James Alan McPherson on Interracial Intimacy Including Marriage

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Randall L. Kennedy explores the portrayal of interracial marriage in American literature, particularly the works of James Alan McPherson, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. After tracing the history of racist state laws that banned interracial marriage and the Supreme Court decisions that invalidated these bans, Kennedy identifies three literary types: narratives depicting interracial matrimony positively, such as William Dean Howell’s An Imperative Duty (1892) and Eric Jerome Dickey’s Milk in My Coffee (1998); those depicting it negatively, marked by violence and resentment; and a realist perspective that presents interracial intimacy candidly within a racist society. Kennedy focuses on the realist archetype through the works of McPherson. He examines McPherson’s short story trio—“Gold Coast,” “Hue and Cry,” and “Elbow Room”—to shed light on two significant moments in American legal history: the campaign against anti-miscegenation laws and the white backlash to the Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision, which invalidated state anti-miscegenation laws. Kennedy argues that McPherson’s stories realistically depict the prejudices against interracial intimacy held by some African Americans. Regarding white backlash, he suggests that McPherson’s stories highlight the everyday behaviors and perceptions that discourage many whites and Blacks from pursuing interracial relationships. Through McPherson’s work, Kennedy provides a nuanced view of the complexities and realities of interracial intimacy in a prejudiced society.</jats:p>