John Howard Griffin was an American author, born in Dallas, Texas, that was best known for addressing racial inequality in his writings. One of his most controversial works was “Black Like Me.” In his book, he underwent a social experiment wherein he tried to make the impression he was an African American by temporarily dying his skin black and a dermatological medical procedure and living with African Americans sometime in 1959. His goal was to assess and determine the attitudes of white Americans toward African Americans in various Southern states in America including New Orleans (Louisiana), Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Among his known characteristics, Griffin is often regarded as a committed man that advocated racial justice. Out …show more content…
of his frustration, he went undercover as a black American in order to understand the so-called black experience. Nevertheless, his well-renowned book “Black Like Me” was eventually born. In his exploration of the black community, he experienced a lot of challenges and enlightening revelations that allowed him to have a first-hand experience of what life was like as an African American during those times.
The most difficult experience that Griffin must have faced as a black man would have to be the fact that he was a white American posing as a black American at a time when prejudice and racist discrimination against African Americans were prevalent. Through his book, he shares how he expected to experience oppression, difficulties, and prejudice (racism) but he was surprised to find the real gravity and extent of the problem. He was called insulting words like “nigger” and the hate stare. He also discovered how it seemed unattainable to find any job due to the integration of racial prejudice in the Southern states. In relation, what probably angered and depressed Griffin the most would have to be his discovery of the extent of racism. It appeared that white Southern men deeply believe blacks were incapable of being morally refined, loyal, or decent and polite. For an actual white American, Griffin was clearly appalled to find the degree to which prejudice was imprinted in the Southern culture. On the other hand, Griffin experienced the courtesy of African Americans as they saw him as one of them. Soon, he understood the predicaments and depressive state of African Americans and how white Americans misunderstood people of …show more content…
color. For example, among his experiences, one of the most surprising ones was the time when Griffin went to Mississippi where he met a hate state from a white man in a bus station. According to him, the stare came from: … a middle-aged, heavyset, well-dressed white man. He sat a few yards away, fixing his eyes on me. Nothing can describe the withering horror of this. You feel lost, sick at heart before such unmasked hatred, not so much because it threatens you as because it shows humans in such an inhuman light… It was so new, I could not take my eyes from the man’s face. (Griffin, 49). At that point, Griffin was beginning to feel confused with his transformation, and began to demand from himself and question what he was doing. Nevertheless, his experience revealed how powerful yet unjust racism and prejudice were. Another difficult experience for him would be the time he was at the receiving end of another confrontation.
He was trying to look for a job and he chanced upon a plant. Suddenly, one of the plant foremen declared he was slowly clearing out African Americans who had jobs at the plant. The foreman tried to discourage Griffin from applying while claiming there was no use to try there. He also professed how he aimed to remove all blacks from their jobs until the only ones left would be jobs that white Americans would never have. Griffin even asked how they will live, to which the foreman answered that they were doing their “damndest to drive” every African American out of their state (Griffin, 94). Such disheartening experience highlight the kind of hatred and violence black Americans experienced at the hands of men who believed White
Supremacy. In conclusion, Griffin’s “Black Like Me” is an enlightening book that deals with the hardships and various types of racial oppression that African Americans experienced in the U.S. alone during the time it was written. Griffin did a great job at revealing the deep-seated injustices thrown at blacks. Among the culprits would have to be social ignorance, prejudice and racism, and racial segregation. Ironically, the book exposes how most whites Griffin crossed paths with are riddled with suspicion, hostility, and insecurity towards black Americans, while majority of the black Americans he met were actually generous and kind.
He is a bully undercover. Griffin is a rude person, an example of him being rude is when a teacher’s dog died, and he said, “Stupid animal, I’m glad it’s dead, The world is a better place now.” (44) Show rude that is! It was rude because he was happy a person’s dog died because he hated the dog, that is very rude to say because a dog is like a family member to the teacher. Another time when he was rude was when on page 141 when Eric, said something about Cody, and then Cody punched Eric. He was rude because he just stood there watching and cheering on, that was rude because he did not defend Eric, and Eric got hurt. That was rude of Griffin, and we know Eric would never do anything like that! Griffin is also deceiving. One example Griffin is deceiving is that he is on page 8 he was the one to cover David Hallenbeck with ketchup and then after that, he acted so nice to Eric. That can show Griffin deceiving because he did something that was not very nice then he acted like a completely different person. Another example that he is Deceiving is that Griffin says in the book, “I walk dogs to”(42) That can show Griffin is deceiving because Griffin is acting like a nice person by so-called walking the dogs even though he did not! See how different Eric and Griffin are, but what are there
Lynching of black men was common place in the south as Billie Holiday sang her song “Strange Fruit” and the eyes of justice looked the other way. On the other side of the coin, justice was brought swiftly to those blacks who stepped out of line and brought harm to the white race. Take for instance Nate Turner, the slave who led a rebellion against whites. Even the Teel’s brought their own form of justice to Henry Marrow because he “said something” to one of their white wives (1). Flashing forward a few years later past the days of Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, several, but not all in the younger generation see the members of the black and white race as equal and find it hard to fathom that only a few years ago the atmosphere surrounding racial relations was anything but pleasant.
The use and repetition of the word “nigger” suggest both physical and psychological boundaries for Griffin, which, of course, also extend to the black population of the mid-twentieth century. In identifying himself with the term, Griffin becomes overwhelmed by its dehumanizing and de-individualizing effect: “I knew I was in hell. Hell could be no more lonely or hopeless, no more agonizingly estranged from the world of order and harmony” (66). Griffin’s internalization of discrimination and his repression as “Other” allows Griffin to convey the “wrong-doing” by the white middle class, forcing a truthful realization of the detrimental effect of racism on the
It is theorized that the phrase “angry Black man” is a social construct created during America’s Colonial period. It was supposedly used to negatively describe African-American men who spoke out against what they considered to be an incongruous and xenophobic society and more specifically the institution of slavery. The phrase’s essence has been intentionally misconstrued. The three words together were said to have been used by whites as a dismissive tool; a method of sabotaging the validity of an outspoken Black man’s claims of an unjust and oppressive system. This was done in an effort to detract from the legitimacy of the outraged Black man’s cries of injustice.
From beginning to end the reader is bombarded with all kinds of racism and discrimination described in horrific detail by the author. His move from Virginia to Indiana opened a door to endless threats of violence and ridicule directed towards him because of his racial background. For example, Williams encountered a form of racism known as modern racism as a student at Garfield Elementary School. He was up to win an academic achievement prize, yet had no way of actually winning the award because ?The prize did not go to Negroes. Just like in Louisville, there were things and places for whites only? (Williams, 126). This form of prejudice is known as modern racism because the prejudice surfaces in a subtle, safe and socially acceptable way that is easy to rationalize.
Tim Wise’s book White Like Me provides a picture of what it is like to be white in America. A main topic covered in White Like Me is white privilege. On pages 24 and 25 Wise illustrates what white privilege is and shares his opinion regarding how to address white privilege in society today. Wise’s plan for addressing white privilege is one not of guilt, but of responsibility, a difference Wise highlights. The concept of feeling guilty for white privilege lacks reason because white privilege is something built up through generations and its existence is not of any one person’s fault. Guilt would just be detrimental to the possibility of making progress in this field. Responsibility, on the other hand, is a perfectly logical action to take when
America have a long history of black’s relationship with their fellow white citizens, there’s two authors that dedicated their whole life, fighting for equality for blacks in America. – Audre Lorde and Brent Staples. They both devoted their professional careers outlying their opinions, on how to reduce the hatred towards blacks and other colored. From their contributions they left a huge impression on many academic studies and Americans about the lack of awareness, on race issues that are towards African-American. There’s been countless, of critical evidence that these two prolific writers will always be synonymous to writing great academic papers, after reading and learning about their life experience, from their memoirs.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett is an investigative journalist who wrote in honesty and bluntness about the tragedies and continued struggles of the Negro man. She was still very much involved with the issue even after being granted freedom and the right to vote. Statistics have shown that death and disparity continued to befall the Negro people in the South where the white man was “educated so long in that school of practice” (Pg. 677 Par. 2). Yet in all the countless murders of Negroes by the white man only three had been convicted. The white man of the South, although opposed to the freedom of Negroes would eventually have to face the fact of the changing times. However, they took every opportunity and excuse to justify their continued horrors. There were three main excuses that the white man of the South came up w...
One's identity is a very valuable part of their life, it affects the Day to day treatment others give them which can lead to how the individual feels emotionally. Atticus, defending Tom Robinson, who is an african american man from the plaintiff of the case, Mayella Ewell, who is a caucasian woman, accusing that Tom raped her is supposivly a lob sided case. During the great depression, any court session that contained a person of color against a caucasian would always contain the “white” individual winning the case. The cause of the bias outcome comes from the lawyer of the african american does not try to defend or the jury goes against the person of color simply because their black, this shows the effect of racism to anyone’s identity in the courtroom for a case simply because of race. Atticus, deciding to take Tom Robinson’s case seriously sacrifices his identity as the noble man he is, to being called many names for this action, such as “nigger lover”. He is questioned by
Fueled by fear and ignorance, racism has corrupted the hearts of mankind throughout history. In the mid-1970’s, Brent Staples discovered such prejudice toward black men for merely being present in public. Staples wrote an essay describing how he could not even walk down the street normally, people, especially women, would stray away from him out of terror. Staples demonstrates his understanding of this fearful discrimination through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language.
One examples is, even before his surgery was complete and he had not made the full transition from white to black yet, he was startled at what he heard from his doctor. At the time of his surgery, he spoke with the dermatologist who was changing his skin color, and found out that even this man had prejudices over black people. The doctor was insistent that the “lighter-skinned Negroes” were more ethical and more sensible than the darker-skinned ones. This man, with a high intellectual IQ and much schooling, also claimed that, as a whole group and race, blacks are always violent. Griffin, horrified that he let this man be in charge of his operation, was utterly and completely appalled that a liberal man could indulge in such hateful fallacies. Not only before and during his surgery does Griffin find himself being appalled by white people, but also during his time as a black man in the south he experienced many harsh and unfriendly situations, he never would have experienced if he was a white man. For example, on his first day as a black man he goes into a drugstore forgetting his skin color and that he now, since he is black, he forbidden from ordering a fountain drink, but after a few mean and disgusted looks from the white workers he realizes, he wasn’t even allowed in the store. His first day hit him hard when he figured out that everywhere he went whites seemed to look at him with suspicion and hostility. Also, after having the word nigger seem to never escape his ears its implications almost became unbearable. Hearing this really made me think about all of the black people in the south that have had to put up this and even worse things every day of their lives and how strong they all were; a white man has been through this one day and can barely take it; how have these people put up with this for so
Griffin experiences exactly what he expects to experience. He is taunted with typical racial slurs, and other forms of hostility, which he is able to brush off as meaningless ignorance. This bus driver is denying the black customers the most basic of human needs.
In the autobiography Black Boy by Richard Wright, Wright’s defining aspect is his hunger for equality between whites and blacks in the Jim Crow South. Wright recounts his life from a young boy in the repugnant south to an adult in the north. In the book, Wright’s interpretation of hunger goes beyond the literal denotation. Thus, Wright possesses an insatiable hunger for knowledge, acceptance, and understanding. Wright’s encounters with racial discrimination exhibit the depths of misunderstanding fostered by an imbalance of power.
Mr. Griffin was a middle age white man who lived with his wife and children. He was not oriented to his family. He decided to pass his own society to the black society. Although this decision might help most of the African Americans, he had to sacrifice his gathering time with his family. “She offered, as her part of the project, her willingness to lead, with our three children, the unsatisfactory family life of a household deprived of husband and father” (Griffin 9). Leaving Mrs. Griffin and his children would deprive them of the care they needed. Even though he was not oriented to his family, he was full of courage. He was willing to discuss topics that people hesitated to talk about, trying new ideas that people were afraid to do. After turning back to his own skin color, he attended most media conferences and also wrote books about what he had gone through. During those interviews, Griffin was very considerate. He requested Wallace, a reporter, to report carefully so that he would not hurt his African American friends. “Please… Don’t mention those names on the air.
In the essay “Shame”, by Dick Gregory, the author narrates how two painful experiences during his childhood reflected how difficult it was to grow up as a poor African American. Gregory was ashamed of being on welfare and of his poverty, so much so that he got of rid of the warm hooded mackaw he received because it was a reminder that he and his family were on relief. Gregory also expresses his embarrassment, shame, and desire to hold onto his dignity throughout it all. In the essay “I Became Her Target”, by Roger Wilkins, the author describes how it was difficult for him to break the ice with his classmates because he was a new student in school. In fact, Wilkins was the only black student in this new school which only worsened the situation. Moreover, he was the target of both