lernerj's Full Review: John Howard Griffin and Robert (AFT) Bonazzi - Bla...
In Black Like Me, John Griffin relates the story of an amazing journey. A white man seeking to understand the experiences of black Americans at mid-century, Griffin pursued a series of doctors until he found one willing to treat him. Along with this doctor, Griffin took pills and other treatments to make his skin dark enough that he could pass as black. Then, he took to the streets of the American South truly in another man's shoes.
The book relates Griffin's experiences as he learns how he is treated as he goes about his daily business, doing normal activities such as shopping and riding buses. He gets a glimpse of what it feels like to be assumed stupid, to be routinely insulted, to be denied access to regular facilities, and to be expected to display deference to any white person he met. In relating these encounters, Griffin shows us some of the actual experiences black Southerners had to face every day, as well as helping us try to understand what having these experiences day in and day out might feel like. As Griffin learns and experiences more and more, we see him change as a person.
Of course, Griffin does not actually know what it is to be a black person. He did not grow up with the privation most black people of the time did, and he did not grow up being told by mainstream society that he was inferior. The long-term impact of racism on the minds and hearts of oppressed people could never be captured in such an experiment, and to really understand this, we should turn not to a white person pretending for a short time to be black, but to the many amazing books black writers have produced on this same topic.
However, I believe there is still value in seeing the growth process a privileged member of society undergoes when he finally begins to see what the social system really means to real people's lives. In this way, the book provides a bit of hope; those of us who are soft-hearted liberals can imagine that the way out of racism, sexism, and other dominations is simply to make people really see what they produce. Of course, it is all much more complicated than this, and deep down we probably know that, but it still nice to have some hope once in a while.
If you are only going to read one book to learn about the effects of racism in America, do not read Black Like Me. Read the words of people who have lived it their whole lives, such as the wonderful writings of Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Richard Wright, or for the more academically-oriented, Patricia Hill Collins.
But if you want to range further than this, I would highly recommend Black Like Me. It is a fascinating experiment for someone to have undertaken, and Griffin documents compellingly the cognitive and emotional changes he experienced. It provides useful food for thought about what it would be like for anyone to lose some area of their privilege, be it racial, gender, class, or privilege based on sexuality. And if it provides nothing else, the book is worth reading simply for making us consider this very important question.
The author tells of his experiences after he darkened his skin and traveled through the South in order to find out how it feels to be black.More at HotBookSale
In 1959, Griffin--a white man--headed to New Orleans, darkened his skin, and immersed himself in black society. He then traveled through several state...More at Buy.com
The author tells of his experiences after he darkened his skin and traveled through the South in order to find out how it feels to be black.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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