Zane Pinchback is a reporter for the New Holland Herald. Positive Themes: Zane and his friends risk their lives to do what’s right, though this doesn’t end well for everyone in the story. Zane routinely lies to pass as white and gain access to information. Many characters are lying and manipulating others to their own ends.

This is neither casual nor light reading, and will likely warrant some deep discussion when the reading is done. It presents this view of America with unflinching honesty.

Other Negative Content: The story revolves around the deep racism that permeated the American South in the early 20 th century. Other pejorative and antiquated terms are also present: negro, high yellow, and octoroon. Racist language is heavily prevalent with n*****r being used quit frequently by white and Black characters. Language/Crude Humor: If this were a movie, it would be rated R. Spiritual Content: Religious themes are nearly absent, save a few comments by Klansmen and others about white people being the people of God and destined to rule over Black people. One subplot involves characters who make moonshine. There is also discussion about a character who is a prostitute.ĭrug/Alcohol Use: Characters are seen drinking and smoking. The first is a woman with her shirt unbuttoned the second is a side view of a nude dead body. There are two instances where female characters are seen partially nude, and their breasts are visible. However, various characters are engaged in extramarital sexual relationships, and this is discussed without being graphic. Sexual Content: There are no explicit sex scenes. While violence is not gratuitous, it is not shied away from. Various other characters are hit, punched, dragged behind vehicles, and shot in the head. Another beating and lynching happens before the story is through. While nothing explicit is shown, we do see the victim screaming in terror and pain. It opens with a brutal lynching that includes emasculation. Violence: Incognegro deals frankly with lynching in America. Writer Mat Johnson draws on his own experiences as a white-passing, mixed-race man, and Warren Pleece’s black-and-white noir-esque drawings bring to life a dark and menacing world that is all too real, and closer than we might think. An engaging and gut-wrenching story, Incognegro is an experience and has won numerous accolades. When his own brother is implicated in a gruesome murder, Zane is drawn into a complex web of secrets and lies in a small Mississippi town. Zane Pinchback is one such “incognegro” reporter. They would then return to the North and publish their experiences in an attempt to expose the reality of racially motivated murder in the Deep South. Early in the 20 th century, white-passing African-American reporters traveled into the southern United States to document lynching.

Incognegro by mat johnson