"Mr. Z"

"The obit writers, ringing crude changes on a clumsy phrase:

'One of the most distinguished members of his race," (25-6).

In "Mr. Z," by M. Carl Holman, not only did I have "Mr. Jones" by the Counting Crows stuck in my head, but I also managed to catch on to some of the things talked about in the questions.  For example, the first line gives a clear idea that Mr. Z was African American.  From here on out, the poem became a satire, and the speaker juxtaposes being proud of Mr. Z for breaking the race barrier and mocking him for his awkwardness.  To be honest, I am not really sure why the speaker does not name Mr. Z, but I almost feel like it might be because the speaker just does not know it, but that seems like a far-fetched reasoning, so we should act like I never said it.

Let me go back to the point I made earlier about the contrast of pride and awkwardness.  The pride comes from Mr. Z's ability to fit in (3-6), while the awkwardness comes from him choosing raceless views and going to places that accept "exotic skin."  Assuming that I read this correctly, Mr. Z is Jewish, but non-traditionally married a lady who left the Jewish faith.

Okay, so I have yet to address the quote from above.  Question number five asks about the irony in the obituaries - when or if I die, can you make sure that no one makes a joke in my obituary for me?  The irony is actually kind of amusing for me - which is quite disturbing - but the obit writers basically are saying that his race, African Americans, have remained useless wastes of space and congratulations on doing something productive even if you had to avoid anywhere that might not find you worthy.

P.S.  I love this song, which caused me to directly enjoy the poem.