Max, the protagonist of Black No More, smokes a thin cigar outside a cabaret in New York City, as he reflects on his low mood. It is New Year’s Eve in the year 1933, and he and his girlfriend Minnie have just broken up. Max wonders why Minnie, who is a light-skinned, biracial woman, has been so dissatisfied lately, and he decides that he, a black man, has been too generous with her and that she is “[s]tuck on her color” (1). Max’s friend Bunny arrives, and they discuss the break-up; Bunny suggests Max give him Minnie’s ticket to the New Year’s Eve party at the cabaret so they can have a good time together. At this point, the narrator provides the reader with background information regarding Max and Bunny’s friendship. The two men met when they were soldiers in France during the first World War, and they share a preference for “yellow women” (2). 

While enjoying their ginger ales at their table, Max and Bunny discuss women just as a group of white party-goers enters the club. One slender, red-haired woman catches their eye, and Max immediately identifies her as a Southern “cracker.