This book provides a historical context for the recent resurgence of
racial division by tracing the path of the color line as it appears in
the narrative writings of African-Americans in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. In readings of slave narratives, "passing novels, "
and the writings of Charles Chesnutt and Zora Neale Hurston, the author
asks: What is the work of division? How does division work? The history
of the color line in the United States is coeval with that of the
nation. The author suggests that throughout this history, the color line
has not functioned simply to name biological or cultural difference, but
more important, it has served as a principle of division,
classification, and order. This book seeks not only to understand, but
also to bring critical pressure on the interpretations, practices, and
assumptions that correspond to and buttress representations of racial
difference.