The Mulatto to His Critics — Summary

The speaker pushes back against people who accuse him of being ashamed of his racial background. His answer is that he cannot be ashamed of one race because he is not one thing: his ancestry includes Native American, Black, English, Irish, and Scottish roots. He accepts all of these strands, even though they feel at war inside him. Far from rejecting them, he welcomes them. Yet he also singles out the part of himself that shows in his darker skin and tightly curled hair—the Black heritage he calls “kindly”—and says it gives his soul its music. The mood is proud, direct, and a little confrontational, but not bitter. He refuses either to choose one identity or to let others define him.