The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man analyses the problems of a racially

divided society, refutes the premises of binary racial division, and presents strategies

for overcoming societal division. This paper analyzes the employment of structural

elements employed to support reception of the narrative message then demonstrates

the problem statement, antithesis and synthesis in the text. Plurality is evidenced in

the characters Red and Shiny who mediate binary conceptions of whiteness and

blackness. The relationships formed between these characters and the narrator forms a

model for alliances across the color line. The narrator’s alliance seeking behavior is

demonstrated and expanded upon to include mass communication through media and

music as a means to achieve synthesis in American society. This thesis expands upon

the previous analysis of plurality and demonstrates that Johnson’s text outlines an

actionable plan for a new national unity predicated on meaningful criteria to replace

arbitrary racial distinctions.