Solving the "Race Problem" in George Schuyler's Black No More.

Date of Event

1931

Title

Brief Description

In this paper, I explore the novel “Black No More” through the eyes of a character of my own creation. I imagine that we find the notes of Dr. Hertz who works with Dr. Junius Crookman in his clinic. He assists in the project of changing Black people’s skin color to white. Dr. Hertz, a Jew, sees in this process a chilling warning to all minorities and oppressed peoples.

Extended Description

Dr. Hertz - Journal entry, January 1931
I’ve been working with Dr. Junius Crookman at his Crookman Sanitarium in Harlem. I find what he is doing to be both brilliant and appalling. Dr. Crookman has discovered a way to change an individual’s skin color from black to white; a way to solve, “the American race problem.” Dr. Crookman mentions that there are only three ways for a Black individual to solve their problem: “to either get out, get white, or get along.”

I will concede to the scientific brilliance of his work. I also admit that it can help Black people gain the advantages that a white person has in American. White Americans have access to better living conditions, educational and professional opportunities. Comparatively, the life of white people is one of safety and comfort. Dr. Crookman’s discovery can create a more equal life of opportunity for the oppressed. However, this so-called solution does not solve issues of race in America, it merely solidifies it. It reifies the idea that Black people do not belong in America, only white people do. Those who do not undergo Crookman’s procedure, will continue to be oppressed. Nothing is being solved, rather, Black people are being erased.

At first glance it may seem that this addresses the problem of bigotry, when all it really does is send it underground. The procedure destroys and obliterates a community of people who were the subject of hatred. Some who undergo the procedure may feel like they can never return to places in Harlem where Black people congregate. They will forfeit all that is enriching about the black experience and black culture. If those who are “black no more” lose their community, culture, and identity, is the result really different from killing them all?

Years ago, I immigrated to America from Austria-Hungary. I thought I would have a safer life away from oppressive legislation directed against Jews. As a Jew living in the comfort of my neighborhood on The Grand Concourse in the Bronx, I escaped oppression and the lack of opportunity faced by Jewish doctors in Austria-Hungary.

The frightening potential of Dr. Crookman’s work can be seen in the current discrimination against Jewish people in Germany, and the rise Nazi Party. These Nazis are blaming the Jews for the current German economic crisis. They claim the Jewish people are enemies of Germany, even my co-religionists who fought shoulder to shoulder in the Great War with our German neighbors. I fear that Germany may consider our presence as the “Jewish Problem” and seek a similarly radical solution. However, one can’t change the color of a Jewish person’s skin and erase Jewishness. Jews come in all colors. What kind of technology could be developed to erase the Jewish people?

The frightening potential of Dr. Crookman’s work can be seen in the current discrimination against Jewish people in Germany, and the rise Nazi Party. These Nazis are blaming the Jews for the current German economic crisis. They claim the Jewish people are enemies of Germany, even my co-religionists who fought shoulder to shoulder in the Great War with our German neighbors. I fear that Germany may consider our presence as the “Jewish Problem” and seek a similarly radical solution. However, one can’t change the color of a Jewish person’s skin and erase Jewishness. Jews come in all colors. What kind of technology could be developed to erase the Jewish people? In a world where oppression is a reality, killing one’s identity to become a part of the advantaged group may seem to be the safest option. It is not. To kill one’s own identity is figurative suicide in the place of homicide. It is not a solution.

I am somewhat conflicted in my stance toward the procedure. The removal of one’s identity is self-destruction, which I abhor. Yet, I also value human life. Survival devoid of one’s personal identity is better than suffering or death. There is no such thing as a “Race problem.” There is only a problem of oppression and inhumanity. For that problem to be solved we must rid our world of hatred, not the hated; racism, not race.

Sources:
Karlitch, Johnny. “Semaine 14 (An 2): Black No More, De George S. Schuyler.” 52 Romans Par An, 17 May 2016, 52romansparan.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/semaine-14-an-2-black-no-more-de-george-s-schuyler/. This website contained the digital picture I used for this project.

“The Rise of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich.” Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, 8 May 2019, mjhnyc.org/learn-the-history/rise-nazi-party-third-reich/.

Zollman, Joellyn. “Jewish Immigration to America: Three Waves.” My Jewish Learning, 19 May 2017, www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-immigration-to-america-three-waves/.

Location

New York City, New York

Student creator name(s)

Hannah Dubinsky

Tag(s)

AfroFuturism

Faculty Site:

"Crookman Sanitarium," Harlem, New York