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Interracial, Multiracial, and Race relations Poems

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This tag references poems dealing with relationships that cross racial borders, including friendships, antagonistic relationships, and romances.

We also use this category for poems that reference mixed-race or multiracial people, such as W.E.B. DuBois' poem "The Quadroon," Georgia Douglas Johnson's "The Octoroon" or Rosalie Jonas' "The Quadroon's Ball."  Some poems use the term 'mulatto' to describe mixed race people; this term is now of course archaic and might be considered offensive, but it was widely used during this historical period. 

In the poems linked below, some use the "tragic mulatto" trope, where the true nature of a person's mixed heritage might be a secret liability; the "tragic mulatto" is of course also a well-known trope in fiction from this period. Other poems below are more celebratory and proud (see Joseph S. Cotter's "The Mulatto To His Critics" for an instance of a proud 'mulatto' poem). 

Contents of this tag:

  1. Langston Hughes, "Negro Dancers" (1925)
  2. Langston Hughes, "Cross" (1925)
  3. Langston Hughes, Harlem Night Club (1926)
  4. Claude McKay, "The Barrier" (1922)
  5. Langston Hughes, "The White Ones" (1924)
  6. Otto Bohanan, "Mammy" (1917)
  7. Georgia Douglas Johnson, "The Octoroon" (1922)
  8. W.E.B. Du Bois, "The Quadroon" (1911)
  9. Joseph S. Cotter, Jr. "The Mulatto To His Critics" (1918)
  10. Countee Cullen, "Caprice" (1925)
  11. Countee Cullen, "Tableau (For Donald Duff)" (1925)
  12. Poems by Claude McKay in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  13. Rosalie Jonas, "The Octoroon Ball" (1911)
  14. Edna Porter, "That Yaller Gal (La. 1924)" (1925)
  15. James Weldon Johnson, "The White Witch" (1915)
  16. Bertha Johnston, "I Met A Little Blue-Eyed Girl" (1912)
  17. William Stanley Braithwaite, "Rye Bread" (1927)
  18. Jessie Fauset, "Touche" (1927)
  19. Two Who Crossed a Line (She Crosses) by Countee Cullen
  20. Two Who Crossed a Line (He Crosses) by Countee Cullen
  21. To My Fairer Brethren by Countee Cullen
  22. George Marion McClellan, "Poems" (1895)
  23. Poems by James Weldon Johnson in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  24. Joseph S. Cotter, Jr. "Band of Gideon: and Other Poems" (Full text) (1918)