Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Quick Synopsis: First, let’s establish that John Howard Griffin isn’t black. He’s a white, southern journalist who uses medicine and a sun lamp to artificially make his skin darker in color. He then works his way through Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia as a Black man over the course of six weeks in 1959. This is his story of that experience, and while he learns many things, perhaps the most noted is what it feels like when “no one was judging me by my qualities as a human individual and everyone was judging me by my pigment” (pg. 166).
Why I Like It: I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this book, but I’m thankful I did. I fixated on the idea that a white man, a southern white man at that, would be wise enough to transform himself into a black man in the deep south for an extended period of time. He realizes what it is like to not be able to use a public restroom, to know better than to ask to be served at a restaurant, to be attacked by the sheer “religiosity of racists,” to try to find work as a Black man. He learns many things about both himself and society, and once he returns home he learns truths about his own family and friends. I really like that Griffin doesn’t end his story with this experience. He writes an extremely in-depth epilogue that explains a very different take on the Civil Rights Movement. Challenging my own conceptions of race, racism, whiteness, and privilege, it’s an eye-opening book in that it forced me to look at myself and thoughts much more critically.
Why You Might Like It: A warning—It’s not a book for those not looking to challenge their own beliefs. There are many times Griffin calls out his own race and tells the harsh truth that is difficult to hear. He even admits his own inner racist upon seeing himself as “Black” for the first time: “The worst of it was that I could feel no companionship with this new person. I did not like the way he looked.” (pg. 11). In his extensive Epilogue, he details his experience covering the Civil Rights Movement and realizes “many white civil rights advocates did not keep in close touch with the reality being lived by black Americans” (pg. 175). If you are looking for a book that makes you examine your inner monologue and at the same time helps you explore the deep-rooted history of racism in our country, find this book and study it.
Publishing Information: The copy of Black Like Me that I read was published by Signet of the Penguin Group in 2010. The original version of this book was first copyrighted in 1960 and published in 1962. It’s written by John Howard Griffin.
