Essay/Term paper: Summary

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Black Like Me









John Howard Griffin was a journalist and a specialist on race



issues. After publication, he became a leading advocate in the Civil



Rights Movement and did much to promote awareness of the racial situations



and pass legislature. He was middle aged and living in Mansfield, Texas



at the time of publication in 1960. His desire to know if Southern whites



were racist against the Negro population of the Deep South, or if they



really judged people based on the individual's personality as they said



they prompted him to cross the color line and write Black Like Me. Since



communication between the white and African American races did not exist,



neither race really knew what it was like for the other. Due to this,



Griffin felt the only way to know the truth was to become a black man and



travel through the South. His trip was financed by the internationally



distributed Negro magazine Sepia in exchange for the right to print



excerpts from the finished product. After three weeks in the Deep South



as a black man John Howard Griffin produced a 188-page journal covering



his transition into the black race, his travels and experiences in the



South, the shift back into white society, and the reaction of those he



knew prior his experonce the book was published and released.



John Howard Griffin began this novel as a white man on October 28,



1959 and became a black man (with the help of a noted dermatologist) on



November 7. He entered black society in New Orleans through his contact



Sterling, a shoe shine boy that he had met in the days prior to the



medication taking full effect. Griffin stayed with Sterling at the shine



stand for a few days to become assimilated into the society and to learn



more about the attitude and mindset of the common black man. After one



week of trying to find work other than menial labor, he left to travel



throughout the Southern states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.



November 14, the day he decided to leave, was the day after the



Mississippi jury refused to indict or consider the evidence in the Mack



Parker kidnap-lynch murder case. He decided to go into the heart of



Mississippi, the Southern state most feared by blacks of that time, just



to see if it really did have the "wonderful relationship" with their



Negroes that they said they did. What he found in Hattiesburg was tension



in the state so apparent and thick that it scared him to death. One of



the reasons for this could be attributed to the Parker case decision



because the trial took place not far from Hattiesburg. He knew it was a



threat to his life if he remained because he was not a true Negro and did



not know the proper way to conduct himself in the present situation.



Griffin requested that one of his friends help him leave the state as soon



as possible. P.D. East, Griffin's friend, was more than willing to help



his friend out of the dangerous situation that he had gotten himself into



and back to New Orleans.



From New Orleans, traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi and began hitch



hiking toward Mobile, Alabama. Griffin found that men would not pick him



up in the day nearly as often as they would at night. One of the reasons



being that the darkness of night is a protection of sorts and the white



men would let their defenses down. Also, they would not have to be afraid



of someone they knew seeing them with a Negro in their car. But the main



reason was of the stereotypes many of these men had of Negroes, that they



were more sexually active, knew more about sex, had larger genitalia, and



fewer morals and therefore would discuss these things with them. Many of



the whites that offered Griffin rides would become angry and let him out



when he would not discuss his sex life with them. One man was amazed to



find a Negro who spoke intelligently and tried to explain the fallacies



behind the stereotypes and what the problem with Negro society was.



Many Negroes he encountered on his journey through the Deep South



were very kind and opened their hearts and homes to him. One example of



this is when Griffin asked an elderly Negro where he might find lodging,



the man offered to share his own bed with him. Another instance was when



Griffin was stranded somewhere between Mobile and Montgomery and a black



man offered him lodging at his home. The man's home was a two-room shack



that housed six members of his family, but he accepted John into his home



and refused any money for the trouble saying that "he'd brought more than



he'd taken."



In Montgomery, Alabama, Griffin decided it was time for him to



reenter white society, but he also wanted to gain a knowledge of the area



as a black man. So, he devised the technique of covering an area as a



black and then returning the following day as a white. What he found was,



as a black he would receive the "hate stare" from whites and be treated



with every courtesy by the black community. As a white, it would be the



exact opposite, he would get the "hate stare" from blacks and be treated



wonderfully by the same people who despised him the previous day.



After a few days of zigzagging across the color line, Griffin



decided that he had enough material from his journal to create a book and



enough experience as a black man so he reverted permanently into white



society. Crossing over into the white world was unsettling to Griffin, if



only because of the way he was treated by the same people who despised him



previously due to his pigmentation. The sudden ability to walk into any



establishment and not be refused service was also a shock after having to



search for common conveniences days before.



After returning to his hometown of Mansfield, Texas Griffin was



not widely accepted back into the community he once knew. Many of the



residents of the city were racists, therefore they considered him one of



the 'niggers.' The racists even went as far as to hang Griffin in effigy



from the town's stop light one morning. This prompted him and his family



to leave the area until the situation considerably calmed down.



Griffin was interviewed by various television and radio hosts as



well as magazine and newspapermen after the book was made public. His



main objective was to educate the public of the situation in the South and



people couldn't help but hear about it. Wether or not they accepted the



information was not up to Griffin, but he did his best to make the



knowledge available.



This book relates to American history because it takes the reader



into the Deep South before the Civil Rights Movements took hold and shows



what it was like to be black. In the Preface, the author states "I could



have been a Jew in Germany, a Mexican in a number of states, or a member



of any 'inferior' group. Only the details would have differed. The story



would be the same." The details he mentioned were he being black and in



the South, and the story is of hatred and racism directed toward him and



others like him on account of those details. The account he related



showed America and the world that race relations in the South was not the



pretty picture it was painted as. Instead, he showed the daily struggle



of the blacks to survive.



Griffin's bias is that white Southern Americans of that period



were racist toward the African American population. The only thing



altered from before he entered New Orleans to after was his appearance.



He dyed his skin a very dark brown and shaved his head, his clothing,



speech patterns, and references had not changed and every question was



answered truthfully. If people did judge others by their qualities and



qualifications, his time in the Deep South should have been fairly



uneventful. Instead, there were daily quests to find rest-room



facilities, restaurants, stores, and various other 'conveniences' that he



took advantage of before he crossed the color line. During his stay in



New Orleans, blacks were forced to use specific facilities designated for



them and they were usually few and far between. Other than the Greyhound



station or other public buildings that blacks were allowed to enter, there



were no facilities that were at par with the ones the whites had access



to. His now black skin also prevented him from entering any store and



purchasing something to drink, instead he would have to find a Negro Cafe.



These Cafes were not nearly as numerous as the many places the lowliest



white could acquire a drink. The color of his skin also prevented him



from gaining anything other than menial labor job, although his



qualifications could easily get him any number of positions if he were



white.



". . . I walked toward Brennan's, one of New Orleans' famed



restaurants . . . I stopped to study the menu . . . realizing that a few



days earlier I could have gone in an ordered anything on the menu. But



now, though I was the same person with the same appetite . . .



appreciation . . . and wallet, no power on earth could get me inside this



place for a meal. I recalled hearing some Negro say, 'You can live here



all your life, but you'll never get inside one of the great restaurants



except as a kitchen boy.'"



The above passage represents just one of many instances where he



was barred from entering an establishment solely based on his



pigmentation. As stated before, Negroes were not permitted to enter many



restaurants, but libraries, museums, concert halls, and other culturally



enhancing places were also barred to him even though there was no formal



law against them entering. The many stereotypes of blacks being



intellectually inferior just made it easier to deny them access because



they did not have the mental capacities to appreciate it. It became



apparent to Griffin that because the black population was widely



uneducated, they would never be able to succeed in life. One of the



things inhibiting their education was the inferior quality of schools and



the inability to enter establishments such as libraries and museums. The



whites, usually knew this and used it to their advantage to keep the black



population subordinate.

Black Like Me









John Howard Griffin was a journalist and a specialist on race



issues. After publication, he became a leading advocate in the Civil



Rights Movement and did much to promote awareness of the racial situations



and pass legislature. He was middle aged and living in Mansfield, Texas



at the time of publication in 1960. His desire to know if Southern whites



were racist against the Negro population of the Deep South, or if they



really judged people based on the individual's personality as they said



they prompted him to cross the color line and write Black Like Me. Since



communication between the white and African American races did not exist,



neither race really knew what it was like for the other. Due to this,



Griffin felt the only way to know the truth was to become a black man and



travel through the South. His trip was financed by the internationally



distributed Negro magazine Sepia in exchange for the right to print



excerpts from the finished product. After three weeks in the Deep South



as a black man John Howard Griffin produced a 188-page journal covering



his transition into the black race, his travels and experiences in the



South, the shift back into white society, and the reaction of those he



knew prior his experonce the book was published and released.



John Howard Griffin began this novel as a white man on October 28,



1959 and became a black man (with the help of a noted dermatologist) on



November 7. He entered black society in New Orleans through his contact



Sterling, a shoe shine boy that he had met in the days prior to the



medication taking full effect. Griffin stayed with Sterling at the shine



stand for a few days to become assimilated into the society and to learn



more about the attitude and mindset of the common black man. After one



week of trying to find work other than menial labor, he left to travel



throughout the Southern states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.



November 14, the day he decided to leave, was the day after the



Mississippi jury refused to indict or consider the evidence in the Mack



Parker kidnap-lynch murder case. He decided to go into the heart of



Mississippi, the Southern state most feared by blacks of that time, just



to see if it really did have the "wonderful relationship" with their



Negroes that they said they did. What he found in Hattiesburg was tension



in the state so apparent and thick that it scared him to death. One of



the reasons for this could be attributed to the Parker case decision



because the trial took place not far from Hattiesburg. He knew it was a



threat to his life if he remained because he was not a true Negro and did



not know the proper way to conduct himself in the present situation.



Griffin requested that one of his friends help him leave the state as soon



as possible. P.D. East, Griffin's friend, was more than willing to help



his friend out of the dangerous situation that he had gotten himself into



and back to New Orleans.



From New Orleans, traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi and began hitch



hiking toward Mobile, Alabama. Griffin found that men would not pick him



up in the day nearly as often as they would at night. One of the reasons



being that the darkness of night is a protection of sorts and the white



men would let their defenses down. Also, they would not have to be afraid



of someone they knew seeing them with a Negro in their car. But the main



reason was of the stereotypes many of these men had of Negroes, that they



were more sexually active, knew more about sex, had larger genitalia, and



fewer morals and therefore would discuss these things with them. Many of



the whites that offered Griffin rides would become angry and let him out



when he would not discuss his sex life with them. One man was amazed to



find a Negro who spoke intelligently and tried to explain the fallacies



behind the stereotypes and what the problem with Negro society was.



Many Negroes he encountered on his journey through the Deep South



were very kind and opened their hearts and homes to him. One example of



this is when Griffin asked an elderly Negro where he might find lodging,



the man offered to share his own bed with him. Another instance was when



Griffin was stranded somewhere between Mobile and Montgomery and a black



man offered him lodging at his home. The man's home was a two-room shack



that housed six members of his family, but he accepted John into his home



and refused any money for the trouble saying that "he'd brought more than



he'd taken."



In Montgomery, Alabama, Griffin decided it was time for him to



reenter white society, but he also wanted to gain a knowledge of the area



as a black man. So, he devised the technique of covering an area as a



black and then returning the following day as a white. What he found was,



as a black he would receive the "hate stare" from whites and be treated



with every courtesy by the black community. As a white, it would be the



exact opposite, he would get the "hate stare" from blacks and be treated



wonderfully by the same people who despised him the previous day.



After a few days of zigzagging across the color line, Griffin



decided that he had enough material from his journal to create a book and



enough experience as a black man so he reverted permanently into white



society. Crossing over into the white world was unsettling to Griffin, if



only because of the way he was treated by the same people who despised him



previously due to his pigmentation. The sudden ability to walk into any



establishment and not be refused service was also a shock after having to



search for common conveniences days before.



After returning to his hometown of Mansfield, Texas Griffin was



not widely accepted back into the community he once knew. Many of the



residents of the city were racists, therefore they considered him one of



the 'niggers.' The racists even went as far as to hang Griffin in effigy



from the town's stop light one morning. This prompted him and his family



to leave the area until the situation considerably calmed down.



Griffin was interviewed by various television and radio hosts as



well as magazine and newspapermen after the book was made public. His



main objective was to educate the public of the situation in the South and



people couldn't help but hear about it. Wether or not they accepted the



information was not up to Griffin, but he did his best to make the



knowledge available.



This book relates to American history because it takes the reader



into the Deep South before the Civil Rights Movements took hold and shows



what it was like to be black. In the Preface, the author states "I could



have been a Jew in Germany, a Mexican in a number of states, or a member



of any 'inferior' group. Only the details would have differed. The story



would be the same." The details he mentioned were he being black and in



the South, and the story is of hatred and racism directed toward him and



others like him on account of those details. The account he related



showed America and the world that race relations in the South was not the



pretty picture it was painted as. Instead, he showed the daily struggle



of the blacks to survive.



Griffin's bias is that white Southern Americans of that period



were racist toward the African American population. The only thing



altered from before he entered New Orleans to after was his appearance.



He dyed his skin a very dark brown and shaved his head, his clothing,



speech patterns, and references had not changed and every question was



answered truthfully. If people did judge others by their qualities and



qualifications, his time in the Deep South should have been fairly



uneventful. Instead, there were daily quests to find rest-room



facilities, restaurants, stores, and various other 'conveniences' that he



took advantage of before he crossed the color line. During his stay in



New Orleans, blacks were forced to use specific facilities designated for



them and they were usually few and far between. Other than the Greyhound



station or other public buildings that blacks were allowed to enter, there



were no facilities that were at par with the ones the whites had access



to. His now black skin also prevented him from entering any store and



purchasing something to drink, instead he would have to find a Negro Cafe.



These Cafes were not nearly as numerous as the many places the lowliest



white could acquire a drink. The color of his skin also prevented him



from gaining anything other than menial labor job, although his



qualifications could easily get him any number of positions if he were



white.



". . . I walked toward Brennan's, one of New Orleans' famed



restaurants . . . I stopped to study the menu . . . realizing that a few



days earlier I could have gone in an ordered anything on the menu. But



now, though I was the same person with the same appetite . . .



appreciation . . . and wallet, no power on earth could get me inside this



place for a meal. I recalled hearing some Negro say, 'You can live here



all your life, but you'll never get inside one of the great restaurants



except as a kitchen boy.'"



The above passage represents just one of many instances where he



was barred from entering an establishment solely based on his



pigmentation. As stated before, Negroes were not permitted to enter many



restaurants, but libraries, museums, concert halls, and other culturally



enhancing places were also barred to him even though there was no formal



law against them entering. The many stereotypes of blacks being



intellectually inferior just made it easier to deny them access because



they did not have the mental capacities to appreciate it. It became



apparent to Griffin that because the black population was widely



uneducated, they would never be able to succeed in life. One of the



things inhibiting their education was the inferior quality of schools and



the inability to enter establishments such as libraries and museums. The



whites, usually knew this and used it to their advantage to keep the black



population subordinate.