Black Like Me

Paragraph Response

Martin Luther King Jr.'s words, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people,” is a powerful statement that rings true of some of the things that happen in our lives and communities and is strongly demonstrated in the novel Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. John Howard Griffin the author and main character is a middle aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. Frustrated by his inability as a white man to understand the black mans experience Griffin makes a drastic decision. He decides to change the colour of his skin with medical treatment and a sunlamp to temporarily become a black man. Griffin is so shocked at what he sees in the mirror that he feels alone and becomes nearly depressed. Of course Griffin is expecting hardship, oppression and racism but he is surprised to the extent of it. Everywhere he goes he experiences difficulties and insults, the word “Nigger” is tossed around casually. People throw stuff at him from passing cars, its hard to find a job and a water source or a restroom for a black to use. A young white boy chases him for some time, no clerks will cash any of his travellers checks and bus drivers are so rude. He decides to go farther South into Mississippi where its heard that is is even worse for blacks there. He stays with his white friend P.D. A newspaper man that strongly believes everybody is equal. All together Griffin finds that black communities seem run down and and hopeless. He stops taking the medication and lightens his skin, he goes back to the places he was as a black man and the whites treat him with much respect, the black hate and fear him, but when he was a black man whites treat him as though he were a rock or non-living and the blacks treat him with kindness and warmth.