Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free

“Yes, Crookman was staying at the Phyllis Wheatley Hotel. Why not go and see what there was to this? Why not be the first Negro to try it out? Sure, it was taking a chance, but think of getting white in three days! No more jim crow. No more insults. As a white man, he could go anywhere, be anything he wanted to be, do most anything he wanted to do, be a free man at last…and probably be able to meet the girl from Atlanta! What a vision!”

This passage briefly describes the benefits of the Crookman treatment: Becoming white means no longer having to endure discrimination and hatred, while promising freedom and access to women previously inaccessible. Schuyler’s juxtaposition of important philosophical notions with basic human impulses, like a man’s attraction to a pretty woman, is characteristic of his style.

“Max would say nothing. In the first place, he thought to himself, if they’re so anxious to know all this stuff, they ought to be willing to pay for it.”

This passage offers the reader insight into Max’s pragmatic attitude toward life and toward money. Throughout the novel, the theme of capitalizing on one’s experiences for financial gain makes an appearance over and over, and Max’s craftiness enables him to exploit repeatedly the curiosity and the ignorance of others. After a newspaper pays him for his story, Max becomes annoyed because a photograph of his newly whitened face is linked with the article; his identity has been made public, outing him as a previously black man to the general public, which defeats the purpose of the painful procedure. This kind of situational irony is another hallmark of Schuyler’s writing style.

“In front of the sanitarium milled a half-frozen crowd of close to four thousand Negroes. A riot squad armed with rifles, machine guns and tear gas bombs maintained some semblance of order.”

The violence of this scene represents the violent nature of race relations in America. The urgent need of these prospective customers to become white parallels the urgency of the African-American fight for civil rights. Both at this point in the novel and at various points in American history, black people are challenged and punished for wanting to be treated the same as whites. This tension forms the basis of Schuyler’s main argument.

“He was what was known in Negro society as a Race Man. He was wedded to everything black except the black woman.”

A Race Man, according to Schuyler, is a man whose pride in his black race is his defining characteristic. Schuyler’s satirical interpretation of Race Men presents them as shallow hypocrites, men who claim to value, for example, black women but marry white women. Race Men tend to encourage others to be more like them, but they themselves undervalue and undermine the black experience by behaving in ways that contradict their supposed ideals.

“‘Humph!’ snorted Mme. Blandish. ‘That’s all you niggers are thinking about nowadays. Why don’t you come down here and give me some business? If I don’t hurry up and make some more money I’ll have to close up this place and go to work myself.’”

As more and more blacks flee the community of Harlem to pursue their fortunes as whitened people, economic deprivation results and the black businesses left behind suffer. Dr. Crookman’s Black-No-More treatment ostensibly removes the cause of their hardship, but the outcome is still oppressive to the blacks left behind. This phenomenon suggests that nothing at all can change the circumstances of black people in America.

“What a let-down it was from the good breeding, sophistication, refinement and gentle cynicism to which he had become accustomed as a popular young man about town in New York’s Black Belt. He was not able to articulate this feeling but he was conscious of the reaction nevertheless.”

After Max, now Matthew, receives the Black-No-More treatment, he feels a sense of euphoria that is soon tainted by regret, and he leaves his home community of Harlem for the South. In Atlanta, Matthew’s initial pangs of nostalgia become full-fledged disappointment when the reality of the white experience is not what he thought it would be. In this passage, Matthew longs for black culture, which Schuyler describes in subtle and affectionate terms; these descriptions may inspire the reader to conclude that being black is socially and culturally ideal.

“Mrs. Givens was a Christian. There was no doubt about it because she freely admitted it to everybody, with or without provocation.”

Mrs. Givens, the wife of Rev. Givens and mother of Helen, identifies herself as a Christian, but her behaviors suggest otherwise. Schuyler’s focus on hypocrisy exposes the contradictory behaviors of all the social groups, and the Christians he describes are decidedly un-Christian in their motivations and their actions. For example, Mrs. Givens has an impulse to broadcast her Christian nature, talking more about her religion than practicing it. Worse, she is the opposite of a Christian, full of dishonesty, hatred, and greed.

“He was in a fever to meet her, in some way, before she got out of his sight again, and yet he felt just a little disappointed to find her here.”

At this moment in the novel, Matthew has just finished addressing the Knights of Nordica, a white supremacist group led by Rev. Givens. Matthew sees the beautiful woman he had asked to dance on New Year’s Eve in the audience; his delight at seeing her again is mitigated by his discovery that she is a white supremacist herself. A few moments later, he learns that the woman is Rev. Given’s daughter, Helen, and his doubts evaporate in his excitement to meet her and in the reduced likelihood he will be rebuffed now that he is a white man.

“Meanwhile, Negro society was in turmoil and chaos. The colored folk in straining every nerve to get to the Black-No-More treatment had forgotten all loyalties, affiliations and responsibilities.”

Dr. Crookman’s Black-No-More treatment is a success, and he and his investors are making a fortune. As more sanitariums open across the nation, the men grow richer and the black population reduces, causing social fragmentation and discord amongst the remaining members of the black community in America. Though the whitening treatment may be beneficial to the individuals who pay to receive it, collectively, the effects have been devastating.

“‘Let’s get down to earth now,’ he commanded. ‘We’ve had enough of this nonsense. We have a resolution here addressed to the Attorney General of the United States demanding that Dr. Crookman and his associates be arrested and their activities stopped at once for the good of both races.’”

Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard, the founder of the National Social Equity League, has called a meeting of black leaders to discuss the problem of the Black-No-More treatment. He, like many other leaders of black organizations, is concerned about the loss of funds that is a direct result of the loss of black membership and support of their operations. Without black people, there is no need to fund work toward equity and inclusion, and Dr. Beard seeks to enlist the government in his mission to get paid. In this passage, and in many others that involve characters like Dr. Beard, Schuyler is satirizing black organizations whose values appear inconsistent and hypocritical.

“The great mass of white workers, however, was afraid to organize and fight for more pay because of a deepset fear that the Negroes would take their jobs.”

As Matthew’s career at the Knights of Nordica gains momentum, his role as an organizer becomes more defined and his side operation working with business leaders becomes more lucrative. In this passage discussing the problem that Matthew seeks to solve, Schuyler mentions fear as a direct cause of racism. As Matthew incites fear to control others and to make money for himself, bitterly racist beliefs become more entrenched in the societies with which he works. By suggesting, for example, to the white workers that the white men in leadership were once black, Matthew and his operatives make sure that fear is still an integral experience to life in America, even as numbers of black individuals decrease.

“The number of cases continued to increase. All walks of life were represented. For the first time, the prevalence of sexual promiscuity was brought home to the thinking people of America.”

As more and more black men and women become white, more and more link themselves romantically with white people who are unaware they were previously black. These affairs often result in biracial babies, and as more biracial babies are born, proving both the affair and the racial mixing, fear and paranoia grip Americans who were previously comfortable with sexual promiscuity. As a result, these sexually promiscuous behaviors reduce.

“If the colored gentry couldn’t sit in the movies and ride in the trains with white folks, it wasn’t right for them to be organizing and leading white folks.”

Matthew’s work with labor organizations in the South is successful thanks to this racist belief. He capitalizes on the confusion that Dr. Crookman’s treatment inspires in people who can no longer see a person’s race in their skin color. This confusion casts doubt on every white leader who can’t prove their pure Caucasian ancestry in a convincing way, setting up the explosive revelation at the end of the novel that most people in America have mixed blood in their family lines.

“Not only had they done the dirty work and laid the foundation of its wealth, but they had served as a convenient red herring for the upper classes when the white proletariat grew restive under exploitation.”

Two years after the introduction of Black-No-More, most black people, except for the ones in prison, asylums, and other institutions, have become white, and white Southerners no longer have black people to exploit. The absence of the group compromises both Southern identity and Southern economic stability, suggesting that as much as blacks are reviled in the South, they are also necessary to maintaining the status quo.

“Bunny, I’ve learned something on this job, and that is that hatred and prejudice always go over big. These people have been raised on the Negro problem, they’re used to it, they’re trained to react to it. Why should I rack my brains to hunt up something else when I can use a dodge that’s always delivered the goods?”

Matthew presents his ideas around racism in a matter-of-fact tone while discussing strategies with Bunny, as if racism is simply a part of life. As a formerly black man who now lives with a white supremacist worldview, Matthew’s perspective is unique; because he now knows both worlds well, he accepts hatred and prejudice as a human characteristic, one he can use to make money.

“In his long address he discussed the foundations of the Republic, anthropology, psychology, miscegenation, cooperation with Christ, getting right with God, curbing Bolshevism, the bane of birth control, the menace of the Modernists, science versus religion, and many other subjects of which he was totally ignorant.”

Matthew’s strategy to involve Rev. Givens in politics is simple, and the reverend takes his first steps toward the Presidency as a radio presenter. To publicize his name and his ideas, Rev. Givens delivers a weekly address on the radio; during his first speech, he talks about a series of topics of which he knows nothing. Later in the novel, the reverend becomes the Democrat nominee for President, proving Schuyler’s assertion that ignorance is an essential political characteristic.

“Laws, said he, should then be passed forbidding these strains from mixing or marrying with the pure strains that had produced such fine specimens of mankind as Mr. Snobbcraft and himself.”

Snobbcraft, the President of the Anglo-Saxon Association and a member of the First Families of Virginia, soon becomes Rev. Givens’ running mate. His ambition to pass legislation outlawing the granting of American citizenship to anyone with mixed blood or black blood evidences his deeply racist belief system. In an ironic twist, his genealogy is revealed by Dr. Buggerie’s research to be tainted with black blood, a fact that undermines the white supremacist ideals of his status as an Anglo-Saxon and a member of a First Family of Virginia.

“No political campaign in the history of the country had even been so bitter. On one side were those who were fanatically positive of their pure Caucasian ancestry; on the other side were those who knew themselves to be ‘impure’ white or had reason to suspect it.”

As the Republicans and Democrats spar, racism marks the competition for the Presidency even though few black people exist. Schuyler’s depiction of the bitterness that characterizes this campaign emphasizes the depths of racist tensions in America. Race-related violence and rage underpins American culture so thoroughly that even when few black people exist in the country, racism endures in its most vicious iteration yet.

“‘When I’m finally discharged, which will probably be after election, I’m going to peddle some of that information. Snobbcraft and even Buggerie are not aware of the inflammatory character of the facts we’ve assembled.’ He narrowed his foxy eyes greedily.”

Dr. Beard, researcher and statistician, tells Walter Williams, a Republican campaigner, that he is prepared to sell the explosive genealogical information he has been hired to collate by Dr. Buggerie. His intention to market his wares reveals that loyalty to groups no longer exists in America; loyalty to self and greed are prevalent in this newly whitened society. Dr. Beard’s willingness to sell his findings suddenly gives the Republicans a significant advantage over the Democrats in the upcoming election.

“They managed to prevent intermarriage but they couldn’t stop intermixture. You know the old records don’t lie. They’re right there for everybody to see…”

Dr. Buggerie reveals to Snobbcraft the shocking results of his investigations into the family histories of American families, and Snobbcraft is appalled to learn that even his pure First Family of Virginia status is compromised. Because Snobbcraft has made public his desire to strip all individuals possessing mixed blood of American citizenship, the outcome of such a promise, if kept, would decimate the number of Americans in the general population. Not only is Snobbcraft’s political standing at risk, his life may also be in danger if the white supremacists learn the truth about his background and believe him to be a liar and a hypocrite.

“An angel of frankness beckoned him to be done with this life of pretense; to take his wife and son and flee far away from everything, but a devil of ambition whispered seductively about wealth, power and prestige.”

As Matthew awaits the birth of his child, he is tempted to abandon his life as an imposter and provocateur. He is enthralled, however, by the money and status that is now in his possession, revealing that disenfranchised persons may have a natural tendency to cling to newly acquired rights and freedoms. The wealth, power, and prestige that Matthew now knows as a white man are particularly valuable to him because they were never within his realm of possibility as a black man.

“Helen felt a wave of relief go over her. There was no feeling of revulsion at the thought that her husband was a Negro. There once would have been but that was seemingly centuries ago when she had been unaware of her own remoter Negro ancestry.”

The mixed bloodlines of the Givens family has been publicized the same day that Matthew’s biracial son is born. Helen immediately faints upon learning of her background, and when she revives, she blames herself for her son’s dark skin. Matthew chooses at this moment to tell the truth about his past, revealing a sort of integrity in his character, and Helen feels no disgust, only relief, at his admission; her reaction suggests that she is focused on the practical, desperate to keep her marriage intact now that she is no longer who she thought she was, or that she too might possess some sense of decency underneath all of her racism and ignorance.

“Across from the general store and post office was a large iron post about five feet high. On it all blacks were burned.”

The iron post in Happy Hill, Mississippi, is an ominous symbol of the murderous racism that characterizes the history of some communities in the deep South. When Snobbcraft and Dr. Buggerie crash-land in this part of America, they are unsure how they will be received; their white supremacist beliefs should protect them, but the publicization of their impure blood lines may inspire bloodlust. The latter turns out to be true, and they are tortured and killed by the residents of Happy Hill, suffering just as scores of innocent black people before them suffered.