Evans' father was light-skinned and could "pass" for white, but his dark-skinned mother sometimes had to pretend to be the family maid when strangers came to visit.

Young Orrin was forced to confront racism at an early age due to his parents' difficult juggling act.

At The Record he faced death threats and discrimination, including being removed from a Charles Lindbergh press conference because of the color of his skin.

[2]Time magazine in 1947 described the villains in the lead feature, "Ace Harlem," as "a couple of zoot-suited, jive-talking Negro muggers, whose presence in anyone else's comics might have brought up complaints of racial 'distortion.'

"[1] The protagonist of "Ace Harlem," however, was an African-American police detective; the characters in the "Lion Man and Bubba" feature were meant to inspire black people's pride in their African heritage.