Himes’s depiction of 1965 Harlem brims with racial tension, and he populates his story with a diverse cast of characters. The most prominent racial tension exists between black and white Americans, highlighted by Colonel Calhoun and his Back-to-Southland movement that tries to convince African Americans to return to the South and pick cotton. Himes also describes Puerto Rican communities, gives a Jewish perspective by including Abraham Goodman, and shows how discrimination occurs even within the black community through colorism, like the references to Iris’s “yellow” skin.

As detectives, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed straddle the black and white worlds. In becoming policemen, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed have stepped into an inherently white world, as most of the other cops around them (and all of their superiors) are white. Many in the black community might view the detectives as traitors. However, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed remain loyal to innocent, hardworking black families, stay tough on criminals, and break enough rules that they keep from becoming too much like their white colleagues.