How it Feels to Be Colored Me – Zora Neale Hurston

This essay by Zora Neale Hurston addressed her view on discrimination against colored people. Despite being born into an era in which colored people struggled to be distinguished, Zora Neale Hurston succeeded in writing noteworthy books. Her views on racism are credible because she had experienced it herself. However, she put aside the discrimination that was set against her and did not separate the fact that she was an American citizen and colored at the same time. Hurston had that idea in mind when writing this essay. She wanted the world to know that she was not held down by discrimination, but was instead highlighted by it. It allowed her to stand out and be proud of herself. 

An important rhetorical device that was used by Hurston is found at the end of the essay. She makes an analogy between herself and a brown bag, and also connecting everyone else to other bags of different colors. She pours out the contents in her bag, revealing a mix of things, both valuable and worthless. These contents represent the things that make up a person, which is the bag. When the contents of every bag is poured into a single pile and refilled back into the bags, there is no doubt going to be some random things spread out here and there over the bags. Though the contents of each bag is not greatly altered, they all contain something new. Hurston states that, “A bit of colored glass more or less would not matter” (Hurston 117). This complex analogy helps her to reveal the inner feelings of being discriminated against as a colored person by signifying that there can be no harm in having colored people around. I believe Hurston accomplished her purpose in denouncing discrimination because of her pride of being colored. She accepted her nature while placing no blame on those who discriminated against her.

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