Migration is Beautiful
"Meet powerhouse artist/activist Favianna Rodriguez — a leading voice in the movement of artists raising awareness about U.S. immigration issues."
- I am OTHER
Harvest of Empire
The Untold Story of Latinos in America “We are all Americans of the New World, and our most dangerous enemies are not each other, but the great wall of ignorance between us.”
Juan González, Harvest of Empire
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Friday, August 2, 2013
Black Like Me (Book Review)
Can you ever really understand someone of a different race?
Book Reviewed: Black Like Me
Author: John Howard Griffin
Rating: 5.0/5.0 stars
Pros: It is a classic in every sense of the word.
Cons: Not found
What
does it mean to be a person another race?
The answer to the question would lead John Howard
Griffin on a journey through a side of America he had never known about. All he
had to do was darken his skin.
John Howard Griffin, writer and former Army medic
was baffled and confused by the lack of progress on the “race question” in
America. Why didn’t everyone get along? Why did it seem like the world of White
Americans and Black Americans so different even though they lived in the same
country?
Mr. Griffin set out on an experiment to find out the
answer. With the help of a doctor, lamps and creams, John Howard Griffin
transformed himself from a White journalist and writer to a Black person. (He
also shaved his hair.) He didn’t change anything else that one might consider
aspects of a race like language, clothes, or mannerisms. At that point, he
learned just how fluid the concept of race is.
Once he began the experiment, Griffin detailed his
experiences (both internal and external) as he tried to navigate through his
new world. Griffin was unprepared for the response that he got. As a Black man,
Griffin was denied service at check-cashing stations, was forced to move to
back of the bus, was verbally harassed, and even chased down by a group of
young boys. He had to learn as quickly as he could, the unwritten code of race
relations in the South where he was traveling including which restrooms were
open for “Colored” people, which hotels he could stay in, and how much eye
contact he could have with White people. In short, he got to see a side of
America that he thought never existed. He saw a side that demeaned Black women
and crippled Black men. The experience left him increasingly angry and hopeless
at time.
Griffin was not content, though, to just darken his
skin. Griffin did various little mini-experiments and traveled to different
areas to see the types of responses he would get. He put himself boldly in
situations that allowed him to see how White and Black people would react. For
example, Griffin would darken his skin for a little bit and then remove the
creams and shading to note the differences in response. He traveled to
Mississippi to get a deeper experience into a place where he felt prejudice was
incredibly strong.
The negative experiences Griffin faced, though, with
the new understanding and help he received from the Black community in learning
how to navigate this unwritten “race relations code”. He was able to hear from
Black men and women about their unrestrained thoughts on race relations. He was
able to get to go beyond the stereotypes to see the actual human beings behind
them. As a result, he gained a whole new respect and understanding of the race
relations as it was back in the 1960’s. Sadly, a lot of the same issues Griffin
describes are still with us forty years later.
Upon completion of the book, Griffin became a sort
of celebrity, both in a good way and bad. He became a best-seller, but he also
became a hated figure in his community and local areas around the South. An
effigy of him was burned in his town and he received letters of threats in the
mail. On the other hand, he became an increasingly sought after lecturer and
speaker, continuing to write on a variety of topics (social justice, religion, blindness,
etc.) all the way up to his death in 1980.
Commentary
John Howard Griffin‘s “Black Like Me” is a classic
for a lot of reasons. It features an interesting mix of journalistic writing
mixed in with personal reflections and commentary. Griffin’s work also
portrayed a really vivid and detailed snapshot of his world at the time in
incredible detail. Griffin, in journalistic mode, is able to capture the
smallest details from a glance to something larger, like a plate of food. He
balances this with a grace and respect for the humanity. “Black Like Me” is not
just a series of journal articles about an experiment. It is an exploration
into American society and its views on race, poverty, social class, human
nature, and faith.
To me, though, the greatness of John H. Griffin’s
book is his openness to vulnerability. Griffin accepted the fact that he could
die on his experiment, yet he had to go through with it. He risked being
misunderstood (he was), being criticized and mocked (he was), because he felt
that only through this experiment would he be able to get some answer to his
question. As a person born in the category of White American, he could never fully
comprehend the totality of the Black experience in America, but he didn’t have
to. Suffering doesn’t require full participation in order for you to feel it
and be forever changed. That experience temporarily crossed the barriers that
are still evident in our society today. By opening himself up to such
vulnerability, he grew wiser and stronger as a human being.
Let
us hope that one day we can one day express the strength that he did.
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