Schulyer pointed out that abandoning one's uniqueness can be discouraging because one's purpose will not be achieved. The black experience goes beyond segregation; Furthermore, the black experience encompasses every aspect of life, whether it is music or cooking styles, African Americans have contributed to the process of society. Larsen and Schulyer put the characters Max Disher and Clare Kendry in a compromising position. Max has undergone a transformation in accessing economic mobility; while Clare married a white man for the same accessibility, but each character had an emptiness within them. “Race! The thing that bound her and suffocated her” (Larsen 78). Clare missed being with her race, so she would use Irene to re-enter a culture she had hidden for years. Even at Clare's house she wasn't allowed to be herself for the sake of safety. Larsen introduces racial blindness as a factor when Jack refers to his wife's complexion "When we were married, she was lily white. In this case, the husband's perception was protected by his first interaction; however, he did not consider the term hypo-descent; which means that a drop of black blood makes you black . Oppose the Negro race on the basis of color and