Throughout "Mr. Z", Holman describes a self-loathing individual that rejected his ethnicity because at an early age he learned that "his mother's skin was the sign of error," and he refused to be judged racially (Holman). As such, Mr. Z's entire life centered around disassociating himself with all things related to his race. He abandoned his people's culture, music, and food in favor of their superior "Anglo-Saxonized" counterparts (Holman). However, in doing so, Mr. Z inadvertently and quite ironically committed that crude act which he refused to fall victim to: judging someone or something based on his race or its associated race. Furthermore, Holman goes on to describe Z as being "careful whom he chose to kiss," further displaying his ironic, hypocritical tendency to judge based on race while spurning racism. The irony implemented by Holman provides a scolding tone to the poem. Through this tone, Holman calls for an end to all racial prejudices, even strange cases of prejudice against one's own race. Nevertheless, Holman's most powerful example of irony does not manifest until the final lines of the poem. Mr. Z, a man who vehemently opposed all aspects of his own ethnicity, dies after living completely immersed in what he believed to be a superior culture. To honor (or dishonor) this man, the writers of his obituary penned him the title, "One of the most distinguished members of his race," (Holman). Ironically, that which Mr. Z ran from so passionately, identification by race, was given to him post mortem. Therefore, the entire poem can be seen as decrying Z's behavior and satirizing those that behave as he does.
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