This example by Hughes supports Toomer concern that blacks will consciously attempt to fit in with white society and forego all blacks strove to achieve. .
Toomer hoped Cane would strengthen the notion of how truly unique and special black society was. "Karintha" tells the story of a young woman known for her beauty and appeal to men. Her relationships with men exemplify the rare bonds in existence within the black community. As a child, men adored Karintha and preferred dancing with her to dancing with the women their age. "Even the preacher, who caught her at mischief, told himself that she was as innocently lovely as a November cotton flower" (Toomer 3). While she grew older, her beauty did not fade. Men still flocked to her, not knowing that "the soul of her was a growing thing ripened too soon" (Toomer 3). Hughes recognizes although these unique relationships were acceptable to blacks, they would be appalling to whites. He discusses how whites either were or pretended to be refined and elegant and how some blacks mimicked their projections of appearance. Hughes notes his appreciation of black society and their relationships by mentioning his admiration for "the low-down folks," a category in which Karintha and her community would fall. He describes them as "the people who have their hip of gin on Saturday nights and are not too important to themselves or the community, or too well fed, or too learned to watch the lazy world go round they do not particularly care whether they are like white folks or anyone else" (Hughes 92). As an example of uniqueness in black society, "Karintha" reveals Toomer's and Hughes" love of these rare relationships only blacks could maintain. .
Toomer and Hughes note the significance of race in music. In "Bona and Paul," Paul loves his "red-blooded Norwegian" roommate, Art. Being a black man surrounded by whites, Paul yearns for music uninfluenced by the presence of whites and their definition of acceptable music.