Free Essays on Black Like Me

Black like me In John Howard Griffin’s book â€Å"Black Like Me†, Griffin takes a six week journey into the South as a black man by darkening his skin with medication. He travels for those six weeks attempting to discover what it was like to be black in the South during the late 1950’s. He found among other things a cruel segregated world. Griffin proves to be a noble man. He is unlike most of the whites were because he was not a racist. He saw all people as equals and despised the fact that blacks were considered so inferior. He wanted to make a difference, so by darkening his skin to appear black he was able to create a great novel in defense of African Americans. His encounters prove that there is no difference in humans based on skin color. Griffin’s decision to experience this nightmare was probably something no other white man would choose. This book has become a classic and effective teaching tool today. I was most interested to learn just how blacks we re to other blacks. As Griffin traveled, so many different people he met treated him with so much generosity. For instance, one black man walked out of his way for four miles so Griffin would not get lost. Other people invited him into their homes so he would have shelter during his time in the city that he was visiting at the time. The kindness these strangers showed to one another was one that does not exist today. I am unsure if it is the way all people treated one another in the 1950’s or if it was just the African Americans who were like this to other African Americans. During his journey Griffin found some white people who were kind to him. However, most of them were from the North, or the select few that knew he was really white. There were certain states that he went that many whites were friendlier than others. New Orleans, for instance, he had found such people. Mississippi was one of the worst considered for a black person to live. The epilogue writt... Free Essays on Black Like Me Free Essays on Black Like Me Black Like Me John Howard Griffin, the author and main character of Black Like Me, is a middle-aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. Griffin decides to take a radical step: he decides to undergo medical treatment to change the color of his skin and temporarily become a black man. After securing the support of his wife and of George Levitan, the editor of a black oriented magazine called Sepia which will fund Griffin's experience in return for an article about it, Griffin sets out for New Orleans to begin his life as a black man. He finds a person in the black community, he is a shoe shiner named Sterling Williams. Eventually, Griffin looks in the mirror and sees a black man looking back. He briefly panics, feeling that he has lost his identity, and then he sets out to go into the black community. Griffin expects to find prejudice, segragation, and hardship, but he is shocked at the extent of it. Everywhere he goes he experiences difficulties and insults. He is often called a very strong word used in the south â€Å"nigger†. It is impossible for him to find a job, or even a restroom that blacks are allowed to use. After several horrendous days in New Orleans, Griffin decides to travel into the Deep South of Mississippi and Alabama. These states are known to be worse than New Orleans. In Mississippi, he is disheartened and exhausted, so he calls a white friend named P.D. East. East is a newspaperman who is opposed to racism. He spends a day with East, during the time they discuss the way racial prejudice has been incorporated into the South's legal code by bigoted writers and politicians. Eventually, a rejuvenated Griffin leaves for a long hitchhiking trip throughout Alabama and Mississippi. Griffin, was again depressed and weary of life as a black man. He stops taking his medication and lightens his skin back to his normal color. He begins alternating back and forth between races, visiting a place first as a black... Free Essays on Black Like Me Black like me In John Howard Griffin’s book â€Å"Black Like Me†, Griffin takes a six week journey into the South as a black man by darkening his skin with medication. He travels for those six weeks attempting to discover what it was like to be black in the South during the late 1950’s. He found among other things a cruel segregated world. Griffin proves to be a noble man. He is unlike most of the whites were because he was not a racist. He saw all people as equals and despised the fact that blacks were considered so inferior. He wanted to make a difference, so by darkening his skin to appear black he was able to create a great novel in defense of African Americans. His encounters prove that there is no difference in humans based on skin color. Griffin’s decision to experience this nightmare was probably something no other white man would choose. This book has become a classic and effective teaching tool today. I was most interested to learn just how blacks we re to other blacks. As Griffin traveled, so many different people he met treated him with so much generosity. For instance, one black man walked out of his way for four miles so Griffin would not get lost. Other people invited him into their homes so he would have shelter during his time in the city that he was visiting at the time. The kindness these strangers showed to one another was one that does not exist today. I am unsure if it is the way all people treated one another in the 1950’s or if it was just the African Americans who were like this to other African Americans. During his journey Griffin found some white people who were kind to him. However, most of them were from the North, or the select few that knew he was really white. There were certain states that he went that many whites were friendlier than others. New Orleans, for instance, he had found such people. Mississippi was one of the worst considered for a black person to live. The epilogue writt...