Black Like Me Black Like Me states numerous things about the way people used to be and how some still are treated today. This novel is an autobiographical diary of John Howard Griffin, a white journalist from Texas, who undergoes medical treatment to temporarily turn his skin black so he can understand what it is like to be a Negro in a land of racial segregation. Back in the late 1950’s most white people would think it absurd to turn black and go into the south where it was known to be treated like a street-rat. America was two separate and unequal societies- one black and one white with no real communication between the two.
Black people were cruelly treated as shown through examples of the white racists, all of John Howard Griffin’s struggles and through my connections with different experiences in present day. First of all, the Negroes in the South were definitely treated extremely poorly. The various rabid white racists deliberately spew racial poison and almost provoke racial unrest so as to negate and annihilate the very identity of the Negroes. All they wanted was liberty and equality. Though nameless and faceless, their raw racism is indelible. Hey suffered poverty, hunger and homelessness.
For example, John Griffin was chased and humiliated by a white boy for just simply walking by him at night and the boy just felt like antagonizing him. Also, white racists of John Griffin’s hometown, after hearing of everything he was doing, hung his effigy on the main street, burn a cross at the local Negro School, and threaten to to have to flee to Mexico for his safety and his families. Thus proving how cruel and ignorant some people used to be just for something as simple as race. Most of the white race was like this with the exception of few like the journalist P. D. East who is a very brave, committed and sensitive man helping the Negroes.
The Term Paper on Negro People White Film Films
About the Author The text of this booklet is an expansion of a lecture, "The Negro in Hollywood Films," delivered at a public forum held under the auspices of the Marxist cultural magazine, Masses & Mainstream, at the Hotel Capitol, New York, on February 3, 1950. The lecture, which dealt with fundamental and theoretical aspects of the film medium and the Negro question, and which projected a ...
Secondly, another point proving that most of the whites back in the 50’s were insanely harsh was portrayed through the hardships that Griffin had to deal with since turning his skin black. One instance was when he was on the bus and had to go to the bathroom. The bus driver let all the white people off to take a break, but refused to allow and Negro to step off the bus. It is indeed and not demeaning even to a stranger.
For instance, when a white man is so violently mean to a Negro woman, she still treats him with respect and dignity and says thank-you. Another example of John’s struggles is shown when he cannot even find a proper job only because he is Negro and he has to work at a shoe-shining place. This all is evidence of the injustice that blacks suffered and how cruel some people really could be to others. Lastly, I would like to for work then the white women even though they were working the same hours.
This shows a sense of inequality. IN the sense of a personal experience, I really don’t believe I’ve seen true racism come out in the people I know. The only one may be my elders, such as my grandfather who often will make racist remarks. That may also be because they grew up in the time when racism was just part of the normal day. In the movie My Dog Skip, they had racial segregation in the sense that Waldo Green, one of the greatest baseball players was never known because he was forced to play in a cruel someone can be as well as how caring and kind someone can be. Black like me ” By keeping ‘Peaceful’ in this instance we end up consenting to the destruction of all peace – for so long as we condone injustice by a small but powerful group, we condone the destruction of all social stability.” (John Griffin, Black Like Me; April 11) Basically, the way I interpret this issue, that Griffin addresses, is that this so called ‘Peacefulness’ that everyone wants, or speaks of, doesn’t really exist.
The Term Paper on Jim Crow Segregation Blacks White
American segregation was a bitter part of American history. Even worse, though, are the securing reasons for the need of segregation and the defense of the institution. I will be discussing the method in which segregation came into existence in America and how the populace advocated such a policy. The issue of segregation in America deals mostly with the idea of superiority and inferiority between ...
Those who think there is peace, are being blinded by a false exterior. The truth lies beneath the surface. Beneath the smiles and simple courtesies. The reality is, we are not at peace at all. By continuing to allow we have peace, when we still have segregation, misconceptions and hate. We are ignoring our societies morals and laws, and by doing this, we are allowing the obliteration of our community.
Even today, racism continues. We are all aware of incidents both national and local which call attention to the continuing racial tensions in our society. To address racism, it seems to me we need to recognize two things: that it exists in a variety of forms, some more subtle and others more obvious; and that there is something we can do about it even if we realize that what we say, and the steps we take will not result in an immediate solution to a problem that spans generations. We must, however, confront this issue with the conviction that in some small way we can help to resolve it.
