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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
2.5
A kind of wonky, insane book that is fascinating to me not for its trite insights into the "black experience" but for its constant accidental tension in exposing the absurdity of white Americans inability to conceive of racism on the personal (let's not even get into the systemic) level unless a white man "becomes" a black man and shares his experiences in print. Everyone saying or writing or proclaiming that Griffin is "courageous" need to get a grip. He blackened his skin, lived like black Southerners and, when getting to Montgomery, just as quickly chose to remove the false pigment from his skin so as to feel more secure. He couldn't even perform his artifical blackness for a long enough period of time to have actually achieved any sort of sociological grandeur. Black people cannot demelinate at will! If Griffin is truly a hero, then every black American deserves a Purple Heart.
A kind of wonky, insane book that is fascinating to me not for its trite insights into the "black experience" but for its constant accidental tension in exposing the absurdity of white Americans inability to conceive of racism on the personal (let's not even get into the systemic) level unless a white man "becomes" a black man and shares his experiences in print. Everyone saying or writing or proclaiming that Griffin is "courageous" need to get a grip. He blackened his skin, lived like black Southerners and, when getting to Montgomery, just as quickly chose to remove the false pigment from his skin so as to feel more secure. He couldn't even perform his artifical blackness for a long enough period of time to have actually achieved any sort of sociological grandeur. Black people cannot demelinate at will! If Griffin is truly a hero, then every black American deserves a Purple Heart.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
“My heart sickened at the thought of any more hate” —shows he can leave his pigmentation + appearance at any moment, but for others, that is their life.
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
A tough book to review, both because of its unique concept (a white man goes undercover as a black man in 1959) and how it reads in our own racially tense times. That the author is well-intentioned and very sympathetic to the plight of his subjects but it’s kind of hard to swallow when he uses his (temporary & brief) time amongst them to speak on their behalf.
His disguise is achieved through a shaved head, UV rays and skin dyes and claimed that other than changing the color of his skin did not alter his behavior or mannerisms, which is interesting because, based on the handful of murky b&w (haha) photos, he looks very much like a white man in black make up. I can see racist whites not bothering to look any closer but that fact that he also passes easily among the black population is curious.
A sad and thought provoking book. The small comfort I took away is that the 2008 election proved America is officially no longer racist
His disguise is achieved through a shaved head, UV rays and skin dyes and claimed that other than changing the color of his skin did not alter his behavior or mannerisms, which is interesting because, based on the handful of murky b&w (haha) photos, he looks very much like a white man in black make up. I can see racist whites not bothering to look any closer but that fact that he also passes easily among the black population is curious.
A sad and thought provoking book. The small comfort I took away is that the 2008 election proved America is officially no longer racist
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder
Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Police brutality
If you read this book, definitely keep in mind the time period in which it was written. It’s an important book that influences the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s about a white journalist from Texas who crossed the color line in the segregated South in 1959 to conduct research on negro culture and white response, and vice versa. While far from scientific and a bit 1950s Madmen-sequel, this anecdotal experience was enlightening at the time. Even now, some of his experiences were surprising. What I didn’t like about his work, was the do-good, high moral take he had and conveyed. His work definitely seemed to contribute to the Uncle Tom stereotype. Maybe that was important to convince more whites to support desegregation and the push for civil rights. What was surprising was the focus - whether it was Griffin’s or the folks he describes in his book - the focus on sexual behavior, description, and lifestyles. The writing was blasé but the events were interesting. The effect of his book had both negative and positive response throughout the South, a sign of truth. His family was threatened after its publishing and in 1975 Griffin was severely beaten by the KKK. Not a difficult read. I highly recommend as a reading option on the start of the Civil Rights Movement and American history but less so as literary gold or black history.
I was initially a bit wary of reading this book because the premise seemed dangerously close black-face. Additionally, the amount of praise Griffin received for his experiment and the laurels thrown upon him for his "bravery" to undergo the 7-week stint as a black man. However, curiosity and a desire to read and judge his work for myself overrode my trepidation.
Perhaps one of the most obvious truths revealed in the end is that it takes a white person to speak to the white masses. It's not until they see something coming from one of their own tone that it gets widespread traction. Evidence of this can still be seen today. In the end, I have immense respect for Griffin. It did require great courage to slip past the veil and walk a mile in our shoes. After his experiment became known his family was upended, harassed, even threatened. He truly got a tasted of the black experience which is why i was able to be more comfortable with the black-face. He didn't do it as a joke, or to be eccentric. The part he played in civil rights history was important and necessary only because white people for so long refused to believe the same things he said coming from black leaders. Reading this also helped me to further appreciate the era into which i was born. Even with all the issues we yet face, today is a relative golden age for the black man and woman.
I also find this to be an interesting study on subconscious racism and cognitive dissonance. A lot of people today could benefit from reading this. The smallest comments that may seem harmless can carry just as insult as a slur. It's easy to slip into familiarity when you falsely believe we truly exist in a post racial society today.
Perhaps one of the most obvious truths revealed in the end is that it takes a white person to speak to the white masses. It's not until they see something coming from one of their own tone that it gets widespread traction. Evidence of this can still be seen today. In the end, I have immense respect for Griffin. It did require great courage to slip past the veil and walk a mile in our shoes. After his experiment became known his family was upended, harassed, even threatened. He truly got a tasted of the black experience which is why i was able to be more comfortable with the black-face. He didn't do it as a joke, or to be eccentric. The part he played in civil rights history was important and necessary only because white people for so long refused to believe the same things he said coming from black leaders. Reading this also helped me to further appreciate the era into which i was born. Even with all the issues we yet face, today is a relative golden age for the black man and woman.
I also find this to be an interesting study on subconscious racism and cognitive dissonance. A lot of people today could benefit from reading this. The smallest comments that may seem harmless can carry just as insult as a slur. It's easy to slip into familiarity when you falsely believe we truly exist in a post racial society today.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Put boringly, such a candid and powerful look at civil rights during the late '50s and early '60s. It amazes me how swiftly Griffin jumped into an alternate life (and perspective) as a black man, and also how he adapted and adopted the values of the then-segregated and too-frequently dehumanized (meaning, at all) blacks. His insights are potent, and I think they remain instructive and helpful today.