Griffin wrote this book to exam facts of the dilemma of the racial tensions. He talks about how he wants to make it know that black Americans of the South are treated poorly because of the color of their skin, just how different it would be for a white American to be in the skin of a black American. Because the communication between the white and black races were non-existent as of yet, neither party would inherently be able to speak the thoughts of the
Whatever his intent, this would have kept them enslaved to the whites of the South. Blacks were segregated and treated unfairly for many years to come by the whites of the South. Their rights were ignored by many white leaders; while attempting to appear as though they truly cared about the welfare of the blacks trying to become productive and honest citizens of The United States. In some ways he was right to proceed cautiously as it could have led to many deaths, but sometimes one must make a sacrifice to allow others to truly
Book summary The book “Black Like Me” is a real life account of the experiences of a white author, John Howard Griffin, who is a middle-aged man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. He was deeply committed to the cause of racial justice and frustrated by his inability as a white man to understand the black experience. In order to experience black oppression, he temporarily transforms himself into a black man for six weeks. It begins on October 28, 1959, with the author’s dramatic decision to undergo medical treatment to change the color of his skin. The book then develops as an autobiographical diary, recounting almost on a day to day basis, till August 17, 1960, the author’s multiple experiences as a Negro; the good, the bad and the ugly that he personally encounters.
Black Like Me As I begin reading the story John Griffin introduces himself to the readers. He began with a speculation; if he became an African American he could help understand the difficulties between races as a white man and African American in the south and with this knowledge develop a means to bridge the gap. His desire to know if Southern whites were racists against African Americans population of the Deep South or if they really judged people based on the individual’s personality as they said they prompted him to cross the color line and write Black Like Me. The author’s purpose for writing this book is simply factual. He speaks of letting it be known about how African Americans in the South are treated due to the color of their skin, and what it felt like for a white man to be an African American in the South.
He encouraged black men to find dignity in hard work and to disapprove the illegal world of gambling, drinking, prostitution and drugs. The nation of Islam was very appealing to young black men especially those who came from a world of crime. Another belief of Elijah Muhammad was separatism, he believed that the black people should have their own state and should protect themselves with force against the whites. This belief divided the black people; there were 3 main divisions, the nation of Islam, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Because of this division
Woodson, I carefully sought out and identified the three main points that I believe Woodson wanted his readers to take from one of his greatest works. The mere imparting of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a man think and do for himself. This quote from Woodson, in my opinion, is one of his main points because it makes the reader realize that education is just the tip of the iceberg in the fight for overall equality between Blacks and Whites that is still a topic of debate today. Woodson also stressed that society did not make a valid effort in trying to domesticate the African-American after the oppression of slavery ended.
It wasn't unwise to have had a nonviolent protest. King tried to compromise with the leaders of Birmingham but got the cold shoulder so he had to make his point across in a more physical yet peaceful way. King stated that direct action was a way to establish creative tension and awareness in the community. The tension was there to dramatize or alert the crisis of segregation. The main purpose of direct was to aware white leaders and citizens that African Americans refuse to stand down until negotiation was taken place.
The class system is commonly found in the South because of its history with African-Americans. The class system, which places African-Americans at the bottom, was a way for whites to keep the African-Americans and the other lower classes at the bottom. The class system creates immorality by denying people equal opportunities. Class systems group people in a way that prevents them from gaining respect or higher
The civil rights are part of the human rights around the world. Kings job was to protected people from people that discriminated the black population for years. This iconic person followed nonviolent methods to impacted the country using peaceful theories that he thought were the best to do asking for peace and
Corruption Based on Color Alveda King once said “Racism springs from the lie that certain human beings are less then fully human. It’s a self-centered falsehood that corrupts our minds into believing we are right to treat others as we would not want to be treated.” Unfortunately in 1930’s Alabama people treated others based on their skin color causing racism to be a reoccurring problem. Therefore, racism and segregation was harsh, and seemed never ending for African American citizens, even after slavery, but it could have been avoided if people treated other the way they wanted to be treated. Segregation or “separation of the races,” was one of the many ways for people to promote racism in the 1930’s (Novak, Julie). Birmingham, Alabama was one of the most tightly segregated cities at the time (“Alabama”).