In John Howard Griffin's book "Black Like Me", Griffin takes a six week journey into the South as a black man and by darkening his skin with medication he traveled for those six weeks attempting to discover what it was like to black in the South in the late 1950's. He found among other things a cruel segregated world. Griffin proves to be a noble man. He is unlike most of the whites were because he was not a racist. He saw all people as equals and despised the fact that blacks were considered so inferior. He wanted to make a difference, so by darkening his skin to appear black he was able to create a great novel in defense of African Americans. His encounters prove that there is no difference in humans based on skin color. Griffin's decision to experience this nightmare was probably something no other white man would choose. This book has become a classic and effective teaching tool today.
I was most interested to learn just how blacks were to other blacks. As Griffin traveled, so many different people he met treated him with so much generosity. For instance, one black man walked out of his way for four miles so Griffin would not get lost. Other people invited him into their homes so he would have shelter during his time in the city that he was visiting at the time. The kindness these strangers showed to one another was one that does not exist today. I am unsure if it is the way all people treated one another in the 1950's or if it was just the African Americans who were like this to other African Americans. .
During his journey Griffin found some white people who were kind to him. However, most of them were from the North, or the select few that knew he was really white. There were certain states that he went that many whites were friendlier than others. New Orleans, for instance, he had found such people. Mississippi was one of the worst considered for a black person to live.
