We’re the only colored people here.
The story paints a picture of inferiority complex that many black folks are often subjected to whenever they find themselves in a white majority areas or in any forum dominated by the whites. The social phobia enacted in this story is informed by the racial prejudice that the people of other colors, especially the whites have always practiced against the black people. It seems that the absurdity has become a usual phenomenon and the blacks themselves have come to accept it as a price to pay for being black. It seems that an invisible line of demarcation exists between the blacks and the whites; and whenever the blacks make the mistake of crossing the line they get the treatments that will make them shiver and develop goose pimples. Paul’s assertion, “we’re the only colored people here” (203) is an expression of shyness caused by nostalgia and fear of probable prejudicial treatment they might suffer in the midst of an overwhelming crowd of white folks. The scene looks like that of two helpless deer straying into the flock of ravenous wolves. The story reveals another example of Marxist criticism theory that bothers on inhuman treatments that a particular group of people may suffer as a result of their race and color. |