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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Wow! I don’t even know where to start with this one. I must admit I found a lot of this pretty comical, although there is obviously no humorous content.
It’s just that during this period there were Blacks openly sharing these experiences of their lives in Southern America. Nothing Griffin experienced seemed out of the ordinary or unheard of; it was all laid out previously by Black authors. However, his utter shock upon receiving discrimination from whites—and white folks’ surprise to the results of his investigation—made me chuckle a bit. Like yeah, we been told y’all this shit happens.
Furthermore, while it seemed as though Griffin was actually “getting it” —witnessing the inequalities between living conditions of blacks and whites, in the end he is clearly another white person who is looking at the Black race from the outside. Someone who was black for 6 weeks and thought he had it all figured out. It was utterly frustrating how when he grew tired of the discrimination, he would simply go wash off the “black” in the bathroom and proceed throughout the day as a White man again; this is not an option in the life of an actual Black man.
Despite the constant harassment and violence received from whites, blacks never reacted with the same hostility. Instead, Griffin noticed that Blacks gave Whites hate stares which he said is a fault of black people and is just as damaging to race relations....
Seriously??? With all of the harassment, discrimination, hatred, and feelings of inferiority pushed onto the black race, Griffin’s advice to them is to “smile more”.
It’s just that during this period there were Blacks openly sharing these experiences of their lives in Southern America. Nothing Griffin experienced seemed out of the ordinary or unheard of; it was all laid out previously by Black authors. However, his utter shock upon receiving discrimination from whites—and white folks’ surprise to the results of his investigation—made me chuckle a bit. Like yeah, we been told y’all this shit happens.
Furthermore, while it seemed as though Griffin was actually “getting it” —witnessing the inequalities between living conditions of blacks and whites, in the end he is clearly another white person who is looking at the Black race from the outside. Someone who was black for 6 weeks and thought he had it all figured out. It was utterly frustrating how when he grew tired of the discrimination, he would simply go wash off the “black” in the bathroom and proceed throughout the day as a White man again; this is not an option in the life of an actual Black man.
Despite the constant harassment and violence received from whites, blacks never reacted with the same hostility. Instead, Griffin noticed that Blacks gave Whites hate stares which he said is a fault of black people and is just as damaging to race relations....
Seriously??? With all of the harassment, discrimination, hatred, and feelings of inferiority pushed onto the black race, Griffin’s advice to them is to “smile more”.
Not sure how to explain it other than it just felt gross.
It feels like a book that white folks read and suddenly have the pearl-clutching "Oh my! I had no idea!" moment of awakening because another white person told them how bad it was to be a white person dressed up in dark skin for a minute ... even though black authors had been telling them FOR YEARS what it was like to be black in America.
Ick.
I would recommend skipping this book and heading over to black authors who tell stories of their humanity and their experience.
It feels like a book that white folks read and suddenly have the pearl-clutching "Oh my! I had no idea!" moment of awakening because another white person told them how bad it was to be a white person dressed up in dark skin for a minute ... even though black authors had been telling them FOR YEARS what it was like to be black in America.
Ick.
I would recommend skipping this book and heading over to black authors who tell stories of their humanity and their experience.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
This is a book that I’ll never forget. It’s heartbreaking but it’s amazing too. It amazes me that the author did this and it breaks my heart that people were treated like this. It doesn’t even feel past tense which makes it a really important read. The author managed to share this story in a way that had me tearing through, despite the heavy issue.
John Howard Griffin decided to live undercover as a Black man, in the south, during a time when it was still segregated. He wrote about the experience showing both how Black people interacted with him and how white people did.
It really shows the worst of humanity at times.
This book is a very short 157 pages but really packs a punch. I feel like this should be required reading. I lucked out and found this gem at a used book sale.
I’m curious to read more about the author to see what became of his life after this story.
John Howard Griffin decided to live undercover as a Black man, in the south, during a time when it was still segregated. He wrote about the experience showing both how Black people interacted with him and how white people did.
It really shows the worst of humanity at times.
This book is a very short 157 pages but really packs a punch. I feel like this should be required reading. I lucked out and found this gem at a used book sale.
I’m curious to read more about the author to see what became of his life after this story.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Cultural appropriation
I wasn't eager to read a sad book about racism (thanks, book club!). And make no mistakes, this is a very sad book about racism. But it's astonishingly easy to read, a great look at history, and a disturbing view of the problem of racism in this country. A very worthwhile book.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced