Belton Piedmont is born to a poor but hardworking family in Virginia and grows up intimately familiar with racism and segregation.

Belton is perturbed when he discovers that even in the seemingly egalitarian school, there are black professors who are silently ostracized and barred from eating meals with their white counterparts.

He remains committed to the goal of improving the states rather than seceding and tenders his resignation from the Imperium, knowing full well that he'll be executed by his peers for attempting to leave.

Imperium in Imperio was written during a period when America subscribed to an imperialist agenda and actively sought an empire overseas.

[2] Many African American authors used this time of U.S. expansion to open conversations about Jim Crow and the discrimination Black people faced.

For example, a central focus of Imperium is the idea of a mass migration of Black Americans to Texas, followed by a political takeover of the state.

[3] Belton proposes that the Imperium should still remain as a part of the U.S. while still running independent operations, while Bernard advocates for an all-out race war so that African Americans secede completely to build their own empire.

[4] During her life, Viola made efforts to dissuade her peers to not date outside of the race, and as a dying plea, she begs Bernard to uphold her convictions.

[4] This serves as another contrast to Belton, who believed that the Imperium could function in tandem with the U.S. rather than taking power through violent means.

[9] William Loren Katz, writing in the Journal of Black Studies, concluded that, although the book had "implausible and transparent characters and plot," and Griggs had "meager talents as a writer and lack of political sophistication and depth," he still "managed to capture a neglected but crucial moment and mood in the history of black America.