greenspan's Full Review: John Howard Griffin and Robert (AFT) Bonazzi - Bla...
This book is not for White or Black. bigots as
it could open their eyes to the fact that bigotry
is not exclusive to one race or the other.
John Griffin dons the skin of a Black man and
journeys through the streets of the South during
the racially turbulent era. It has been said that
one never knows how the other man feels until
you walk a mile in his shoes. John Griffin wanted
to know what life as a black man was like. He
wanted to walk more than a mile in the Black
man's shoes, he wanted to spend some time
being Black. The only way to know was to
become a Black man. He did so by taking a
prescription which had the side effect of making
the skin super sensitive to ultraviolet rays. After
the script and sun lamp treatments he emerged
to walk the streets as a Black man.
Keep in mind that he emerged as a man of color
on Southern streets during the days of aggravated
racial discord. He rode on a bus through
Mississippi and arrived just after a Black
man had been hung from an Oak tree by
Mississippi whites. He describes the thoughts that
raced through his mind as he feared for his own life.
The book is filled with his day to day experiences
as he went forward as a Black man dealing with
both Whites and Blacks.
Interestingly enough, he flips the coin as enters the
same streets where he had been accepted by Blacks as
a Black man, but does so as a White man. When he
returned as a White man he finds that views of
bigotry and segregation were not sole proprietorship
of the White man. The Blacks that had once
befriended him, now gave him the same stares and
looks of hatred he had once felt from the White man
when he was thought to be of Black.
=========================================
This book opened my eyes to the fact that both
Blacks and Whites need to recognize the need to
treat people as members of one race, the human race.
=========================================
I might also add that this book is easy reading and
makes for a good book for a student wanting to read a
book that want take the time of reading 'War and
Peace'. I read this book and gave a book report on it in
the seventh grade, however I reread it later while in
college.
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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