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Black Like Me By John Howard Griffin

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Have you ever noticed any racism in your life? John Howard Griffin decided to prove it existed against blacks by becoming black himself to experience it firsthand. He experienced life from a different point of view, that had deprived him of his civil rights in the South. One critique that read his book, Black Like Me, states that he could never relate to the black race because he was only a black for 6 weeks and that he knew he’d be white again. I believe that Griffin can relate to them, Griffin experienced a lot of racism to the point he was very depressed. Griffin can empathize to the black race because for 6 weeks he experienced everything they did. When Griffin changed his skin color, he almost instantly experienced racism. Within the first few days of being black, in journal November 10th-12th, a bus driver won’t let him off the bus. “He drove me 8 full blocks past my original spot” (Griffin 44). This was one of the common places for Negroes to be deprived of …show more content…

On page 52, in the journal of November 14th, Griffin experiences another “hate stare”. Then a Negro porter comes over to him, “his glance met mine and communicated the sorrow, the understanding” (Griffin 52). This was a moment that Griffin could share with the black community, it is proven by the look of understanding he is given by the fellow black man. After Griffin gets on the bus, he and all the other negroes on the bus are told they can’t get off to use the bathroom. “The whites rose and ambled off. Bill and I led the Negroes toward the door. As soon as he saw us, the driver blocked our way” (Griffin 60). The Negroes are all angry and try planning to get back at him by peeing on the bus, but decide it’d lead to more racism. This is a good example where Griffin relates to the black race, he was right there with them when they were deprived of using the

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