Black No More

Although largely forgotten today, George Schuyler was probably the foremost black journalist of the early 20th Century. No doubt much of his modern-day intellectual exile is due to Schuyler's politics. While the rest of black America lurched left, Schuyler published his autobiography, BLACK AND CONSERVATIVE, the title of which says it all. Combine that with Schuyler's noted attack on Malcolm X and, more infamously, his scathing criticism of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Schuyler's alienation became complete. Too bad for the rest of us, as his writing is often quite delicious. Schuyler occasionally ventured into fiction and BLACK NO MORE is probably the best known of such works. Although the book is often described as science fiction, that label is a tad misleading. It is an extremely entertaining social critique of the American obsession with race and skin color and is packed with the same race hustlers, con artists, demagogues and hypocrites we still see today. I guess the more things change, the more they really do stay the same. Dr. Junius Crookman (great name, huh?) develops the technology to turn black people white. The first to sign on, Max Disher, uses his new found whiteness to woo the white ladies who would have nothing to do with him before and, hilariously, climb the ladder of a white supremacist hate group. He does not do this out of any desire to pull a fast one on The Man, but rather sees it as the fast track to making a quick buck. White supremacists are not Schuyler's only target, however. The black advancement organization, clearly modeled on the NAACP, is deeply alarmed - deeply - that soon there will be no more oppressed negroes whose woes will fill the group's coffers and allow its leadership to dine on foie gras. This group's leader is also lampooned appropriately. Apparently W.E.B. Du Bois was the warm-up act for the aforementioned critiques of Malcolm X and MLK, Jr. Not allowing a good book to end on a sour note, Schuyler brings things full circle at the end, when it is discovered that blacks who have undergone the treatment are a shade whiter than natural born whites! And so the cycle continues. BLACK NO MORE is a treat from an unfortunately largely overlooked figure. Check it out.

In my search for quality books written by black writers, I stumbled upon BLACK NO MORE and I am so glad that I did. This is a relatively small book, but probably one of the most thought provoking books that I've ever read. It forces you to look at the power of racisim in all of its incarnations, whether it is being imposed on black people from white people or if it is imposed on blacks from their own people. I think that George Schuyler is one of the most unsung heroes of African American literature and all people (especially Black people) should find the time to read his work. I'm currently purchasing anything I can find that he has written.

Schuyler may have been a conservative, but his novel is as forward-think today as it had been decades ago. His insightful, satirical, and at times, funny writing, made me think about the meaning of black nationalism and Martin Delaney's comment about blacks being "a nation within a nation". African-Americans have been a critical part of American history, and to suddenly eradicate them from them makes me wonder what America really is about. Everyone should read this book. It will remind them what it means to be, not just an African-American, but an American.

especially black ones, but this book hits the mark in race relations, about how blacks and whites really feel about each other and how much we need each other( whether we want to admit it or not !) this book was light years ahead of other black novels when it was first published and can hold its own against any black novel published today . a black man makes himself white in order to get the woman he loves...what a man will do for love !

racial and politacal satire at it's most brillant.A very funny read ,as all racial satire should be.