Everyone connected to the world of Latin American Studies knows something about José Martí, and his work continues to be the subject of publications in numerous languages and from many points of view. His essays, poetry, oratory, and translations have been theorized, criticized, politicized and propagandized. But how Martí’s time in the United States (1880-1895) affected his writing about race is a less–researched topic. This talk discusses major questions that arise from a focus on race in José Martí’s U.S. years: How did he employ racial vocabulary? What did he say about anti-slavery novels? Where do descriptions of slave life appear? Why did the end of slavery in Cuba go unmentioned? What did he say about immigrant groups? Why did his comments on Native Americans change? And how do those who read Martí today absorb racial views influenced by his North American experience?