Portrait in Georgia: A Commentary on the Dangers of Interracial Relationships

Let’s clear the air now by saying that "Portrait in Georgia" by Jean Toomer, is my favorite poem that I’ve ever read. This poem is incredibly complex with its imagery comprised in similes and character building which only makes it more interesting to compare interpretations of the piece. It’s describing the image of a white woman by comparing her features to a lynched black man’s corpse. As creepy as that sounds, it’s quite beautiful, thought-provoking work. For this post, I only want to discuss a single interpretation of and first two lines of the poem.

Toomer starts by describing the woman’s hair as “braided chestnut, coiled like a lyncher’s rope” (lines one and two).  This produces two simultaneous images of braided hair and a rope.  One of my classmates pointed out that this could be a symbol of how many black men were killed just for liking a white woman because Toomer’s choice to compare the woman’s hair to a lyncher’s rope is conveying that white women were a danger to black men. Not because they were personally going to hurt them, but because their husbands or fathers would if they saw a black man hitting on them.

I then was reminded of a painting by Dana Schutz entitled “Open Casket.” This painting is of a black boy named Emmett Till who was killed by a few white men after he allegedly whistled at a white woman which was later confirmed to never had happened. (See this article by The New York Times for more about this artwork.)

The photo was taken from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/arts/design/painting-of-emmett-till-at-whitney-biennial-draws-protests.html

Both the poem and the painting is a commentary on the issue of the oppression of black men in regards to having a relationship with a white woman.  Interracial relationships were seen as inappropriate and even illegal in the 1920s, when “Portrait in Georgia” was written.  The issue was that the women in these situations would never be in trouble even if they were the ones who were approaching the men and flirting with them.  It was only ever the men who were blamed and punished for the relationship.

Many innocent men died because of love and their killers went on free.  The disturbing thing is that similar tragedies still happen, where black men and women are killed because white people make a snap judgment about them without looking at the facts of the situation because of their race.  Unfortunately, there is still racism in this country, and I’m hoping -rather praying- that this will change in the next few years, and we can all join together in peace.