Ray is the protagonist. He is a dynamic, complex character who displays a range of characteristics and embodies each of the novel’s key themes.

Ray grew up in Harlem, the only son of small-time criminal Mike Carney. His childhood was marked by neglect, hunger, and a lack of parental supervision and love. Ray first finds stability when he marries Elizabeth, and once they start a family, Ray feels a strong sense of direction. He is the proprietor of a successful furniture store and, by the beginning of the novel, also owns the building where his store is housed. Through the years, he has been able to move his family from their first, cramped apartment in a dangerous part of Harlem to the affluent Striver’s Row location where his wife grew up. He is a member of the selective Dumas Club and is known to many neighborhood residents as a hardworking, upstanding businessman.

However, Ray is also a small-time criminal. Although inactive for four years at the beginning of the novel, he has a history as a fence for stolen goods. In Part 1 of Crook Manifesto, he resumes that role, and a portion of his income during the 1970s comes from these illegal, back-room deals.