscrupulous behaviorandsubjectedblackpassengers,particularlyblackwomen,topotential harmandinjury.“Ifwhitemenfrequentedthecarforthepurposeof soliciting blackwomenforsex,”historianBlairL.M.Kelleyargues,“theracialandsexual moresof thedaymeantthatblackwomenriskedtheirsafetywhenresistingor rejectingsuchadvances”(39).

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AlthoughitwascustomaryforwhitementooccupytheJimCrowcar,Johnson didnotmissthisopportunitytochallengethereasoningof racialsegregation. Beforeswitchingtraincarsastheconductorrequested,Johnsondemandedlegal parity,callingontheconductortoenforcethedoctrineof separatebutequalforall railroadpassengers—whitesaswellasblacks.Heinformedtheconductorthathe couldnotrideinthe“colored”carbecausetherewerewhitepassengerslocatedin thatcar.Ridingwithwhitepassengersinthe“colored”car,Johnsonsuggested, wouldputhiminviolationof thelawjustasmuchasridingwithwhitepassengers inthe“white”car.Asaresult,Johnsoninsistedthatthelawbeappliedequally. Theconductor’sresponsetoJohnson’scomplaintaswellashisexplanationfor whythetwowhitepassengerswereplacedinthe“colored”carspotlightthecom- plicatedrelationshipbetweenraceanddisabilityduringJimCrow.Theconductor explainedtoJohnsonthatthe“twomenwereadeputysheriff andadangerously insaneman,whowasbeingtakentotheasylum.”Consequently,theconductor exclaimed,“Ican’tbringthatcrazymanintothe‘white’car”(Along This Way 87). Theprincipalreasonthesetwowhitemenarelocatedinthe“colored”traincarwas becauseoneof themismentallydisabled—or,astheconductorputit,“insane”and “crazy.”Inthesurveilledandpolicedenvironmentof theJimCrowcar,thewhite man’smentaldisabilitymotivatedtheconductortoplacehiminthe“colored”car, notthe“white”car. Accordingly,JimCrowwasasmuchconcernedwiththesegregationofdisability asitwaswiththesegregationof race.JimCrowcarsexemplifywhatSnyderand Mitchellcallthe“culturallocationsof disability”(1)orwhatMichaelDavidson referstoasthe“sites”ofdisability(28)—thespacesinwhichdisabilityisdefinedand produced.ThatJohnsonwasforcedtoleavethe“white”first-classcarandrelocate tothe“colored”traincaronlytofinditoccupiedbyan“insane”whitemanreveals howJimCrowauthorized,authored,andenforcedsegregationbasedonbothrace anddisability.Thepresenceof the“insane”whitemanintheJimCrowtraincar encodesdisabilitywithrace(especiallyblackness)insuchamannerthatbothblack- nessanddisabilityfiguredasthreatstothehealthof thewhitecitizenryandhadto beremovedandexcludedfromthe“white”car.ThusJimCrowgroupedAfrican Americansandpeoplewithdisabilitiestogetherandisolatedtheminthe“colored” cartoconstitutewhitenessasanormativecategory.Withintheframeworkof segre- gationlaws,blacknessanddisabilityworktogethertoextendMitchellandSnyder’s conceptof “narrative ,”aphrasetheycoinedtoindicatehow“disabilityhas beenusedthroughouthistoryasauponwhichliterarynarratives[formsof writingwhosemeaningsareopen-ended,elastic,andmultiple]leanfortheirrepre- sentationalpower,disruptivepotentiality,andanalyticalinsight”and,moregenerally, howa“discursivedependencyupondisability”informsastory(49,47).JimCrow lawscanbedescribedasalegalnarrativeprosthesis,astrategicrelianceondisability and blacknesstostageandnarratewhitenessasnormalandable-bodied. Thisobservationbecomescleareroncewerecognizetheconductor’srefusalto identifytheraceof thementallydisabledmanintheJimCrowcar.Eventhough Johnsoncalledattentiontotheman’swhiteness,theconductoridentifiedhimonly byhisdisabilityandsex(asan“insaneman”anda“crazyman”).Thedisabledwhite man’sraceisvirtuallyerasedintheconductor’sresponsetoJohnson,amovethat disassociatesdisabilityfromthewhiteraceand,therefore,reinforcestheprivilege, immunity,andable-bodiednessof whiteness.Asimilarmoveoccurredwhenthe conductorinitiallydecidednottoseatthedisabledwhitemaninthe“white”traincar. Unmovedbytheconductor’sresponse,Johnson,fortunately,remainedfirm, insistingthattheconductorfulfillhislegalobligationsandofferinghimanultimatum. “Maybeyoucan’t[movethetwowhitemen],”Johnsonstated,“butif I’vegotto breakthislawIpreferbreakingitinthefirst-classcar”(Along This Way 87).Itis difficulttopinpointpreciselywhatledtheconductortomovethedisabledwhite

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manandhiswarden.DidJohnsonpersuadetheconductorbyconveyinghispoint inlanguagethattheconductorcouldunderstand—thelanguageof legalparity? Couldtheconductorsenseimplicitpressurefromthewhitepassengers,whosmiled andnoddedinapprovalafterheremovedJohnsonfromthefirst-classcarbutdid notinitiallyutterexplicitthreatstowardJohnsonoranypublicprotestagainst hispresence?Eitherway,bothJohnsonandtheconductorcametoanagreement: “Theconductorwas,afterall,areasonablefellow;andhedecidedtostandsquarely bythelaw,andbringthetwowhitemenintothe‘white’car”(87).Thewhitepas- sengersimmediatelyregrettedthisswitch.“Thefirstthingtheinsanemandidafter sittingdown,”wroteJohnson,“wastothrusthismanacledhandsthroughtheglass of thewindow,cuttinghimself horribly”andthenheproceededtoyellandcurse. Althoughthepassengersprotestedthechangeandwereupsetthattheywere subjectedtothe“ravings”ofthe“maniac,”bothJohnsonandtheconductor“stood squarelybythelaw”(87).Onthisoccasion,Johnsonwasabletojoinforceswiththe conductor,whowasessentiallyactingonbehalf of thestate,inholdingthelawup toitsownsubparstandard.

nhisencounterwiththeNationalGuard,Johnsonwouldnotbenearlyas Ifortunate.WhileJohnson’sexperienceonthetrainexhibitedhisracialexception- alism—hisastuteknowledgeof segregationlawsaswellashisabilitytochallenge andsubvertthem—hisviolentencounterwiththeNationalGuardconfirmedthe pervasivenessofdisabilityduringJimCrow.InthecaseofJohnson,disabilitymeant notonlylegalrestraintbutalsophysicalandpsychologicaltrauma.Hisconflictwith themilitiaoccurredatRiversideParkinJacksonville,Florida,whereheagreedto meetayoung,fair-complexionedfemalejournalist,whohadsolicitedJohnson’s adviceforanarticleshewaswritingabouttheGreatFireof 1901anditseffectson theblackcommunity.Thechoiceof thispubliclocationturnedouttobeacritical misstep,foracadreof onlookersassumedthatJohnsonwasescortingawhite womanintotheparkandreportedtheactivitytotheauthorities,leadingtothe dispatchof nationaltroops.Chargedwiththetaskof protectingawhitewoman fromablackman,themilitiamen,armedwithcombatweapons,trackeddown Johnsonandattackedhimnearabarbed-wirefence.Johnsonrecalled: Justacrossthefenceinthelittleclearingwereeightortenmilitiameninkhakiwith riflesandbayonets....Theysurgeroundme.Theyseizeme.Theytearmyclothesand bruisemybody;allthewhilecallingtotheircomrades,“Comeon,we’vegot’im!Comeon, we’vegot’im!”Andfromalldirectionsthesecomradesrush,shouting,“Killthedamned nigger!Killtheblacksonofabitch!”(Along This Way 167) Thisassaulthasalltheessentialelementsof apotentiallynching:Thetroopsshout deaththreats.Theybearriflesandbayonetsincloseproximitytoabarbed-wire fencewithtreesloomingjustbehindtheclearing.TheymercilesslybeatJohnson. Theyyellsoundsofterror,andatthecenterofthismaelstromwasJohnson,ablack manwhowaspresumedguiltyof beingintheparkwithawhitewomanandwho fearedthisattackwouldcausehisimminentdeath.Indeed,thebrutalitywasso severethatJohnson,whowaswritingaboutthisincidentinhismemoirdecades afteritoccurred,couldnotresistshiftingfrompasttopresenttensewhendescribing theviolenceheendured.TheonlywayJohnsoncouldconveyaccuratelytheimpact of hisassaultwasbytransformingthepastintopresent,relivingblow-by-blowhow themilitary“surge,”“seize,”“tear,”“bruise,”and“rush”hisbody.Hisactiveverbs animatethesceneandsignifyhowthetraumaof hisnear-deathexperienceendures inhismindseveraldecadeslater.AsJacquelineGoldsbyargues,“untilthismoment— andonlywiththismoment—Along This Way hadbeennarratedinthepasttense.” Johnson’sabruptshiftintensesignalsthathecouldnot“findthelanguageto

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partitionoff theincidentasamerepasteventwhilepreservingitstransformative effect”(Goldsby171). AlthoughJohnsonsurvivedhisassault,hedidnotsurviveitunscathed;along withphysicalinjuries,Johnsonsufferedintensepsychologicaltrauma.Afterhe revealedthathisfemalecompanionwasnotwhiteandtheNationalGuardreleased himfromcustody,heremainedhauntedbyhisracialnightmare: Forweeksandmonthstheepisodewithallofitsimplicationspreyedonmymindand disturbedmeinmysleep.Iwouldwakeofteninthenight-time,afterlivingthroughagain thosefewfrightfulseconds,exhaustedbythenightmareofastrugglewithabandof murderous,bloodthirstymeninkhaki....Itwasnotuntiltwentyyearsafter,throughworkI wasthenengagedin,thatIwasabletoliberatemyselfcompletelyfromthishorrorcomplex. (Along This Way 170) ThatJohnsonparalleledhisphysicalattackwiththatof hispsychologicalone demonstrateshowracialviolenceaffectedhismindjustasmuchashisbody.Not unlikehisshiftingfrompasttopresenttensetodescribehisphysicalassault,here Johnsoncollapsestimewhendescribinghismentalstate.Whileheinitiallyclaims thattheassault“preyed”uponhismindfor“weeksandmonths,”itisclearthatthe psychologicaltraumalastedmuchlonger,forheultimatelyadmitsthatitwouldtake twodecadesandhisantilynchingworkwiththeNationalAssociationforthe AdvancementofColoredPeople(NAACP)beforehecouldfeeltrulyfree.Johnson’s variousshiftsintimeexposethedisorientinganddebilitatingpowerof antiblack violence:itmadeanassaultby“abandof murderous,bloodthirstymen”feellikea “fewfrightfulseconds”;itmade“weeks”of terrifyingnightmaresindistinguishable from“months”;andittook“twentyyears”torecoverfullyfromwhatJohnson describesasa“horrorcomplex.” Despitethesignificanceof thisnear-deathexperiencetoJohnson’slifeand writing,hedidnotpubliclydisclosedetailsof theencounterforthirtyyears.Inthe immediateaftermathof theassault,hetoldonlyhisbrotherRosamond;herefused totellhisparentsoranyoneelseinhisfamily(Along This Way 169-70).According toGoldsby,thefirstpersontodivulgeJohnson’ssecrettothepublicwasW.E.B. DuBois.Speakingin1931atadinnerforJohnson’sresignationfromtheNAACP, DuBoissurprisedtheaudiencewithshockingnewsaboutJohnson’sincident: “Mr.Johnson...wasoncenearlylynchedinFlorida,andquitenaturallylynching tohim,despiteallobviousexcusesandexplanationsandmitigatingcircumstances, canneverbelessthanaterriblereal”(qtd.inGoldsby166).DuBoislikelysharedthis storytoshowthatJohnson’sfifteen-yearcommitmenttotheNAACPantilynching campaignwaspersonalaswellaspolitical.YetJohnson’sintentionalsilenceabout theassault—evenashewasfightingtoprotectothersfromexperiencingsuch violence—callsattentiontohisownneedtosuppressthispainfulexperience. Goldsbyarguesthat“theassaultsteeledJohnsontoacceptlynchingashis‘terrible real,’aforcewhichclarifiedthewaysinwhichliteral,violentenactmentsof racial powerdemarcatedtheboundariesbetweenexperience(‘Life’)anditsaesthetic expressions(thethings‘enjoyed’fromLife)”(166).ThedistinctionGoldsbymakes betweenlifeandthethingsenjoyedfromitmirrorsthecorrelationbetweenblack- nessandwhitenessthatwasacentralpartof JimCrow—likethedifference betweensurvivalandfreedom,betweendutyandrights,andbetweenlegalandsocial disability andfreedomfromit.Inthisregard,the“terriblereal”of lynching—its abilitytoharm,disfigure,andkill—demarcatestheviolenceof JimCrow’svaried formsof oppression.Thisbrandof violenceissomethingthatJohnsonwaswilling tointerrogateinhiswork(particularlyinhisantilynchingactivismandhisnovel)as longashispersonallifewasnotatthecenterof it.

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The “Terrible Real,” the “Terrible Handicap” in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

hileJohnsonwastootraumatizedtosharehisnear-lynchingexperience Wwiththeworldimmediately,theassaultdidnotpreventhimfromdepicting thephysicalandmentalconsequencesoflynchinginhisonlynovel,The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.Firstpublishedanonymouslyin1912,thenovelwasrepub- lishedin1927withJohnson’snameattachedtoit,markingThe Autobiography of an Ex- Colored Man asaparadigmaticpassingtext.Morethananovelaboutracialpassing, Autobiography,asseveralscholarshavenoted,addressesotherpermutationson passingaswell:itisanovelthatpassesasanautobiographyandborrowskeytropes fromslavenarratives;itisatextthat,despiteitstitle,pertainsasmuchtothe malleabilityof gender,sexuality,andclassastorace;itisamigrationnarrativethat traversesextensivegeographicalterrain;and,withitsfocusonthearts,itjumps betweenanumberof literaryandmusicalforms,engagingfictionandnonfictionas wellasNegrospirituals,classicalmusic,andragtime.10 Focusingprimarilyonthe lynchingsceneandtheex-coloredman’sotherencounterswithdisability,Iofferan accountof Johnson’sdiscursive,physical,andpsychologicalrepresentationsof disability,anignoredbutessentialfeatureof thetext. Atitscore,thelynchingscenerepresentsaculminationoftheantiblackviolence deployedthroughoutthenovel,anditconfirmswhatJohnson’sprotagonist-narrator, theex-coloredman,observesashetravelsacrosstheU.S.andabroad:thatthe intractableJimCrowsystemmadetheblackbodyespeciallyvulnerabletobodily deformationandpsychologicaldisability.Althoughtheblacklynchingvictimin Johnson’snoveldies,hislynchingisnotonlyarepresentationof death.Themanner inwhichheiscaptured,tied,displayed,andburnedalivebeforeacaptiveaudience suggestsanattempttodeformtheblackbody,totransformthewaythebodyis visualizedintheAmericanculturalimagination.Thelynchingalsoemphasizesother formsof antiblackviolenceinthenovel—particularlythewaysblacknessisstigma- tized.Thenoveldetailsthemannerinwhichdisabilityandstigmaareinflictedupon bodiesof colorviathewatchfuleyeof theex-coloredman,whosevisiblywhite skinallowshimtoexperiencelifeonbothsidesof thecolorline.Asawhiteman, herecognizesthe“premium”placedonwhiteness(or“lackof color”)inthe UnitedStates(Autobiography 92).Asablackman,heexperiencesfirsthandthe disabilityof JimCrow,whichhedescribesas“thedwarfing,warping,distorting influencewhichoperatesuponeachcoloredmanintheUnitedStates”(13). This“dwarfing,warping,distortinginfluence”iscertainlyonereasontheex- coloredman’swhitemillionairepatrondiscourageshimfromreturningtotheSouth asanAfricanAmericancomposer,warningthathisrelocationandblackracial identificationcouldpotentiallyhavedisablingeffects.Thewhitepatronstates, Myboy,youarebyblood,byappearance,byeducationandbytastes,awhiteman.Now whydoyouwanttothrowyourlifeawayamidstthepovertyandignorance,inthehopeless struggleoftheblackpeopleoftheUnitedStates?Thenlookattheterriblehandicapyouare placingonyourselfbygoinghomeandworkingasaNegrocomposer.(Autobiography 86) Althoughthewhitepatrononlygetsitpartlyrightwhenheobservesthattheex- coloredmanis“byblood...awhiteman,”sincetheinfamousone-dropruleof racialidentityplacesthenarratorsquarelyintothelegalcategoryof blackness, henonethelessrealizesthattheex-coloredman’sperceivedwhitenessprovidesa mobility,freedom,andfinancialadvancementunavailabletotheblackcomposer whoventuresbackSouth.Thatthewhitepatrondescribessuchareturnasthe “terriblehandicap”emphasizestheparticularrolethatdisabilityplaysinracial oppressionandinjury.Thepatron’swarningbothforeshadowstheSouthernlynching

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(whatDuBoisdescribesasthe“terriblereal”forJohnson)thatwilloccurinthe novel’snextchapterandrecallstheex-coloredman’sotherexperiencesof disability andracialviolence. ThelynchingsceneinJohnson’sAutobiography suturesthe“terriblereal”and the“terriblehandicap”inthepenultimatechapter,wheretheex-coloredman witnessesthelynchingof anunidentifiedblackmaleintheSouthandwatchesthe graphictransformationsof boththevictim’sbodyandthewhitemob’sbehavior. Itisnotonlytheimageoftheblackman’sburningbodyandthethrongofanimated spectatorsthattraumatizestheex-coloredmanbutalsotheghastlysoundsthey emit.Inthemomentof crisisnearthenovel’sconclusion,asthewhitemenbusily prepareforthelynching,thenarratorrecallstherapid-firesequenceof eventsina mannerthatdeservesourextendedattention: Themenwhoatmidnighthadbeensternandsilentwerenowemittingthatterrorinstilling soundknownasthe“rebelyell.”Aspacewasquicklyclearedinthecrowd,andarope placedabouthisneck;whenfromsomewherecamethesuggestion,“Burnhim!”Itranlike anelectriccurrent.Haveyoueverwitnessedthetransformationofhumanbeingsinto savagebeasts?Nothingcanbemoreterrible....Fuelwasbroughtfromeverywhere,oil, thetorch;theflamescrouchedforaninstantasthoughtogatherstrength,thenleapedupas highastheirvictim’shead.Hesquirmed,hewrithed,strainedathischains,thengaveout criesandgroansthatIshallalwayshear.Thecriesandgroanswerechokedoffbythefire andsmoke;buthiseyesbulgingfromtheirsockets,rolledfromsidetoside,appealingin vainforhelp.Someofthecrowdyelledandcheered,othersseemedappalledatwhatthey haddone,andtherewerethosewhoturnedawaysickenedatthesight.Iwasfixedtothe spotwhereIstood,powerlesstotakemyeyesfromwhatIdidnotwanttosee. (Autobiography 110-11) Nearlyeverydetailherecontrastswithanothertoformamacabreandgrotesque affair,andtogethertheyforcethereadertointerrogatethepracticeandmeaning of lynching.Enactedpartlyasspectacleandpartlyascelebration,thisinstanceof brutalpublictorturechangeseveryoneinthescene:thewhitemob,theex-colored man,andcertainlytheblacklynchingvictim.Withrespecttothewhitemob,their transformationfrom“humanbeingsintosavagebeasts”isbothvolatileandrou- tinized.Thesuddenandmarkedshiftinthewhitemen’sdeportment—fromutter silenceandrelativeinactiontoscreamsandquick,lockstepmovement—heightensthe scene’sexplosivenesswhileshowingtheirbehaviortobemethodicalandstrategic. Themerementionof violence—“Burnhim!”—electrifiedthem,andthe“rebel yell,”the“terrorinstillingsound”of Confederatesoldiers,turnsthisviolenceinto anactof waragainsttheblackbody.Thejuxtapositionof thecheering,yelling crowdalongsidethecrying,imploringvictimframesthiseventasakillinganda spectacle,asaninflictionof painintendedtodisableanddestroytheanonymous blackmalevictimaswellasoffersadisticpleasuretosomeof thespectators.Yet noteveryoneisthrilledbytheincitementof racialviolence;someseem“appalled,” whileothersare“sickenedatthesight.”Figuredasaninterloper,theex-coloredman doesnotconsiderhimself anactivememberof thiscrowd.Hiscarefuldistinction betweenthethird-personpluralandthefirst-personsingularmakesclearthatthe blackmanchainedtotherailroadtieandsetaflameis“their”victimandthatthe orchestrationof thelynchingissomething“they”hadplanned.Theex-colored man’sunknownracialidentityallowshimtobeaspectator—aparalyzedwitness, notaparticipant.Thesightof thelynchingleaveshimtransfixed,unabletoavert hiseyesfromthe“terrible”eventhe“didnotwanttosee.” Althoughhewitnessesthelynching,theex-coloredman’sphysicalpresencedoes notquiteensureeitheritsrealnessoritsgraphicviolence.Toconfirmtheveracity andimportof thistraumaticmoment,theex-coloredmanreliesonlynching’s remains—itstools,itsaftereffects,andespeciallythedeformed,mutilatedcorpseof itsvictim:“BeforeIcouldmakemyselfbelievethatwhatIsawwasreallyhappening,

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Iwaslookingatascorchedpost,asmolderingfire,blackenedbones,charred fragmentssiftingdownthroughcoilsof chain,andthesmellof burntflesh— humanflesh—wasinmynostrils”(Autobiography 111).The“scorchedpost,” the“smolderingfire,”andthe“coilsof chain”constitutepartof thestory,relaying importantdetailsaboutwhathastranspired.Butthedecomposingbodyimmediately authenticates—helpstheex-coloredman“believe”in—lynching’sabilitytodisable andimpair.Torched,burned,writhing,andscreamingforhislife:hereisvisual proof of thedisfiguredblackmalebody.Thesensorialexperienceof thelynching overwhelmstheex-coloredman,traumatizinghim.Thesoundsof theblacklynch victim,thesightof hisdecomposedbody,andfinallythesmellof hisburnedflesh allcollideinthisscenetoconveylynching’sdeadlypower.Whilethevictim’s “bulging”eyes,“blackenedbones,”“charredfragments,”anddissolvingfleshoffer theex-coloredmanhauntingevidenceof thevulnerabilityof blackcorporeality, thevictim’ssoundsandsmellleaveanindelibleimpression.Theex-coloredman “shallalwayshear”theblackman’s“criesandgroans”justascertainlyashewill alwaysassociatethesmellof burninghumanfleshwiththatof thelynchvictim. Beforethelynching,thevictimstandsasaman“informandstature”;afterthe lynching,theman’sformandstatureareradicallyaltered,leavinghimdeformedin fullviewof afrenziedSouthernaudience(110). Somemightarguethatthenovel’slynchingscenedrawsitspowermorefrom brutalitythandisabilityorthattheultimateintentof lynchingistokill,notdisable. Butthelinebetweenbrutalityanddisabilitywasquiteporousinthenineteenthand earlytwentiethcenturies,andthetermlynching hadseveralmeaningsandtooka varietyofforms.DouglasC.Bayntonclaimsthatinthenineteenthcenturydisability denotedfeeblemindedness,insanity,andmentalillnessinadditiontophysical impairment,deformities,abnormalities,andinjury(33-37).Andlynching“didnot apply,”Johnsonstates,“exclusivelytotheinflictionofthedeathpenalty”(“Lynching” 71).Inthenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies,blackpeoplewerelynchedinmyriad ways,includingshooting,hanging,beating,amputation,burning,mutilation,and tarringandfeathering.11 Moreover,theNAACP’sphotographicarchiveincludesa visualrecordof lynching’sconspicuousdepictionsof disability.“Inadditionto imagesof brutalizedblackcorpses,”Goldsbyobserves,“thevisualrecordsinthe [NAACP’s]anti-lynchingfilesarefullof scopicallysympatheticpictures(photo- graphedataremove,withthevictim-subjectsfacingthecamera’seye)thatdepict lynching’sreappearanceinblindings,amputations,andothercorporealmutilations thatsouthern‘progress’wassupposedtohavemadeobsolete”(288-89).Johnson’s evocationof disabilityandbodilydeformationwhendescribinganeventtypically associatedwithdeathclarifieshisexpansiveunderstandingof thevariousways disabilitywasdeployedduringtheJimCrowregime.Andinthislynchingscene (aswithotherscenesof lynching),thevictim’simpairmentdoesnotserveasthe onlyinstanceof disability.Theex-coloredmanhastolivewithwhathehasjust witnessed,and“livingwithlynching,”KorithaMitchellargues,entailsbeing “[t]raumatizedbythesightsandsoundsof racialviolence(174,165). Parallelingthemetamorphosesof thewhitemobandtheblackmalelynch victim,theex-coloredmanundergoesaphysicalandmentaltransformationaswell. Thelynchinghasadisablingeffectonhisbodyandpsyche,renderinghimtem- porarilyimmobileanddebilitated.Duringthelynchingtheex-coloredmanis“fixed tothespotwhere[he]stood”;laterhe“wasasweakasamanwhohadlostblood” (Autobiography 112).Theeffectontheex-coloredman’sbodyissuchthatthelynch victimservesashisdarkdouble;bothmenarenameless,andbothloseblood. Whilethevictimlosesbloodliterally,theex-coloredmanlosesblackbloodfigura- tively,sinceitisthelynchingthatmakeshimdecidetopassasawhiteman. Theex-coloredman’sdecisiontopassasaresultof thelynchingimplicitly raisesthespecterof anotherformof disability:castration.Althoughthislynching

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victimisnotcastrated,themannerinwhichlynchingaltersourunderstandingof blackmasculinityinthenovelforcesustowonder,claimsHazelV.Carby,“ifthe ritualof dismembermentandthesadistictortureof blackbodiesis,infact,asearch toexpose,andperhapsevenanattempttoclaim,anessenceofmanhoodthatisboth fearedanddesired”(47).Carbyconsidersthepracticeof lynchingasaninvalidation of blackmanliness.PhillipBrianHarpermakesasimilarpointinhisexaminationof therelationshipbetweenracialauthenticityandgender.AsHarperargues,insofaras blackracialauthenticityisgenderedasmasculineandthelynchingpropelstheex- coloredmantoengageinblack-to-whiteracialpassing(which,throughthefigure of thetragicmulatto,hasbeencodedin“decidedlyfeminine terms”[103;original emphasis]),thesensationalviolenceof lynching—withitsfocusondisability,defor- mation,andtorture—couldbeinterpretedasanattempttorobboththelynching victimandtheex-coloredmanoftheirmasculinity,representingaformoffigurative castration.12 Thislineof reasoningismorecompellingif weponder,asdisability scholarMichelleJarmandoes,theoverlapbetweentheracialviolenceof white-on- blacklynchingandtheeugenicnarrativesof “cognitivelydisabledmen”as“sexual predators”inanefforttopromote“institutionalization,surgicalcastration,and sterilization.”Jarmanwrites:“Isuggestthatevenasracistmobviolenceandsurgical sterilizationfolloweddistincthistoricaltrajectories,theubiquitouspresenceof lynchinginthepublicimaginationduringtheperiodfrom1890to1940mayhave informedandhelpednaturalizetherationaleusedtosupportmedicalcastrationand asexualization”(92).Theritualoflynchingistiedtoahistoryofemasculation and asexualization,andthishistoryintersectswiththeregulationof disabilityandrace intheUnitedStates. TheparallelthatJohnsoncreatesbetweentheex-coloredmanandtheanonymous victimspotlightsanobservationhewouldlatershareinhis1924essay“Lynching— America’sNationalDisgrace,”wherehewritesthat“noonecantakepartina lynchingorwitnessitandremainthereafterapsychicallynormalhumanbeing” (75).Inhisnovel,nooneinthescenesurvivesintact.Thevictimishanged,burned, andkilled;themobturnsintobeasts;andtheex-coloredmansuffersparalysis andenduresaracialtransmutationthatimpoverisheshisracialauthenticityand masculinity.

hatmakesthelynchingscenesopivotaltotherestof Autobiography isthe mannerinwhichitcallsattentiontothevariedvulnerabilitiesof theblack W 13 bodytodisabilityandstigmaduringJimCrow. Theex-coloredman’sexperiences beforeandafterthelynchingreveal,inparticular,thewaysinwhichhischildhood momentsof racialidentificationandhisfamilialandprofessionallifeareinfusedby disability.14 Thelynching,forinstance,isnothisonlyencounterwithdisability. Beforethelynching,theex-coloredmanconfrontshismother’sdisabilityaswellas thatof asingerof spirituals.First,hismothersuffersfromamysteriousillnessthat greatlycompromisesherhealth,leavingherbedriddenandeventuallyresultingin herdeath.Second,atthe“bigmeeting,”aweek-longgatheringwherevarious congregationsuniteatacentrallylocatedchurchforaseriesof socialandreligious functions,theex-coloredmanseesSingingJohnson,thepowerfulsingerwholeads thecongregationinanumberof Negrospiritualsandwho,thenarratornotes, hasonlyoneeye(Autobiography 102). Whiletheex-coloredman’smother’sdeathrepresentsanirrevocablelossforhim, hisencounterwithone-eyedSingingJohnsonsymbolizesthepotentialrecuperation of aracial,ancestral,andculturalpastthattheex-coloredmandeeplydesiresat certainpointsoverthecourseof thenovelyetultimatelyforsakesasaresultof the violentlynching.SingingJohnson’simprovisationandingenuity,hisimpressive

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memoryof theNegrospirituals,andhisremarkablecomplementaritywiththe preacherJohnBrownallmarkhimasrepresentativeof those“unknownblack bards”whomJamesWeldonJohnsonhonorsinhispoem“OBlackandUnknown Bards”anddiscussesinhisPrefacetoThe Book of American Negro Spirituals (12).15 Johnson’sPrefacerevealsabiographicalconnectiontoSingingJohnson,aman whomJamesWeldonJohnsonwouldperiodicallyseeinchurchandwhomhe describesasa“smallbutstocky,dark-brownman...withoneeye,and...aclear, strong,high-pitchedvoice”(Preface23).Thisdescriptionof SingingJohnsonin Johnson’sPrefaceisrepeatedalmostverbatiminthenovel(105).AsLucindaH. Mackethanargues,inthesceneinthenovelwherethenarratorvisitsthe“bigmeet- ing,”JamesWeldonJohnson“wreststhevoicefromhisnarratorand,inhisown ‘singing’voice,goesintogreatdetailconcerningthewaythesongleaderdirectedthe spiritualsatthemeeting”(145-46).Inhisnovel,Johnsontransfershisownpersonal exuberanceaboutthepowerof blackmusicandperformersontohisnarrator. Theex-coloredmanissoinspiredbySingingJohnson’sperformanceof theslave songs—whathecalls“themosttreasuredheritageof theAmericanNegro”—that onemightexpecttheex-coloredmantodefytheodds,challengehiswhitepatron’s theoryaboutthe“terriblehandicap,”andprosperasablackcomposerintheSouth (Autobiography 108).Thisfuture,unfortunately,nevermaterializes,forthelynching followsshortlythereafter,anditchangesthetrajectoryof theex-coloredman’slife. JamesWeldonJohnson’sdecisiontopairthelynchingscenewithSinging Johnson’sperformanceatthebigmeetinginthesamechapteremphasizeshow antiblackviolencevialynchingdestroystheex-coloredman’smusicalaspirations andspotlightshowblackbodiesaremadesusceptibletoinjury.Theex-colored man’sexperiencesatthebigmeetingenhancethedramaticeffectof thelynching, thusgeneratingasynergybetweenthetwoscenes.WeldonJohnson’sdetailed descriptionof bodilydeformationinthelynchingsceneoffsetsthelackof particu- larsheprovidesabouthowSingingJohnsonlosthiseye.AfterreadingJohnson’s descriptionof thelynchvictim’s“eyesbulgingfromtheirsockets,”thereadergains abettersenseof thecircumstancesthatcouldhaveledtoSingingJohnson’smissing eye.WhatThe Autobiography makesclearisthatbeingblackduringJimCrowmeans beingsubjectedtoallmannerof violenceandthemanifestationsof thatviolence cantakeseveralforms:disability,lynching,anddeath. Suchdisablingviolencebearsextraordinarytransformativepower,reshaping thefit,healthy,andmobileblackbodyintoanunfit,feeble,andimmobileone.This distortionof theblackbodyiscentraltoJohnsonaswellastoseveralotherAfrican Americanwriterswhoexplorethewaysblacknessisdeployedinoppositionto whiteness.“[I]ntheAmericaof JimCrow,”EricJ.Sundquistasserts,“tobeblack wasalwaystowearthedistortedmaskof blacknessbeforethewhiteworldandto be,inlegalandpoliticalterms,‘nobody.’Tobeblack,inrelationtothedominant whiteculture,wastobe‘anonymous,’asJohnsonhasit,tobe‘nothing,’asseveral of CharlesChesnutt’spenetratingstorieshadargued,ortobean‘invisibleman,’ asRalphEllisonwouldlatercontendinhisownborrowingfromJohnson’splot” (9).Whilesuchdesignations,asSundquistobserves,suggestthereduciblequalityof blacknessinthenation,theyalsoemphasizethecomplicatedwaysthatblackness becomesdistorted. Inthecaseof Johnson’sprotagonist,tobe“nobody,”“nothing,”or“invisible” differsfrombeing“anonymous”inthatanonymityisamatterof choice.Whenthe ex-coloredmanrenounceshisAfricanAmericanheritage,packshisbags,andheads toNewYorkatthenovel’sconclusion,hechoosesanoptionthathisvisiblywhite skinaffordshim.Unlikehisdarkdouble,whoisburnedandmutilated,oreven Ellison’sinvisibleman,whoseinvisibilitystemsfromotherpeople’srefusaltosee himaccurately,thenarratorinhabitshisanonymousstatusbyresolvingneitherto “disclaimtheblackracenorclaimthewhiterace...andlettheworldtakemefor

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whatitwould”(Autobiography 113).Althoughtheex-coloredmanpositshisdecision asneutral,healsotakesmeasurestoensurethattheworldwouldtakehimfora whiteman.Hisreasonsforultimatelydecidingthathe“wasnotgoingtobea Negro”areconsistent:hewantstocircumventdisabilityandracialstigma,which hedescribesvariouslyas“defects,”“the‘brand,’”the“labelof inferioritypasted across[his]forehead,”and,inreferencetothelynchingvictim,“everysignof degeneracystampeduponhiscountenance”(115,11,124,113,110).Theex- coloredmanreferstoascientificdiscourseunderpinnedbydisability—relyingon rhetoricthatmarksblackbloodasasourceof contaminationanddegradationand, occasionally,searchingforpresumedabnormalitiesanddefectsinthefeaturesof others(ashedoeswithhismotherafterheisraciallyidentifiedatschool).16 Focusingprimarilyonwhathewouldgainbypassingaswhite,theex-colored manfailstoconsiderfullywhathewouldloseintheprocessorhowhisdecisionto passmightinjureAfricanAmericansatlarge.Theex-coloredmansuffersfroma moralandculturalblindnessthatobstructshisabilitytoseethedireconsequences of hisactions.Acomprehensiveunderstandingof thepracticeof racialpassing, AllysonHobbsargues,mustnotonlyconsiderthe“benefitsaccruedtothesenew whiteidentities,”butalsoreckon“withtheloss,alienation,andisolationthat accompanied,andoftenoutweighed,itsrewards”(6).Theex-coloredmandoesnot quiteunderstandtheimportof thislossandalienationuntilitistoolate,claimingat thenovel’sendthatindisavowinghisblacknessforwhitenesshechose“thelesser part”andsoldhis“birthrightforamessof pottage”(Autobiography 125).Hisdeci- siontopassaswhite—to,ineffect,severallblackracialtiesbycuttinghimself off fromhisfamily,friends,andcommunity—registersasaformof violence. The“ex-”thatprecedesthecoloredman’snameisakintoaracialdismemberment, anegationof hisnameandhispeople.

Conclusion

heex-coloredman’sstoryisnotJamesWeldonJohnson’sbut,asValerie TSmithargues,“[a]nyconsiderationof Johnson’snovelmustaddress... theconnectionsbetweenthesimulatedautobiographyandJohnson’sactualautobio- graphy,Along This Way,”toavoidconflatingJohnson’slifewiththatof hischaracter (45).Thenovel’ssuccessandthepublic’sconfusionastowhetherAutobiography was thestoryof Johnson’slifeplayednosmallroleinJohnson’sdecisiontowritehis memoir.Hewantedtodistinguishhisbiographyfromthatofhisfictionalnarrator’s. AshewritesinAlong This Way,“Icontinuetoreceivelettersfrompersonswho haveread[Autobiography]inquiringaboutthisorthatphaseof mylifeastoldinit. Thatis,probably,oneof thereasonswhyIamwritingthepresentbook”(239). Johnson’sdesiretoseparatehimself fromtheex-coloredmanisunderstandable; hisprotagonistexhibitsakindofcowardicethatcouldhavedamagedthereputation of aracemanlikeJohnson. YetputtingJohnson’sautobiographyinconversationwithhisnovelandhis speechalsodemonstrateshowtheoppressivesystemofJimCrowdeploysdisability. Shiftinghisfocusfromlegaldisabilitytothepsychologicalandphysicaltraumaof racialviolence,Johnsonexaminestheintricateandcomplexwaysthatblacknessand disabilityintersectinAmericanculture.Johnson’s“TheBestMethodsof Removing theDisabilitiesof CastefromtheNegro,”Along This Way,andThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man illustratethattobeblackduringJimCrowwastobedenied entranceintotheAmericanbodypolitic,towitnessfirsthandhowblackbodieswere madevulnerabletophysicalandmentalinjury,andtoexperiencetheperilof U.S. racismthatfunctionedtodisciplineandquarantineAfricanAmericans.

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TheJimCrowregime—itsunidirectionalandselectivesegregationof racial groups,itsparticulargroupingandisolationof AfricanAmericansanddisabled peopleapartfromthetraincardesignatedforwhites,itsstigmatizationof black bodiesascontagioussubjects,itsstrictregulationof interracialcontact,itsdeform- inganddisablingpracticesof lynching,anditsrelentlessdistortionof blackness— providesscholarswithampleopportunitytoexaminemorepreciselyhowraceand disabilityfunctionasrelatedsocialconstructs.AfricanAmericanstudiesandareespeciallyequippedtofacilitateexaminationsof thesharedgenealogyof blacknessanddisabilityduringJimCrowandtoarticulatehowbodiesdesignatedas devianthavebeendisqualifiedhistoricallyfromnationalbelongingandsocialpartic- ipation.Thefieldof AfricanAmericanstudiesisflushwithexamplesof howracial ideologiesdependondiscoursesof disabilityinthenineteenthandtwentieth centuries,whilethefieldof disabilitystudieshasrecognizedhowotheridentity categorieshaveinformedculturalnotionsof disability.Together,AfricanAmerican studiesanddisabilitystudiescan,if employedproductively,offerusavitalhistory of disability’sshapingofAfricanAmericans’racializedembodiment.Thishistoryis presentinpartsof JamesWeldonJohnson’scorpus,whichprovidesanarrativeof thewaysdisabilityintersectswithblacknesstounderstandmorefullythecomplexi- tiesof racialinjuryandsubjection—anarrativethatdeservesfurtherscholarly attentionyetisoftenoverlooked.

1. For more on theories of racial degeneracy and racial extinction, see George M. Fredrickson, The Black Notes Image in the White Mind: The Debate of Afro-American Character and Destiny, 1817-1914 (1971; Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1987), 228-55; and Jennifer C. James, A Freedom Bought with Blood: African American War Literature from the Civil War to World War II (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2007), 1-33. 2. On caste, see John Dollard, Caste and Class in a Southern Town (Garden City: Doubleday Anchor, 1937). 3. These varied meanings are, however, often overlooked largely due to the phrasing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), which effectively narrowed the definition of the word. The ADAAA defines disability as “a physical and mental impair- ment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of [an] individual,” and requires either “a record of such an impairment” or the possibility of “being regarded as having such an impairment.” The ADAAA amended the ADA, and it made changes to the definition of the term in an attempt to clarify and broaden it. Among other things, it clarified what the phrase “major life activities” means in its defini- tion. Although those changes have increased the number and types of persons who are protected under the ADA, the amended definition is still narrower than the historical definition of the word disability. Both the ADA and ADAAA define disability only in terms of the individual and fail to implicate the system. 4. Quayson also observes a change in the understanding of the disabled body during this period: “By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, a marked shift came when, with the emergence of a scien- tific medical discourse, the disabled were subjected to taxonomies of scientific measurement and ordering” (9). The “taxonomies of scientific measurement and ordering” imposed on people with disabilities are similar to the taxonomies of ethnology and phrenology imposed on African Americans during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 5. For more scholarship on the intersections of disability and blackness, see Blackness and Disability: Critical Examinations and Cultural Interventions, Christopher M. Bell, ed. (East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2011). 6. See Hutton for more on the connection between the term Jim Crow and disability. Hutton writes that the “birth of Jim Crow” began behind a theater in Louisville, where Thomas D. Rice got material for his routine: “Back of the Louisville theater was a livery-stable kept by a man named Crow. The actors could look into the stable-yard from the windows of their [dressing rooms], and were fond of watching the movements of an old and decrepit slave who was employed by the proprietor to do all sorts of odd jobs. As was the custom among the negroes, he had assumed his master’s name, and called himself Jim Crow. He was very much deformed—the right shoulder was drawn up high, and the left leg was stiff and crooked at the knee, which gave him a painful but at the same time ludicrous limp” (115-17). According to historical accounts, Rice closely watched this enslaved man’s performances and adapted them for the stage. 7. For more on the impulse of some black writers to refrain from portraying the black body as injured, see Baynton; and Jennifer C. James, A Freedom Bought with Blood: African American War Literature from the Civil War to World War II (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2007).

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8. See Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: New, 2012); Nirmala Erevelles, “Crippin’ Jim Crow: Disability, Dis-Location, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline,” in Disability Incarcerated: Imprisonment and Disability in the United States and Canada, Liat Ben- Moshe, Chris Chapman, and Allison C. Carey, eds. (New York: Palgrave, 2014), 81-100; Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of in North Carolina, 1896- 1920 (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1996); Ross; Schweik; and C. Vann Woodard, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (1955; New York: Oxford UP, 2002). 9. According to Justice Harlan, “Every one knows that the statute in question had its origin in the pur- pose, not so much to exclude white persons from railroad cars occupied by blacks, as to exclude colored people from coaches occupied by or assigned to white persons. . . . The fundamental objection, therefore, to the statute, is that it interferes with the personal freedom of citizens” (Plessy v. Ferguson). 10. See Steven J. Belluscio, To Be Suddenly White: Literary Realism and Racial Passing (Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2006); Melanie R. Benson, Disturbing Calculations: The Economics of Identity in Postcolonial Southern Literature, 1912-2002 (Athens: U of Georgia P, 2008); Goldsby; Harper; Samira Kawash, Dislocating the Color Line: Identity, Hybridity, and Singularity in African-American Narrative (Stanford: Stanford UP, 1997); Monica L. Miller, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity (Durham: Duke UP, 2009); Aldon L. Nielsen, Writing between the Lines: Race and Intertextuality (Athens: U of Georgia P, 1994); Smith; Snorton; Siobhan B. Somerville, Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture (Durham: Duke UP, 2000); Robert B. Stepto, From Behind the Veil: A Study of Afro-American Narrative (Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1979); Masami Sugimori, “Narrative Order, Racial Hierarchy, and ‘White’ Discourse in James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Along This Way,” MELUS 36.3 (2011): 37-62; and Sundquist. 11. See Philip Dray, At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America (New York: Random House, 2002); Goldsby; Mitchell; Christopher Waldrep, “Word and Deed: The Language of Lynching, 1820-1953,” in Lethal Imagination: Violence and Brutality in American History, Michael A Bellesiles, ed. (New York: New York UP, 1999), 229-60; and Amy Louise Wood, Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America, 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2009). 12. Snorton presents another way of thinking about gender and race in Johnson’s novel. Focusing on the ex-colored man’s “longing for whiteness” and “femininity,” Snorton examines Johnson’s Autobiography through a series of “transgender yearnings,” which he defines “as an expressed alignment with another gender or the articulation of ‘cross-gender’ desire” (108). 13. For an analysis of stigma and race, see Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Staring: How We Look (New York: Oxford UP, 2009); and Erving Goffman, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (1963; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986). 14. Two scenes, in particular, are worth mentioning. In the first, the ex-colored man is racially identified at school, and he suffers momentary blindness and deafness. When the narrator stands after the principal requests for all of the white scholars to rise, his teacher quickly puts him in his place. She says, “You sit down now, and rise with the others.” This incident disorients the ex-colored man, who experiences not only shock but also a sudden loss of sight and hearing: “I sat down dazed. I saw and heard nothing. When the others were asked to rise I did not know it” (Autobiography 10). The narrator remembers this moment of racial idenfication as not only a psychological assault but also a physical one, describing that unforgettable day at school as a “sword-thrust” that would take him years to heal from (12). The second is the scene of racial disavowal near the novel’s conclusion, when the narrator reveals his racial identity to his white girl- friend. In this scene, he experiences a deformational racial transformation. Under her “wild, fixed stare,” the ex-colored man’s skin is darkened, his features are distorted, and his hair texture is altered (121). 15. For more on the ways in which blackness and blindness have affected the production and reception of black music and musicians, see Terry Rowden, The Songs of Blind Folk: African American Musicians and the Cultures of Blindness (Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2009). 16. After a few of his white classmates identify him as a “nigger,” the ex-colored man becomes obsessed with the color, shape, texture, and size of his and his mother’s features (10). Although the narrator at one time considered his mother to be the “most beautiful woman in the world,” he readily admits he was “searching for defects” that he assumed her “nigger” blood would produce (11). The references to blood in the novel recall a scientific racial discourse, which characterizes black blood as a contamination to white blood. For more on the narrator’s understanding of race, blood, and eugenics, see Belluscio; Melanie R. Benson, Disturbing Calculations: The Economics of Identity in Postcolonial Southern Literature, 1912-2002 (Athens: U of Georgia P, 2008); and Snorton.

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