The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man: Book by James Weldon Johnson

This book serves to highlight the extreme prejudice against African Americans and the privileges that were only available to whites, doing this by telling the story of a light-skinned African American who chooses to allow people to think he is white in order to provide safety and comfort for his family rather than use his musical talent to bring glory to African Americans. The book also describes a lynching where a black man is burned to death and the prejudice the main character felt when he was looked down upon in school.

This reflects the time period because it revealed aspects of African American culture that white readers would have not realized and highlights the struggles of African Americans.