Summary

“Control Negro” (1) is narrated by a father addressing his son, who does not know him. The narrator, a college professor named Cornelius Adams, refers to his offspring as a “Control Negro” (1). He says that he was present on the day his son was born. He watched while the infant’s mother rested with her husband, whom Adams presumes his son accepted as his father. The boy was put in a daycare facility adjacent to the campus where Adams worked and his son’s mother was a graduate student. He recalls observing his son through mirrored one-way glass. He admits to having sent others to observe and influence his son later in life, such as a college student he hired to befriend him. He insists that he is not so different from any other parent attempting to shape and protect their child.

Adams goes...