The title of the novel is Angry Black White Boy, but in
smaller print it says “Or the miscegenation of Macon Detornay”. Mansbach picked
the word miscegenation very deliberately. The word itself literally means “the
interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial types”. Macon is a
white man, yet Mansbach describes it as “the miscegenation”, meaning that Macon
is going through the process of miscegenation and becoming interracial. The
idea that miscegenation is a process that an individual can go through violates
the definition of the word, yet it fits the bill perfectly. When the novel
begins Macon is a self-aware white male who wants to actually help the black
community without imposing a savior complex. He does so in a way that he thinks
will actually help instead of the “help”
that he sees other white people give. Macon’s intentions are pure, and he
really puts himself out there. He doesn’t try to act black or fit in, and he
makes it explicit that he is just a white guy that is trying to help out. At
this point there are no signs of miscegenation, he is just a white guy involved
in a black community.
After his rise to popularity we see his mentality change. He
begins to get caught up in the moment, and starts to see himself above both
other white people and black people. When he is in the spotlight, people listen
to him and he feels like he is starting to make a difference. His ego gets a
little too large however, and when he goes on the different media networks gets
a little carried away. He criticizes the host, and indirectly accuses the
audience, for thinking the n-word in their heads. He brings the host to tears,
and then we see Nique and Dre a little on edge because Macon used the n-word
even though he is white. This is the first indication of Macon’s miscegenation,
yet it is not a very positive step. He thinks he is better than the white
audience that is listening, and he distances himself from the black audience by
using the n-word in a way that isn’t really acceptable for white people.
At the end of the novel, the process of miscegenation comes
full circle. Macon goes into the south to embrace his whiteness and distance
himself from his old ideologies and views about race. Yet, when he is
recognized by white supremacists in the south we really see Macon being
considered to be equivalent to a black man in the white supremacists’ eyes. By
being a race traitor, they lump Macon into the same category and treat him the
same way they treated Leo. Macon is begging for his life, and telling them that
he is white and he even beats on Leo to prove it, yet he is still treated like
a black person. He truly is interracial on a psychological level at this point.
Because when the gun is pointed at him, and he is told he is going to be a
martyr for the black cause he shakes his head and denies it because he is
white.
