About this title: In the fall of 1959, John Howard Griffin used medical treatments to darken the color of his skin and then set out on an odyssey through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, a white man travelling as a black man in order to find out first-hand what it was like "to be a Negro in the Deep South," as he wrote at the time. His eloquent and gripping chronicle of that odyssey, "Black Like Me", helped ignite public opinion in support of the burgeoning Civil Rights movement.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet
Date published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780451163172ISBN:0451163176
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet 1962
Date published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780451163172ISBN:0451163176
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Previous owners name inscribed inside front. -, Mass Market PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet Book
Date published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780451163172ISBN:0451163176
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date published: 1961
ISBN-13:9780451163172ISBN:0451163176
Description: Good. Binding is tight and square. Text is clean and bright. Light edge and corner wear. Careful packaging and fast shipping. We recommend PRIORITY MAIL for even faster delivery! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date published: 1962-10-01
ISBN-13:9780451163172ISBN:0451163176
Description: New. NEW-Minimal shelfwear; scuffing to cover, tanning to pages. Ships next business day! **Please check our feedback for speedy shipping** Thank you for shopping at Treasures2--We appreciate your business. read more
Description: FINE. As new, unread but has a faint hinge crease. "What was it like, really like, to be a black in the Deep South? Novelist John Howard Griffin darkened his skin and set out to discover by personal experience the night side of American life. " "done at the very end of 1959, before the first "freedom marches" or any other manifestation of national concern about racial injustice. " read more
"Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin, is a non fiction historical account of a man's curiousity during a time of great racisim. The story takes place in the deep south during the 50's. The author of the novel John Howard Griffin is a journalist who has a burning desire to understand racism in it's simplest form. He decides to undergo a skin color change and become a black man in the very prejudice south. I chose the book because it was the only one i could find and it was not too long. The conflict is man versus society because Griffin is forced to endure the hardships of a black man living in the racist south. I believe the theme of the story has to do with racism and the ugly truth of human nature. People are really easily influenced when it comes to hatred, and the sad truth is that people place stereotypes just because of the color of people skin. I believe the racism that was seen in the novel represents the flawed human nature and the unfair treatment of the south. The writing style is very slow and boring to me. It is a nonfiction so i kind of expected it. The whole novel is written from first person perspective because it is a narrative from Griffin's perspective. Overall i really i did not like this book, because i am not a big fan of nonfiction. It took me forever to read and i could not focus. I fell asleep a lot while i read this so it was hard for me to understand it much. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they want to learn about the racism during the 50's."
Black Like Me: 2updated
Reviewed by Joey on
2009-11-14 00:00:00.0.
Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin, is a non fiction historical account of a man's curiousity during a time of great racisim. The story takes place in the deep south during the 50's. The author of the novel John Howard Griffin is a journalist who has a burning desire to understand racism in it's simplest form. He decides to undergo a skin color change and become a black man in the very prejudice south. I chose the book because it was the only one i could find and it was not too long. The conflict is man versus society because Griffin is forced to endure the hardships of a black man living in the racist south. I believe the theme of the story has to do with racism and the ugly truth of human nature. People are really easily influenced when it comes to hatred, and the sad truth is that people place stereotypes just because of the color of people skin. I believe the racism that was seen in the novel represents the flawed human nature and the unfair treatment of the south. The writing style is very slow and boring to me. It is a nonfiction so i kind of expected it. The whole novel is written from first person perspective because it is a narrative from Griffin's perspective. Overall i really i did not like this book, because i am not a big fan of nonfiction. It took me forever to read and i could not focus. I fell asleep a lot while i read this so it was hard for me to understand it much. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they want to learn about the racism during the 50's.
Rating: 2
"This is the diary of a journalist who for six weeks lived as a black man in New Orleans and Mississippi during the early 1960's. As part of his experiment Griffin visited various establishments: chemists, cafes, retail outfits first as a white man and later as a black person. He recorded the difference in the attitude of the sales clerks who served him each time he visited these establishments. It confused and bewildered Griffin as to how the same clerks could display such contempt and hatred towards blacks while treating their white counterparts with pleasant and courteous consideration.
'My revulsion turned to grief that my own people could give the hate stare, could shrivel men's souls, could deprive humans of rights they unhesitatingly accord their livestock.'
Griffin took care to demonstrate not all whites treated blacks with animosity. However due to the suffocating atmosphere in the South, none except a few brave whites were willing to speak out in empathy with the blacks. Blacks in turn treated the whites with distrust and suppressed contempt, turning their features blank whenever a white person spoke to them.
In my opinion Griffin showed great courage to see his experiment to the end and then showed even greater courage to publish his experiences. There were times as a black man that he felt trapped and unsafe amongst the whites. He s a black, Griffin endured unprovoked 'hate stares' from otherwise ordinarily good, upstanding whites and experienced the raw base human behavior that was almost primal in its treatment of another race.
Black Like Me is a facinating sudy of the internal prejudices we carry and remains as timely today as when it was penned almost 50 years ago."
Black Like Me: 2updated
Reviewed by Bonnie on
2009-10-01 00:00:00.0.
This is the diary of a journalist who for six weeks lived as a black man in New Orleans and Mississippi during the early 1960's. As part of his experiment Griffin visited various establishments: chemists, cafes, retail outfits first as a white man and later as a black person. He recorded the difference in the attitude of the sales clerks who served him each time he visited these establishments. It confused and bewildered Griffin as to how the same clerks could display such contempt and hatred towards blacks while treating their white counterparts with pleasant and courteous consideration.
'My revulsion turned to grief that my own people could give the hate stare, could shrivel men's souls, could deprive humans of rights they unhesitatingly accord their livestock.'
Griffin took care to demonstrate not all whites treated blacks with animosity. However due to the suffocating atmosphere in the South, none except a few brave whites were willing to speak out in empathy with the blacks. Blacks in turn treated the whites with distrust and suppressed contempt, turning their features blank whenever a white person spoke to them.
In my opinion Griffin showed great courage to see his experiment to the end and then showed even greater courage to publish his experiences. There were times as a black man that he felt trapped and unsafe amongst the whites. He s a black, Griffin endured unprovoked 'hate stares' from otherwise ordinarily good, upstanding whites and experienced the raw base human behavior that was almost primal in its treatment of another race.
Black Like Me is a facinating sudy of the internal prejudices we carry and remains as timely today as when it was penned almost 50 years ago.
Rating: 4
"I read this book in high school for an assignment. It had a heavy impact on me and it delivered compassion, empathy, and a huge chip on my shoulder for prejudice. I still shake my head at people who wear bigotry and those who loathe and bully others for no reason but their own arrogance.
Since I went to high school in a very diverse area, we had an African American as the student body president, "Chicano" clubs; while every race was celebrated. It was also during the Vietnam War. The majority of soldiers were African Americans. Not coincidentally, they were the ones who were ordered to the front lines. Since I worked for the Salt Lake District, I learned how many of my classmates never returned. They were "black".
Reading this book and attending the high school I attended as I came of age was a life altering experience in attitude. It helped to shape my appreciation for all races. Sometimes, when I talk to my colleagues who work on the "east" side with less diversity, I think about my own students, some years I have 70 percent "minority" in my classroom. I am convinced that working in a diverse school is a gift. It is an easy lesson to learn that all people are so easy to love.
This book is an awareness of human beingness. It gave me both pause and caution for the human resistance within each of us to accept others. It did it very, very well."
Black Like Me: 2updated
Reviewed by White on
2009-08-26 00:00:00.0.
I read this book in high school for an assignment. It had a heavy impact on me and it delivered compassion, empathy, and a huge chip on my shoulder for prejudice. I still shake my head at people who wear bigotry and those who loathe and bully others for no reason but their own arrogance.
Since I went to high school in a very diverse area, we had an African American as the student body president, "Chicano" clubs; while every race was celebrated. It was also during the Vietnam War. The majority of soldiers were African Americans. Not coincidentally, they were the ones who were ordered to the front lines. Since I worked for the Salt Lake District, I learned how many of my classmates never returned. They were "black".
Reading this book and attending the high school I attended as I came of age was a life altering experience in attitude. It helped to shape my appreciation for all races. Sometimes, when I talk to my colleagues who work on the "east" side with less diversity, I think about my own students, some years I have 70 percent "minority" in my classroom. I am convinced that working in a diverse school is a gift. It is an easy lesson to learn that all people are so easy to love.
This book is an awareness of human beingness. It gave me both pause and caution for the human resistance within each of us to accept others. It did it very, very well.
Rating: 5
"Fifty years ago, John Howard Griffin did an experiment. He used medication and ultraviolet light to darken his skin and traveled the South to see how he was treated. Griffin decided to use his real name, and not to lie, but everyone simply assumed he was black, and treated him accordingly. He found most African Americans were kind to him, most white people were not. Only a few were actually cruel, but many revealed their prejudices, particularly in their assumptions about his sex life, and most were afraid to show any kindness. As many people have noted, the real trouble with how people treat each other isn't the small number who are evil, but the great number who won't stand up for what is right. Griffin's observations are interesting and sad. For a while, he switches back and forth between being "black" and white. I wondered he never forgot which he was supposed to be. The racism he encountered, and this before the civil rights movement really hit its stride, is horrible, but less shocking than it should be fifty years later. And while I supposed what he did was very brave and provided a needed wake-up call, I couldn't help thinking it was a bit silly to put oneself at risk to pretend to be black for six weeks when actual black people had a lifetime to face prejudice."
Black Like Me: 2updated
Reviewed by Beckie on
2009-08-23 00:00:00.0.
Fifty years ago, John Howard Griffin did an experiment. He used medication and ultraviolet light to darken his skin and traveled the South to see how he was treated. Griffin decided to use his real name, and not to lie, but everyone simply assumed he was black, and treated him accordingly. He found most African Americans were kind to him, most white people were not. Only a few were actually cruel, but many revealed their prejudices, particularly in their assumptions about his sex life, and most were afraid to show any kindness. As many people have noted, the real trouble with how people treat each other isn't the small number who are evil, but the great number who won't stand up for what is right. Griffin's observations are interesting and sad. For a while, he switches back and forth between being "black" and white. I wondered he never forgot which he was supposed to be. The racism he encountered, and this before the civil rights movement really hit its stride, is horrible, but less shocking than it should be fifty years later. And while I supposed what he did was very brave and provided a needed wake-up call, I couldn't help thinking it was a bit silly to put oneself at risk to pretend to be black for six weeks when actual black people had a lifetime to face prejudice.
Rating: 3
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