Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black

Frado’s mixed-race identity becomes a source of bargaining throughout the autobiographical novel, offering her social access at times while inciting cruel punishment at others. Her light complexion is mentioned in the autobiographical novel’s beginning, when Mag and Seth contemplate which child they must regrettably leave behind. Seth suggests Frado, as Frado is “pretty, if she is [Mag’s] and white folks’ll say so” (11). Seth’s statement implies that Frado resembles Mag in complexion (rather than her black father) and that white people will be more amenable to her light complexion as a result. Knowing that there is such societal hatred of interracial unions and mixed-race progeny that emerges from such relationships, Frado becomes the clear choice, as she possesses the greater likelihood of social acceptance through her light skin. Her light complexion becomes a source of intrigue and initial acceptance among the friendlier members of the Bellmont family, but ultimately her black identity is what cements her position as a forced laborer for Mrs. Bellmont. The older woman states that she does not “mind the nigger in the child” (16) as long as Frado can work, implying that the young child’s blackness is connected to her labor potential.