Abigail Fricke

Mrs Stanford

ENG237

27 November 2019

Race Is Only Skin Deep

Throughout the duration of her writing career, Zora Neale Hurston was known for

creating memorable characters whose actions displayed the idea that they were unapologetic in

regard to the celebration of their race and African American heritage. As she created these

characters during a time in which this celebration was often frowned upon by society, Hurston’s

work was deemed especially controversial by critics. In arguably one of her most controversial

essays, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”, Hurston claims the role of one of these characters by

providing readers with an autobiographical account of the time in which she first realized her

race. Despite having a simplistic description, Hurston employs pictorial diction and witty

figurative language to make readers aware of the importance behind this realization. Regardless,

she begins this essay by delving into the memories of her childhood where she resided in

Eatonville, Florida. Here, Hurston recalls the moments when she embraced neighbors, sang and

danced in the streets, and observed her surroundings from a content locality on her front porch.

During this time in her life, she was sheltered from the harsh reality of racism, as Eatonville was

an all-black community and she was known as “everybody’s Zora”. However, this all changed

after Hurston’s mother passed away when she was thirteen and she was forced to leave home and

attend a boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. Upon arrival, Hurston recalls that she

immediately became “colored”. Through the analysis of these events and “How it Feels to be
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Colored Me” as a whole, it can be noticed that Zora Neale Hurston was unaware of her race

during her childhood, whereas she was very aware of it during her teenage years.

When analyzing the text, it can clearly be noticed that Zora Neale Hurston was unaware

of her race during her childhood. This idea is first revealed in the story when the socioeconomic

status of Eatonville, Florida, the town where Hurston was raised until she was thirteen, is

outlined. In the text, it reads, “Up to my thirteenth year I lived in the little Negro town of

Eatonville, Florida. It is exclusively a colored town. The only white people I knew passed

through the town going or coming from Orlando” (Hurston). As this text explains, Hurston was

raised in an all-black community whose only presence of white people came as they were

passing through town. As a result, it is clear to see that she only grew up unaware of her race due

to the fact that she was shielded against the cruelty of racialistic repercussions. If Hurston had

been raised in a more culturally diverse community, then she surely would’ve been put in

specific situations that made her race a relevant topic of discussion. As this was not the case,

though, the socioeconomic status of the town she grew up in can be seen as a factor that

showcases Hurston’s inability to notice her race throughout her childhood. Another factor that

showcases Hurston’s inability to notice her race throughout her childhood was the way she

behaved around the white people who traveled in and out of Eatonville. Through the imagery

depicted of Hurston perching on the fence post, readers can notice that Hurston would greet the

travelers passing through her town. In the text, this depiction reads:

My favorite place was atop the gatepost. Proscenium box for a born first-nighter. Not
only did I enjoy the show, but I didn't mind the actors knowing that I liked it. I usually
spoke to them in passing. I'd wave at them and when they returned my salute, I would say
something like this: "Howdy-do-well-I-thank-you-where-you-goin'?" Usually,
automobile or the horse paused at this, and after a queer exchange of compliments, I
would probably "go a piece of the way" with them, as we say in farthest Florida. If one of
my family happened to come to the front in time to see me, of course, negotiations would
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be rudely broken off. But even so, it is clear that I was the first "welcome-to-our-state"
Floridian, and I hope the Miami Chamber of Commerce will please take notice (Hurston).
From this section of the text, readers can see that regardless of their race, Hurston happily

welcomes everyone who passes through Eatonville. One can almost infer that she is unaware of

the ethnic division that subsists outside of her own atmosphere. Despite this, it is clear to see that

Hurston’s inability to notice her race is shown within this act, as her greeting the white people is

the opposite of something a colored child would’ve done during this time period. They would

have instead stayed inside and made no acknowledgment of the white people passing by. But, as

before, this was not the case so Hurston’s act of welcoming the white people who passed through

her town can be seen as a factor that proves that she was unaware of her race during her

childhood.

When analyzing the text, it can be noticed that Zora Neale Hurston was very aware of her

race during her teenage years. This idea is first revealed when Hurston clearly states, “I left

Eatonville...I was not Zora of Orange County anymore, I was now a little colored girl”

(Hurston). Here, readers can notice that Hurston’s transit to Jacksonville is what inaugurates her

life as a “little colored girl”. This is presumably because Jacksonville is a broader and whiter

municipality that implements the racial differences that Eatonville did not. Regardless, Hurston

just simply stating that she feels as if she is a “little colored girl” proves how she became aware

of her race during her teenage years. Furthermore, another instance that reveals how Hurston

became aware of her race during her teenage years is when she attends college at Barnard

University. In the text, she recalls upon this experience saying, “For instance at Barnard. Beside

the waters of the Hudson, I feel my race. Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock

surged upon, and overswept” (Hurston). Here, Hurston uses an imagistic metaphor to represent

the way she felt about her race amidst white people. If she hadn’t been aware of her race at this
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point in her life, then she would’ve felt no differently at Barnard, or in Jacksonville for that

matter, then she did in Eatonville where she was surrounded by only other colored people.

However, because she did feel differently and commented on it through the use of figurative

language, her experience at Bernard also showcases that Hurston was very aware of her race

during her teenage years.

Although it was argued that Zora Neale Hurston was unaware of her race during her

childhood and then later became aware of it during her teenage years, some might argue

differently. Some might argue that Hurston was aware of her race throughout her entire life.

Despite there being hints of this throughout the entire story, this idea is most clearly represented

in the section of text in which Hurston mentions the only difference between colored and white

people in her eyes. She says, “During this period, white people differed from colored to me only

in that they rode through town and never lived there”(Hurston). From this statement, readers

could possibly take away the idea that Hurston was aware of her race for her entire life because

she was able to make a clear distinction between the actions of the white people and the colored

people within her community during her childhood. Despite this, it can actually be proven that

Hurston was unaware of her race during her childhood and then later became aware of it during

her teenage years. This can be realized when examining the fact that Hurston mentioned the fact

that she thought the only difference between the colored and the white people were their actions

around town. As she just merely scraped the surface of racial differences, had Hurston been truly

aware of her race then she wouldn’t have used the word “only” and instead, would’ve noticed

much more predominant differences between the colored and the white people within her

community. However, as she didn’t, it is just now clear to see that Hurston was unaware of her

race during her childhood and then later became aware of it during her teenage years.
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When analyzing the work of Zora Neale Hurston, it can be noticed that her characters

have a multitude of similarities, most notably that of being unapologetic in regard to the

celebration of their race and African American heritage. As these characters were created during

a time in which this celebration was often frowned upon by society, Hurston’s work was deemed

especially controversial by critics. In arguably one of her most controversial essays, “How It

Feels to Be Colored Me”, Hurston claims the role of one of these characters by providing readers

with an autobiographical account of the time in which she first realized her race. She begins this

essay by delving into the memories of her childhood where she resided in Eatonville, Florida.

Here, Hurston recalls the moments when she embraced neighbors, sang and danced in the streets,

and observed her surroundings from a content locality on her front porch. During this time in her

life, she was sheltered from the harsh reality of racism, as Eatonville was an all-black community

and she was known as “everybody’s Zora”. However, this all changed after Hurston’s mother

passed away when she was thirteen and she was forced to leave home and attend a boarding

school in Jacksonville, Florida. Upon arrival, Hurston recalls that she immediately became

“colored”. Through the analysis of these events and “How it Feels to be Colored Me” as a whole,

it can be noticed that Zora Neale Hurston was unaware of her race during her childhood, whereas

she was very aware of it during her teenage years. As she enjoyed her life more while she was an

innocent child whose eyes were blind to the color of her own skin, Hurston and her words within

“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” provide readers with a lot to think about in regards to how race

is viewed in today’s society. This is not to say that people should completely disregard their race,

but instead, that they should embrace life no matter what color skin they have.
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Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. “How It Feels to Be Colored Me, by Zora Neale Hurston.” How It Feels to

Be Colored Me, 1928, http://www.casa-

arts.org/cms/lib/PA01925203/Centricity/Domain/50/Hurston How it Feels to Be Colored

Me.pdf.
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