Black Like Me

Dec 10, 2012 Rowena rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!!!

Shelves: afrocentric, sociology, favorites, american-lit, to-re-read

I can't say enough good things about this book. I thank men like John Howard Griffin who took a stand against racism despite the fact that their own people were vehemently against it. This entire book was a fantastic sociological and journalistic investigation of colour relations in the South in the 50s and 60s. It answered some questions I've always wanted to know, for example how did racist Christians justify their racism? Doesn't God teach us that we are all equal? The answer the author came...more

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Apr 10, 2010 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 501 Must Read Books

Shelves: 501, memoirs

John Howard Griffin, a 39-year old white journalist of Sepia Magazine, changed his skin color and stayed for seven weeks in Deep South, USA among the black population. The year was 1959 prior to the Washington March and passing of the major civil rights bill in 1964.

When published in 1961, this book caused a major controversy: Mr. Griffin was persecuted by his whites by betraying their own race. Remember that at that time, Deep South states, e.g., Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia wer...more John Howard Griffin, a 39-year old white journalist of Sepia Magazine, changed his skin color and stayed for seven weeks in Deep South, USA among the black population. The year was 1959 prior to the Washington March and passing of the major civil rights bill in 1964.

When published in 1961, this book caused a major controversy: Mr. Griffin was persecuted by his whites by betraying their own race. Remember that at that time, Deep South states, e.g., Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia were still in racial segregation. The discrimination worked both ways, blacks stay away from whites and vice versa. I have read a number of books on this and still remember two: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou but this one, being a non-fiction, brought a totally different impact. That scene when Mr. Griffin first looked at his face on the mirror as a black man brought a deep insight on the discrimination he did not know existed even inside himself. He did not like the person staring back at him: black and bald.

This book sold a million copies in the 60's and so far has been translated into 14 languages. President Obama now lords in the White House but the call for social justice that this book purports still resounds up to the present time. Racial discrimination still happens in all parts of the globe. I travel every now and then and I had my share: condescending side remarks of a Chinese waiter in a restaurant in Hong Kong, very late arrival of already cold food in Melbourne, petty crime done to my American officemates in Kuala Lumpur being blamed to illegal Filipino workers by Malaysia police, always being asked for a secondary inspection in LA airport, receiving a rain of F-word from a Mexican lady in Walmart, San Diego, etc. In all those cases, I just keep my cool. Despite giving my apologies twice to the Mexican lady in San Diego a Filipino-American guard told me in my way out: "Mabuti sir 'di na lang kayo sumagot, nasa America ho tayo.".

We need not go overseas. In Metro Manila, we also have marginalized parts of population. It may not be about skin color. It can be about age, religion, social status, sexual orientation, etc. Sometimes we are not aware of it just like the white Mr. Griffin the first time he looked at himself on the mirror as a black man. We may not be fully aware of the deep seated bias and prejudices that are lurking inside our minds until we are in a situation that brings those to the open.

Mr. Griffin died in 1980 at the age of 60. He left a legacy that generations will be benefiting from: the lessons from the astounding experiment culled in this truly beautiful classic book - Black Like Me. (less)

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Dec 04, 2007 Chris Freeman rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

This book must have been unbelievably revolutionary in its day. I must admit that its original impact was lost on me at times because I expected many of Griffin's experiences as a white man disguised as a black man in 1959. He's treated poorly by white bus drivers, the hotels he stays in are substandard, he has to use separate facilites. There aren't many surprises as far as how he is treated (although there are a few).
What is surprising is how emotionally involved he gets. Within just a few day...more

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Aug 18, 2009 booklady rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, adventure, autobiography, non-fiction, philosophy, psychology, spiritual, history, classic, worth-reading-over-and-over, travel

Although John Howard Griffin was known primarily for Black Like Me and it fully deserves all five stars I’ve awarded it, I’m hard pressed to say which impressed me more—the book itself or the brief biography of the author at the end. In only sixty years (1920-1980) Griffin managed to fight in the French Resistance, lose his eyesight as a result of a nearby explosion during a Japanese air raid, become Catholic, marry and have four children and ultimately go on to become a spokesman for the Civil...more Although John Howard Griffin was known primarily for Black Like Me and it fully deserves all five stars I’ve awarded it, I’m hard pressed to say which impressed me more—the book itself or the brief biography of the author at the end. In only sixty years (1920-1980) Griffin managed to fight in the French Resistance, lose his eyesight as a result of a nearby explosion during a Japanese air raid, become Catholic, marry and have four children and ultimately go on to become a spokesman for the Civil Rights Movement.

When his eyesight unexpectedly returned in the late 1950s, he was an established author with a strong sense of “otherness”, something he never lost even though now he could see again physically. More importantly to the man, John Griffin, he could see human beings and human life at a deeper level than many others around him could due to those years of not being able to ‘see’.

What I liked best about Black Like Me was Griffin’s plain style of writing. He didn’t embellish. And yet he describes the Negro (to use the book’s own terminology) men, women and children he met and befriended with befitting gentleness and grace. Although they lived in poverty and endured much, they were without exception unfailingly kind, generous and helpful to Griffin, a total stranger.

The hardest part of the book to endure was the blindness and cruelty of the whites he described. I cringed. I was ashamed. I was deeply saddened. But I also (re)learned some valuable lessons about “otherness” from Griffin’s journey into obscurity.

First of all, I learned to look at people, really look at them. Look them in the face. Don’t avoid looking at anyone, no matter who they are. Often I have looked away out of something in me, shyness or fear—but the other person doesn’t know that and they may see it as something in them. So have the courage to look at others in and with love.

Second, a smile is the best gift you can give almost everyone. So don’t be stingy. Smiles are free and they can mean the world to someone who is hurting; give away as many as you can. There are so many hurting people in need of kindness and love.

And finally, black and white are only coverings on the outside and we have no control over them—well most of us don’t. On the inside, that’s another matter. There we can be whatever color we make of the character God has given us.

These aren’t stunning revelations, I know. They’re just simple reminders of truths I’m sure I heard a long time ago. But reading Black Like Me revealed that it’s the simple things like this that really do make all the difference.

Fifty years young and as relevant as ever! EXCELLENT!

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Oct 24, 2011 Fawaz Ali rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: platinum-list

We all claim that we know the feelings of one another. Just ask a group of healthy individuals and they will likely tell you that they know the feelings of the sick! Ask rich people and they will tell you that they know the feelings of the poor. The question is: do they really know or do they only think that they know?

In Black Like Me, John Griffin, a white journalist, sought to answer a complex question: How does it feel like to be black in America? By dyeing his skin black and travelling in d...more

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Aug 23, 2008 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-and-biography

What a brilliant anthropological/sociological study of the Black experience! Using medication and dye, John Howard Griffin, darkened his skin, and took on the role of a black man while traveling through the deep South for a month. His goal -- to learn for himself what it is like. With tremendous eloquence, Griffin conveys the despair and fear that he felt as he experienced humiliating segregation, discrimination, racism, and demeaning living conditions. He lasted little more than a month, during...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Raziya Bryant rated it 5 of 5 stars

John Howard Griffin, the author and main character of Black Like Me, he is a middle-aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. He is deeply concerned about the racial justice and gets frustrated by himself being a white man, because he was lacking the understanding of the black experience. Griffin took upon himself to take a huge racial step, by changing his skin color temporarily to become a black man. Eventually, Griffin looks in the mirror and sees a black man looking back at him; he...more John Howard Griffin, the author and main character of Black Like Me, he is a middle-aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. He is deeply concerned about the racial justice and gets frustrated by himself being a white man, because he was lacking the understanding of the black experience. Griffin took upon himself to take a huge racial step, by changing his skin color temporarily to become a black man. Eventually, Griffin looks in the mirror and sees a black man looking back at him; he briefly panics, feeling that he has lost his identity. Then he sets out to explore the black community. Griffin expects to find prejudice, oppression and the hardship. He is shocked at the range of it; such as everywhere he went he experiences the difficulties and insults the white people were given him.
When I first came across this book, I had to read the small blurb in the back of this book. It became to be very interesting and I knew I had to finish this book. I wanted to read a book about my African history, so I could understand what really happened in the Deep South of the late 1950's. This book talked about lynching and how the white people could only use whites-only restrooms, also how racism was a big problem in the South but I was still shocked to read how pervasive it was and what extreme forms it took. Also, what astonished me, was how John Griffin the author could barely survive six weeks as a black man. This showed how disheartening it must have been to live as black person in the 1950’s.
The most intriguing part of this book, was in the beginning when he said "I had spoken, in the intimate freedom of the colored bond, had acknowledged a double problem for the Negro. First, the discrimination against him. Second, and almost more grievous, his discrimination against himself; his contempt for the blackness that associates with suffering; his willingness to sabotage his fellow Negroes because they are part of the blackness he has found so painful." This whole excerpt made me wonder what John Griffin meant about this section, it made me think back in the 1950's perspective of what black people went through of this hate crime. How they were criticized by every move they had made and that the white males were out to get them, if they had made the wrong move about anything.
This book is definitely, something everyone should take in consideration to read, because racism isn't as prevalent as it was in the 1960’s, but it is still living among us in the present. Our attitudes about people different ethnicity need to change, people need to be given an equal opportunity despite of people’s color of their skin.

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Jan 16, 2011 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Nina by: Colin

This is a diary-like narrative by a white journalist who in 1959 takes pills and applies semi-permanent skin dye to make himself appear black, then travels around New Orleans and Mississippi as a black man. I can only imagine what an impact this book made at the time it was published. Reading this today, his experience isn't surprising or new (though this doesn't make it any less painful to read about it!).

At first I wasn't really sure why I would want to read about the experience of being blac...more This is a diary-like narrative by a white journalist who in 1959 takes pills and applies semi-permanent skin dye to make himself appear black, then travels around New Orleans and Mississippi as a black man. I can only imagine what an impact this book made at the time it was published. Reading this today, his experience isn't surprising or new (though this doesn't make it any less painful to read about it!).

At first I wasn't really sure why I would want to read about the experience of being black in the South in 1959 from a white man when I have and can read about it from black people who lived through it their whole lives, who were not just trying it out for 6 weeks. The role of this book at the time is unquestionable - it sounds like it was the only voice speaking about the injustice and despair that blacks were experiencing that actually made it through mainstream media (since no white person at the time was asking blacks how they felt being black in America), and it was in a way forcing a mirror up to whites to see themselves in a way that they may otherwise not have.

But even now, I think the psychological aspects of this book are fascinating. Here is an exceptionally perceptive and brave white journalist setting out to uncover the injustice and horrors of racism, and what does he do when he first looks at himself in the mirror after dyeing his skin? He is shocked, almost repulsed, by the "fierce, bald, very dark Negro" looking back at him in the mirror. It is shocking for the reader to see that despite the fact that he is willing to put himself in considerable danger for the plight of the civil rights movement, deep down he holds the same prejudices (not to a great extent obviously) that he is fighting against. He so internalizes his skin color that he can barely even bring himself to call his family to talk to them - he feels like a totally other person and can't find anything to talk to them about. The contrast of walking down a street as a white person, able to stop in at any cafe for a coffee or to use the bathroom, to then walking down the same street as a black person, not allowed to enter any establishment for a drink or to use the restroom, and getting stared at with hatred, really can't be portrayed any better than from the eyes of the same exact person walking down that street once as a white man and then as a black man. (less)

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Nov 29, 2008 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was ready to give this book a somewhat generous review for what may be obvious reasons, but then I read some other reviews and now I’m annoyed. It’s ridiculous to cast John Howard Griffin as some kind of hero because he was “brave enough” to “endure” the “black experience” for less than 8 weeks. Sorry, but read a book by a black American about the black American experience if that’s what you want to learn about; I suspect any would be more holistic than to cast black men and women as purely ag...more I was ready to give this book a somewhat generous review for what may be obvious reasons, but then I read some other reviews and now I’m annoyed. It’s ridiculous to cast John Howard Griffin as some kind of hero because he was “brave enough” to “endure” the “black experience” for less than 8 weeks. Sorry, but read a book by a black American about the black American experience if that’s what you want to learn about; I suspect any would be more holistic than to cast black men and women as purely agents of suffering with such despairing lives that poor Griffin should be exalted to sainthood for attempting to “live as a Negro” for 6 weeks. And I should point out that with this reasoning, it would follow that every black man and woman born in the United States during our hundreds of years of terror against black people ought to be considered heros—yet Griffin is the one being celebrated. Griffin is a white man his whole life, and readers think his slapping on some make-up for six weeks would allow him to understand the black experience. Bullshit! It’s such a ridiculous suggestion; I am astonished this book is being described as a great piece of anthropology. I’m not criticizing the instances that his own racism shows through in his narrative, although those would be valid and useful critiques, but I’m disturbed by some of the reactions to this book.

Though it’s also clear that the book is meaningful to whites. Some of the reviews white people give say that it changed their world-view and helped them think about racism more personally, so it seems that the book is still useful for the purpose of teaching empathy to white people, and in a sort of round-about way, one might even learn something about privilege. I can see how it makes the issue of racism very personal for white people, forcing them/us to imagine what it might be like to occupy a different place in the matrix of domination.

The book is also useful for analyzing the mentality of upper-middle class whites who worked for racial justice in the South during the sixties. Griffin was brave, yes, and at a time when nearly all white people were major assholes (understatement) he was at least one of the few trying to work for justice, which is interesting and causes one to wonder what stoked that desire in him. Especially, his resilience in the face of lynch-threats on his life is to be admired. But let’s not forget that his “anthropological” experiment also advanced his career and he was paid by magazines to print his journals. What accolades did black men and women earn for enduring the terror of the Jim Crow south? I would have liked to see more self-criticism in Griffin’s account. He evades what could have been the most powerful function of his text: an analysis of the racism rooted in the very conception of the project.
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Feb 13, 2008 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who wants to read about different races and discrimination

This book opened my eyes to how society was before I was born. Discrimination was so severe that people were afraid to be the wrong race. I feel that I have experience discrimination when I was in high school for being Native American in a mainly "white" high school. The severity of my discrimination does not compare to the discrimination that Griffin voluntarily experienced during the time of his experiment in the Deep South. I could not believe the risks Griffin put himself against. He first...more

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Dec 19, 2008 Shirley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

I read this book many years ago but remember it making wuite an impact. I think it might have had a pivotal effect by helping many of us middle class white folk begin to understand prejudice...ours and others. I would give it a 5 but it has been way too long for me to remember how well I liked it.

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Apr 19, 2013 Matthieu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Matthieu by: Magali

Roman sur la ségrégation raciale aux Etats-Unis fin 1959 du côté de la Nouvelle-Orléans (en Louisiane).
C'est l'histoire d'un blanc qui se "maquille" en noir pour ressentir les conditions de vie des noirs (ces "nègres") de l'époque. Le récit est percutant et touchant, on suit les aventures du narrateur avec intérêts, on ne peut pas s'empêcher d'être bouleversé et révolté! C'était il y a 60 ans.

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Jan 25, 2009 Barrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this as a kid in Texas in the early '70s and found it absolutely riveting. I suspect the reviewers who are annoyed that Griffin is so admired are much younger. Society has changed so much in the interim, pre-multicultural life must seem comparable to the Jurassic Period. For a white man to "cross over" in the Deep South in 1959 was truly brave; remember, he didn't necessarily understand exactly how he should act with white people, which put him in danger. This in no way negates or minimiz...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Daniel Namie rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Black Like Me" is an all-inspiring depiction of racism in America during the 1960. The overt and covert racism portrayed in "Black Like Me" speaks not only to me, the white man, but to all generations of "negro" Americans. Furthermore John Howards Griffins portrayal of civil injustice is a very americana ideas. The inalienable rights of "Life. Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" were stripped from negroes at birth. Griffin's work, along with other civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King...more

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Oct 12, 2008 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book in high school and absolutely loved it. Having returned from living in Mexico for a couple of years, I can see the divide between the Hispanic community and the white community. Whenever I speak to a Mexican American, or to a Mexican person, here in the US, we quickly get beyond our cultural roots and they become the amazingly friendly, warm people I met in Mexico. Most people here in the US never get to know them this way and because of that, there are a lot of misunderstanding...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Emmett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first heard about ‘Black Like Me’ surprisingly enough when I read about in the ‘Autobiography of Malcolm X’. Then a few weeks ago, I saw a copy of ‘Black Like Me’ in a used bookstore for $2.50 and so I bought it, and then I read it, and now I’m writing this; good you are all caught up.

Malcolm X had been flippant of the book, and when I first read the premise, it sounded a lot like “Soul Man” starring C. Thomas Howell. So, I went into it thinking it was going to be a bit silly, and perhaps off...more I first heard about ‘Black Like Me’ surprisingly enough when I read about in the ‘Autobiography of Malcolm X’. Then a few weeks ago, I saw a copy of ‘Black Like Me’ in a used bookstore for $2.50 and so I bought it, and then I read it, and now I’m writing this; good you are all caught up.

Malcolm X had been flippant of the book, and when I first read the premise, it sounded a lot like “Soul Man” starring C. Thomas Howell. So, I went into it thinking it was going to be a bit silly, and perhaps offensive (in that pre-PC America way) at points. However, I will say I enjoyed this book much more than “Soul Man”, which was a stupid thing.

It was a quick, easy, and interesting through page one to the end. He starts taking the pigment pills in the first 5 pages, and then bam, he’s black John Howard Griffin, and at once he starts to get the “hate stare” and get harassed by whites on the street, and get refused to use most facilities, in fact the thing that will stick with me that I hadn’t realized is how huge of a pain the ass it must have been to go walking around town looking for the black toilets, water fountains, cafes, etc…. Of course, that is not to make it sound as if I’m flippant about having to deal with racist rhetoric every day of your life, in fear of retribution for the smallest (often only perceived) slights, among other horrors of being a black person in 1950’s Mississippi, or Deep South.

My biggest issue with the book, and perhaps I’m just cynical, is how quickly he fell into the black mindset. At once, he identified himself as a black man, absorbing that psyche and almost co-opting centuries of complicated black culture, neuroses, etc… after just a few days of having dark skin. All of the problems he expanded on were no doubt there for actual blacks, but I don’t know if I believe he fell into step quite that quickly. There is a journal entry where he talks of being so racked emotionally by the entire experience that he breaks down crying. I couldn't tell if he was crying for the state of racial relations in the late 1950’s, or for his own temporary personal inconvenience.

I found myself interested throughout and read it in three sittings. It had the perfect amount of brevity, given the tad bit outlandish premise. I do wish the picture on the back was clearer, as I kept finding myself wondering if black John Howard Griffin didn’t look like a black man, but just a white man with dark skin, Hispanic perhaps. But, maybe I think facial structure plays more of a part in races than it actually does.
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Apr 04, 2013 Mrtracjk rated it 4 of 5 stars

The non-fiction novel, "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin is the experience of Griffin himself, a middle-upper class white man in the late 50's putting himself into the body of a black man to face racism first hand in the brutal deep southern part of the states. Griffin, an author from Mansfield, Texas, temporarily altered his skin colour to look as if he was an African American by taking oral medication as well as having his skin exposed to ultraviolet rays. A risky process that Griffin was...more The non-fiction novel, "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin is the experience of Griffin himself, a middle-upper class white man in the late 50's putting himself into the body of a black man to face racism first hand in the brutal deep southern part of the states. Griffin, an author from Mansfield, Texas, temporarily altered his skin colour to look as if he was an African American by taking oral medication as well as having his skin exposed to ultraviolet rays. A risky process that Griffin was willing to entail. John traveled to New Orleans start his journey by finding a doctor willing to help him through the process. Griffin spent a week mainly under the ultraviolet rays and after that week with touching up some areas of his body with dye was unrecognizable to whom he once was. Griffin felt alone, as if he didn't know who the man in mirror was. Knowing he was the same man who gave his goodbyes to his wife and children not much more then a week earlier would now be a complete stranger to the ones he loves. Their was no turning back now Griffin was determined to face racism, so he set off later that night which was the begin of a eye opening experience. At first Griffin wanted to draw little attention to his new African American self and talk as little as possible, he just wanted to sit back and observe. Very soon Griffin felt the love and warmth that the black people felt for one another. Many of the black people he met in New Orleans were extremely friendly and looked out for him. Griffin felt comfortable and safe when he was with them, that next day though he would experience the first encounters with the white people who would judge him souly on his skin colour. Griffin spent a few weeks in New Orleans, eating at the various coloured restaurants and not being welcome in the places he was not at all long ago. Every white store he went to looking for work ignored his credentials, telling Griffin they had no work for him right now. He ended up at the shoe shining stand where Sherling Williams, a man who when Griffin was white talked to on multiple occasions. Sterling didn't recognize Griffin until he hinted to him and then told him. Sterling was completely shocked and Griffin asked if he could help him with work for a while. This is where Griffin spent most of his time in New Orleans with sterling and his friend Joe, they taught him the in's and out's of being black in the south. Other then with Sterling and Joe, Griffin spent his time in coffee shop discussing politics and the problems of the black community with many local black people. He learned a lot about the blacks view on the white man and there theories of the circle racism. The people in the coloured cafes and coffee shops thought the reason the white look down on the blacks is because the white think the blacks live at a lower standard of life then they did which is because the whites pushed the blacks there because they didn't allow them to become educated which was the reason they couldn't jobs to support their families. Griffin was amazed at what he found. When Griffin realized it was time to move on in his journey he decided to travel to Mississippi, the state with the reputation of being the worst state in terms of racism. It was a Sunday when Griffin decided to bus to Mississippi but he was short on cash so he needed to cash a check. Knowing in was Sunday and the bank was closed he went to a convence store where has shop many times. He went to the counter to see the pretty lady who was there the previous times he had come to the store. When she realized Griffin came not to buy anything, Griffin experienced the "death stare," the complete look of disguise and anger on her face pierced right through Griffin. He has never felt something so sudden and hate filled, he wanted to ask her if he had offended her, but he knew that his skin was the thing that offended her. Griffin tried many other stores that also turned him down. When Griffin was almost out of options he made his way to the church where the lady there exchanged the check for money without hesitation even though Griffin expected rejection. He got on the bus where he met the first hate filled black towards other blacks; this man had got in multiple yelling despuites with members of the black part of the bus sat next to Griffin. He respected Griffin for his intelligence and dressing nicely, he said it was impossible to have with any of the normal uneducated black people. In Mississippi he stopped taking the medication but still spent the time facing racism asking white people for directions and places to stay. Soon after Griffin washed the dye of his skin and easily looked white he went to the black area and witnessing the looks they gave where they just accepted him days earlier he later applied the dye again and rotated every day with dye and without it, he learned a lot. At one point in the book Griffin explains the events of the night when he hitch hiked. He realized the white that picked him up wanted to know about the black mans sexual experiences, they thought that blacks were just crazy animals that had no goals or dreams. At the end of it all he returned home word quickly spread of his journey most people extremely angry. Griffin had many talk show interviews and meetings about his experience. By the end you can tell Griffin is almost still black on the inside, he experienced 6 weeks of racism I think he will always fell as if he is still black in a way.

This book made me feel a lot of things, such as disgusted because of the superiority the white felt over the blacks it was sick they way the looked at and treated the blacks back then. It's just like these white women on the bus expect the blacks the move to the back so they have a seat they expect them to serve them like that.

The things racism wasn't just a problem for whites against black but also the other way around. The blacks stared at Griffin with disgust as he walked the streets as a white man. The blacks didn't accept friendship from white people they thought all were just evil people who looked at them like animals when some whites didn't care they were black. This also could be from the years of hate the whites they gave to them but they bottom line is some white people didn't care they were black.

I also just imagined what it would be like for me to raised by racist parents in the 50's that's obviously how racism is spread but to be taught from a young age to hate people just because how they look, the kid is destined to hate that group of people just because their parents said that was right. Myself, being raised in an accepting culture can't stand racism but just any kind of discrimination, but if I were to be raised I would be racist and probably wouldn't know better.

Also I felt happy because even though the majority of the book was showing horrible people being completely racist because that is what expected, they’re also some really good people shown in this book. Some were religious just loving every Son of God the same a realizing that hating the whites would just make him the same as them. One was a white man just trying to show that we're all brothers no matter what we look like. As well as Griffin teaching to ignorant white people that every new born is the same as any other a blank canvas who's thoughts and beliefs can be changed by their up bring.

Racism was obviously a bigger problem back then, opposed to know. I find it interesting reading this book just to see what life used to be like for some people. Now we live in such an accepting and understanding world where you can do what makes you happy and won't be judged just because you look or act different. Racism isn't completely gone though people still deal with it every day but the racists are ignorant people who can't see people for more then a color.
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Apr 04, 2013 Mrtracksclass rated it 4 of 5 stars

John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me is a non-fictional novel that from a new perspective at the time tries to understand racial difficulties. It is an auto-biography of a very courageous man who is searching for justice. Griffin is a Caucasian man with a loving family who wants to see what it is like to be a black man in the deep South in the 1950s. He decides to take medication in order to darken his pigment and travel through the Southern states and cities to places like Alabama, Texas, Atlant...more John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me is a non-fictional novel that from a new perspective at the time tries to understand racial difficulties. It is an auto-biography of a very courageous man who is searching for justice. Griffin is a Caucasian man with a loving family who wants to see what it is like to be a black man in the deep South in the 1950s. He decides to take medication in order to darken his pigment and travel through the Southern states and cities to places like Alabama, Texas, Atlanta, and New Orleans. He starts his journey off close to home where none of his old friends recognize him. Despite this, with the help of many generous people, he finds his way through some tough situations. He finds that the values he held as a white person are challenged by the realities of being black. For example, he goes from having a caucasian wife and kids to not being allowed to even look at a white women without getting scorned.
Some people believe “Negroes have more illegitimate children, earlier loss of virginity and more crime.” (pg.91). It was said the whites “[will] do business with [black people], [they will] sure as hell screw [the women], other than that, [blacks are] just completely off the record as far as [whites] are concerned” (pg.105). Through his experiences, he came to believe that there are no real differences between blacks and whites other than skin color. It is the effects of the environment on human nature that makes a person who they are, not the color of their skin. Unfortunately for Griffin, throughout his adventure he is judged based on a single quality. His skin was dark. Being able to see both sides of the story made it hard for him to go back to being white.
Sometimes people act and pretend to be something they are not because of the situation and different people they encounter. This is how they get through life. But how they think is not always how they act; this is a form of discrimination that Griffin encounters. It is this type of discrimination that gives hope to many Negroes and results in them starting to come together with a common goal. Leadership positions and higher education for Negroes contribute to this process. Through this, people- including whites like Griffin- began to take a stand for equality, rights and justice. We can see the result of this in our world today. From a modern point of view, this novel is sad and upsetting but it also has a optimistic view of the future.
The keys to improving any community (whether black or white) is financial and job opportunities, education and the right to vote. When these things are not available to people it makes it very difficult to survive and that is when people start doing things not normally acceptable. Griffin faces some of these struggles when he is not allowed into normal restaurants or restrooms and has to walk for miles in order to meet his basic needs. Essentially love and justice are the same thing and Griffin finds that people struggle trying to apply these to their everyday lives. He is also told that “Maritain's conclusion [is] that the only solution to the problems of a man is the return of charity and metaphysics.” (pg.96). This is something he tries to live by.
I enjoyed that this book was non-fiction so I feel like I have a understanding of historical turning points that have happened in the world. It was exciting when Griffin comes to knew realizations or gets into interesting situations. At other times the information started feeling a bit repetitive and unnecessary. All in all Black Like Me is a very good novel that has valuable information that is presented in a engaging and adventurous method. I would recommend this book to any one who wants a bit of a challenge and something out of the ordinary to enjoy.(less)

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Feb 16, 2013 Meleece rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

A subtitle to this book could be, "A Study of Hatred". Because of this, it was not an enjoyable read. Sometimes I wanted to escape as badly as Griffin wanted to escape his room in Mississippi. But everyone should read this book. Here's why:

"Humanity does not differ in any profound way . . . All human beings face the same fundamental problems of loving and of suffering, of striving toward human aspirations for themselves and their children, of simply being and inevitably dying . . . In reality,...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Trudy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Griffin's description of life in the south as a black man in the late 50's was fascinating reading. People's fear of doing what they knew to be right because of their fear of their neighbour - and they had reason to fear.

What I liked less: He treated both races as monolithic in their reactions to each other. He was very limited in his travels, yet in his analysis he painted with very broad strokes and started talking about "America" and "white society". People are not that simple.

His description...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Muhammad Salman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-2013-with-summer-assignments

The time period of this book in the 1950's was much different than today. A man by the name of John Howard Griffin travels to the South in the United States to see how life is. He has operation to change his skin color.

He works and lives his life as a black man in the south, in danger of being killed.
Bravery to exploit unfair practices is evident throughout the book because at the time no typical white person would change their skin color to go through harsh practices. He would be paid a lot m...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007-2010

(This is a true story, even if it sounds more like sci-fi.) In 1959, Griffin, a white man living in Mansfield, Texas, was troubled by the poor and hostile race relations in the South. Wanting to explore and reveal the truth, the writer approached Sepia magazine with a crazy idea. If they would fund the experiment, he would disguise himself as a black man, spend six weeks in the South, and allow the magazine to publish his accounts. Once they gave the green light, he convinced a dermatologist to...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Lexi rated it 4 of 5 stars

For my second quarter independent reading, I chose to read Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin. In this powerful novel Griffin wrote of his experience of a white man in the black man’s world in the summer of 1959. Pigmenting his skin, Griffin did an unimaginable and courageous thing to put the oppression of the African Americans in perspective for himself. Transitioning from the supremacy to a second class citizen is an inconceivable thought to me.

As an African American the treatment Griffin...more For my second quarter independent reading, I chose to read Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin. In this powerful novel Griffin wrote of his experience of a white man in the black man’s world in the summer of 1959. Pigmenting his skin, Griffin did an unimaginable and courageous thing to put the oppression of the African Americans in perspective for himself. Transitioning from the supremacy to a second class citizen is an inconceivable thought to me.

As an African American the treatment Griffin faced reminded me a lot of Madeline Main’s treatment in The North and South Trilogy, by John Jakes. Madeline’s great grandmother was African American and once people around town knew of her heritage she was publicly humiliated, not allowed to worship in church, and faced with verbal abuse daily. Madeline was forced permanently out of the white society and she eventually found the African American community to be her real family. Which in contrast was unlike Griffin, who was faced with the shackles of oppression for only seven weeks, Madeline faced this for the rest of her life. The respect and love both Madeline and Griffin have for the African Americans is very much the same and although frowned upon by others they remain true to that love. Both Madeline and Griffin find the African American society full of understanding and true friendships that run deeper than anything they’ve ever known. Both Griffin and Madeline helped the African American community as much as they could. Madeline opens a African American school to help educate the newly freed slaves and through this book, newspaper articles, and interviews Griffin spread awareness of the mistreatment and prejudice. Unfortunately White’s made life difficult on them for their tolerance and help.

As imagined this experience was life changing for Griffin. Throughout the book Griffin developed into dealing with self conflict and almost two different Griffin’s were forming. The first Griffin was the old one. The old Griffin was the tolerant white man who was sympathetic and almost curious towards African Americans but not much else. The new Griffin is the African American one, who develops each time as he travels. The new Griffin faced with hardships he had never been forced to face in his life. The new Griffin who was beaten down and tormented. The new Griffin is in a world where the word luxury is unknown. The new Griffin who found love rooted so deep it fills your heart with love and nothing else. The new Griffin who met families who have nothing to offer but yet give so much than any white man could.
The development from one Griffin to the next and the self conflict him is what I found to make the book unique. When a white man, Griffin is accepted by the whites and distrusted by African Americans. When a black man, Griffin is tortured by whites but accepted by all African Americans anywhere. What I found ironic about this book was that it was the same man the whole time. This symbolized the fact that every man is the same on the inside, regardless of his color on the outside so he should be treated that way.
”I was the same man, whether white or black. Yet when I was white I received brotherly-love smiles and privileges from whites and hate stares from the Negroes. And when I was Negro, the whites judged me to fit in for the junk heap, while Negros treated me with great warmth.” (133).
Through this development and change in Griffin he constructs his main argument, that all men are the same. As he juxtaposes the treatment he receives as white and as black is where we see the power of the inequality and injustice. Griffin also compares the oppression of African Americans to the oppression of the Jews in the Holocaust. I found this comparison to be a bit extreme but both events are very extreme. The desire for “racial purity” is very much the same but the actions that took place were very much different. Right in the beginning of the story, as Griffin pigmented his skin he referred the change as passing over a threshold. “To get from the white world into the Negro world is a complex matter.” (8). That symbolism occurred powerfully to me to show that it really was viewed as two different worlds to people. Griffin also uses powerful diction, which helps successfully show the emotion behind discrimination. “warmed by the brief contact with others like me who felt the need to be reassured that an eye could show something besides suspicion or hate.” (18). Griffin uses a metaphor throughout the story. He shows that living in the white society makes you blind and living in the African American society allows for sight. “When i was blind i came here... Now the most intense excitement filled me as i saw the places i visited while blind.” (5).
In the end of the book, Griffin is sent across the Unite States to do television interviews, write newspaper articles, and to talk about his book. He is treated as a celebrity admired by both African Americans and whites. I found irony in the fact that when he returned home to his town in Texas, his family was cast out of the supremacy and started to receive death threats from many racist whites. The whites even went as far as to hang a dummy, painted half black and half white to warn Griffin off. The irony I saw was nation wide Griffin was a celebrity, but he had “shamed” his townspeople. I also found it to be ironic that Griffin was now sometimes treated as an African American and sometimes treated as a white. Griffin had developed a sort of middle position. (less)

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Jan 11, 2013 Adrienne Deck rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Black Like Me" is a novel written by John Howard Griffin. The "novel" was actually his compilation of diary entries written while he was undercover for the purpose of his journalism career. Griffin was a white, middle-aged journalist from Texas. He wanted to understand, and even expose, maybe unknown to some, the cruelty of racism in the South. To do so, he sought help from a medical professional to help in darkening his skin pigmentation. He was given pills and strict orders to follow in order...more "Black Like Me" is a novel written by John Howard Griffin. The "novel" was actually his compilation of diary entries written while he was undercover for the purpose of his journalism career. Griffin was a white, middle-aged journalist from Texas. He wanted to understand, and even expose, maybe unknown to some, the cruelty of racism in the South. To do so, he sought help from a medical professional to help in darkening his skin pigmentation. He was given pills and strict orders to follow in order for this change to happen. After his transformation from white to black was complete, he left his family and set out for New Orleans, Louisiana to discover what it was like, and how he would be treated, by being a man of darker skin tone. Little did he know how drastic the adaptation would be for him.

Even though I am a white high school student living in the twenty-first century and neither civil rights nor racism really apply to myself or my life, I still find the subject matter very interesting and important to our nation's history. Not only that, but I would say that it is one of my secret interests. I love reading and learning about civil rights and African-Americans from earlier in American history. I feel some sort of strong, emotional connection with it, for reasons that are unknown to me. Saying that, I must say how much I fell in love, in a bitter-sweet kind of way, with this book. Right from the start, when I read the summary of the novel, I was intrigued. The thought had never even crossed my mind that a caucasian could change their skin color in that day and age to see how rough African-Americans had it, let alone be brave enough to do so. That is the most amazing thing about the story: that it was real. John Howard Griffin really did this; he did not just make up a story about this for praise by others. He went through all the medical trouble, all the pain and heart ache of being harassed and poorly treated on a regular basis, just so that he could expose, more thoroughly, the deep hatred of blacks in the deep south.

The fact that this novel was so real and raw in emotions really made it incredible. Griffin had a journal entry for nearly every day, some being dozens of pages long, recording his new life in the day of a black man. Many of these entries were heart-wrenching, ranging from being chased down public streets without help from bystanders to being verbally assaulted. Because Griffin went into such detail on a regular basis about his terrible discoveries of the immense racism in the south, the novel felt more personal; it tugged just a little bit more at the heart strings than it would if he had just made it a narrative. Since Griffin was an experienced writer, his vocabulary was extremely broad, which enhanced the writing even more. When he first looked in the mirror for the first time after his transformation he could not even recognize himself. He felt like a completely different person, saying he "was imprisoned in the flesh of an utter stranger, an unsympathetic one with which he felt no kinship with." His bold diction here made me, as the reader, completely heartbroken. The fact that he felt like such a different person because of his skin color and that it made him feel unsafe and anxious really puts into perspective how afraid and estranged blacks felt in their very own skin, which was the point of his entire memoir. All of these reasons, including the factor that this was just a purely mid-boggling experiment, makes "Black Like Me" a must-read.(less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Jillian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, history-culture-politics, ots-challenge

In 1959, writer John Howard Griffin darkened his skin with medical treatments and dye in order to go 'undercover' as a black man in the South. He undergoes the expected mistreatment, along with both pleasant and unpleasant surprises, one of the greatest being how fully and immediately he finds himself immersed in his new identity. As a black man in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, he constantly struggles to find somewhere to stay, work, eat, wash his hands, and use the bathroom. He constantl...more In 1959, writer John Howard Griffin darkened his skin with medical treatments and dye in order to go 'undercover' as a black man in the South. He undergoes the expected mistreatment, along with both pleasant and unpleasant surprises, one of the greatest being how fully and immediately he finds himself immersed in his new identity. As a black man in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, he constantly struggles to find somewhere to stay, work, eat, wash his hands, and use the bathroom. He constantly faces subtle mistreatment and outright hatred that leaves him emotionally and psychologically exhausted. Frequently he finds support and kindness from other black individuals, and occasionally he finds the same from white individuals, small kernels of hope for an improved future. Throughout his experience, Griffin and the people he meets speak eloquently and insightfully about the racial problems of the time and their possible solutions.

A few examples:

An elderly gentleman in a café tells him: “Our people aren’t educated because they either can’t afford it or else they know education won’t earn them the jobs it would a white man. Any kind of family life, any decent standard of living seems impossible from the outset. So a lot of them, without even understanding the cause, just give up. They take what they can get – mostly in pleasure, and they make the grand gesture, the wild gesture, because what have they got to lose if they do die in a car wreck or a knife fight or something else equally stupid.”

Griffin also found that an inordinate number of white men were disgustingly open with him about their experiences forcing or buying sex with black women, and that they were desperately eager to know about the hypersexual abilities and perversities that they assumed he must have, being a black male. Griffin comes to realize that “In these matters, the Negro has seen the backside of the white man too long to be shocked. He feels an indulgent superiority whenever he sees these evidences of the white man’s frailty. This is one of the sources of his chafing at being considered inferior. He cannot understand how the white man can show the most demeaning aspects of his nature and at the same time delude himself into thinking he is inherently superior.”

When Griffin tries to explain to one of these aggressively curious men that the races are not significantly different in their sexual behavior, the man asks why then the black population has more illegitimate children and on average an earlier loss of virginity. Griffin responds: “The fact that the white race has the same problems proves these are not Negro characteristics, but the product of our condition… Deprive a man of any contact with the pleasures of the spirit and he’ll fall completely into those of the flesh…In most places we can’t go to the concerts, the theater, the museums, public lectures… or even to the library. Our schools in the South don’t compare to the white schools… With practically nothing to exalt the mind or exercise the spirit, any man is going to sink to his lowest depths.” And deprived of the respect and high wages that would make him feel like an effective head-of-household, “Most often the sex-king is just a poor devil trying to prove the manhood that his whole existence denies,” and the prostitute or overly young mother is similarly led into her situation by lack of money and education.

It was a fascinating study and an emotionally wrenching narrative. In some ways it is dated, of course, but in others it is depressingly timeless. Bigotry cycles back to similar arguments and evils, while its opponents shake their heads at the illogic and unfairness of it all and strive for similar solutions.
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Dec 28, 2012 Jeremiah rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book itself feels a little dated: a view of the segregated South as it used to be, with the slightly unsettling paternalism of a well-meaning white man who presumes to speak for black men because he spent a couple months with dyed skin. But the epilogue makes it powerfully relevant to today and puts the narrative in a more helpful perspective. It's not that Griffin believes that black authors can't speak for themselves; but when he first wrote, white readers wouldn't listen to them. His expe...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Natasha Gonzales rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Natasha Gonzales
Columbine High school
12/18/2012
Black Like Me takes place in the late 1950s in the deep south. John Howard Griffin, a white male journalist who works for a black owned magazine,took medication and did UV treatments to change the color of his skin to look like a black man. Throughout the book he talked about what it was like to live in various parts of the deep south as a black man. Even though the color of his skin changed, he kept everything else about himself the same. He trie...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Ryan M rated it 4 of 5 stars

I live in Hawaii and some people call Hawaii a “Mixed Plate”( all types of food on one dinner plate). There are so many different races of people that live or visit here. For example in my class there are 4 different types of asian and caucasian. I am sheltered from racism because Hawaii is a very welcoming place. Here people don’t care what race you are or where you are from. The book Black Like Me has incidences of the complete opposite. There is a lot of harsh racism and racial profiling. Mr....more

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Oct 15, 2012 Devonc rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have heard about the discrimination that happened to African Americans in the 1950’s most of my life, but I never quite knew the extent of it. After reading Black Like Me, I had an insightful look into what their lives were really like. In this book, there were no civil rights marches and tear gas; it was just their everyday life routine. What made this book even more interesting was that it was from a white man’s perspective.
John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me is a book about a white man wh...more I have heard about the discrimination that happened to African Americans in the 1950’s most of my life, but I never quite knew the extent of it. After reading Black Like Me, I had an insightful look into what their lives were really like. In this book, there were no civil rights marches and tear gas; it was just their everyday life routine. What made this book even more interesting was that it was from a white man’s perspective.
John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me is a book about a white man who decides to see what life is like for the middle aged black man. He takes certain medication to make his skin a dark brown color, shaves his head, packs a bag full of necessities and money, and sets out on his educational and awakening journey. Although John never came across acts of violence, he was invariably faced with small acts of unkindness and cruelty. John also has a chance to get to know other African Americans and the difficulties they face in their lives as he mentions, “My revulsion turned to grief that my own people could give the hate stare, could shrivel men’s souls, could deprive humans of rights they unhesitatingly accord their livestock” (67). John is constantly appalled at the cruelty and disregard the white people have towards the blacks. Living in Hawaii, my school has a majority of Asian students. I have many comments said to me about my ethnicity, but for us it is in a joking manner. African Americans had a very different experience. They were not jokes at all; they were comments intended to hurt and demoralize. When I read the book, I felt like I was walking along with him through his experiences. I personally would never have had the courage to undertake such a journey, but someone needed to tell the story, and I think John H. Griffin did this very well. For him, every day was another day of research, harsh and hurtful actions and words, and it felt the same for me every time I picked up the book.
I would not say this is a book that I could not put down. It did lack the adventure and suspense factor, but if you are looking for a first look at life in the 1950’s for the average African American this book is a perfect look into their lives.
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Oct 14, 2012 AJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: race-issues, social

I expected to really like this book - and I wasn't disappointed. There are a lot of great insights, and it's amazing to see how different things were in 1959. It's almost hard to believe. I read a lot of books about South Africa, which inevitably encompass a lot of race relations things, and this had many parallels, so it was interesting to see them from a first hand experience like Griffin's. The only drawback for me was his sweeping conclusions in many sections that he knew exactly how black p...more

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