Black Like Me

2166 words - 9 pages

This novel opened my eyes to things I could never imagine. Some of the encounters that Griffin had, I honestly believed only happened on The Jerry Springer Show. I, being too young to have experienced segregation, have never known anyone to cat in such hypocritical ways. This book truly enlightened me on my own personal ignorance of my own ignorant country. When Griffin first began his "transformation" into a Negro, I was astonished at how the doctor reacted. I am sure that the doctors intentions were good natured though the way he kept warning Griffin made it sound as though "becoming" a Negro was the worst thing a man could possibly do to himself. By sending this sub ...view middle of the document...

By calling a beggar a "dogass" directly to his face and by purposely degrading this man Griffin and his Negro friends are putting themselves on a higher level than the beggar. This is exactly what the whites do to them. The saddest part of it all is that Griffin and his friends actually take pleasure in doing this and making this poor man feel as if he were on a lower level than they were. Maybe some Negro's do understand why the whites act in the way that they do. The whites do it for they same reasons that the Negro's do it, to feel as if they are better than the other person. Somehow this makes them feel good about themselves. That same day Griffin encounters a white boy harassing him. This really irritated me because I just do not understand how any person could take pleasure in seeing someone else terrified of him or her. It is all about feeling superior. Just like how Griffin took joy in seeing the beggar beg, this boy takes joy in seeing Griffin get scared. It is sick! Yet, the worst part about this episode is the old couple that seems not to care in the least about a man (no matter what his color) that is terrified for his life. Griffin never mentions what color the couple was, but weather they were black or white how could a person sleep with themselves at night knowing that they are capable of being so uncompassionate towards another human being? Griffin meets some Negro men at a café at the Y.M.C.A. They talk together about many different subjects. One subject really struck a nerve with me. One of the men Griffin was talking with said, "If you want to be a good Christian you mustn't act like one." And "if you want to be a good American, you've got practice bad Americanism." From the Negro's point of view this must be true. The whites viewed any attempt toward racial justice and equality as unchristian. For some ignorant reason most whites in the south believed that that was not what God had intended. Therefore, they had the wonderful idea to just kill all the "damn niggers". Anyone who attempted to take the first step towards racial justice was seen as a communist and had some long drawn out conspiracy against the white race and ultimately America. The whites believed that the Negroes would take over the country. So, in the ignorant minds of the southern whites the idea of Negro take over gave them all the more reason to suppress the Negro's. It is painfully obvious that these moronic white people are not only ignorant but hypocrites as well. How can a person say that they are a man of God (as so many of them claim) and either justifies their own actions or those of others when those actions are detrimental to the livelihood of other people? At this point in the Novel Griffin is still in New Orleans, where he had begun this project. A few very degrading things happened to him there. At one point Griffin is simply reading a menu outside of a "white" restaurant. For s...

More like Black Like Me Paper

Black Like Me By John Griffin Essay

916 words - 4 pages ... All men are created equal... or are they? John Griffin's 'Black Like Me' shows howracism is nothing more then the foolish misunderstanding of man. White's current superiorityhangs in the balance as Blacks become tired of being the minority, in the late 1950's. Even thoughthis struggle isn't as dreadful as it was then, it still exists. The certainty of racism can't be ignoredbut it will soon disappear as generations mix. Racial discrepancies ...

Black Like Me: A Sociological Research Project

270 words - 2 pages ... wanted to discover what it was like to be a black person, judged only on the basis of his skin color and not his inner self. He also wanted to further probe the reason for the high suicide tendency in the black community.In his research design, Mr. Griffin defined his dependant variables as the treatment of blacks by whites and the high suicide tendencies of blacks. His independent variable was the color of his skin, black. He based much of his ...

Black Women In Political Movements - Politics III - Essay

1956 words - 8 pages ... Black Consciousness has prompted me to investigate and raise questions about how the function of the structures of society, in essence, have not changed much since the times of the Black Consciousness Movement, highlighting that what the movement advocated and fought for is relevant and significant to this day. The nature of South Africa during apartheid catalysed immense political activity and resistance to the apartheid government. Apartheid South ...

A Creative Writing Example Of Tom Robinson In To Kill A Mockingbird Which Demonstrates Racism Against Him

455 words - 2 pages ... I can't believe my position. I am a peaceful man, and I didn't do any harm. The people of Maycomb only know me by what other people said about me. To the people of Maycomb County, I am just a black man whose words are nothing but lies and who has committed an unthinkable crime. Chopping wood and doing whatever I could for Mayella Ewell was my only crime. I never harmed a soul. I risked my own safety by helping Mayella, and I did it ...

Monologue About A Person That Lost His Job - Year 12 - Monologue

965 words - 4 pages ... J-Dog and Johnny, I was everyone mates. Everyone knew me, but all for the wrong reasons. [Hands cover his face.] If only I studied a bit more, respected my teachers a bit more, and have hung out with the right people a bit more, those who didn’t make me do dumb stuff, then I wouldn’t be in this situation. [Slowly shakes head]. Instead I acted around like a monkey, talking back to teachers, skipping classes and not doing any work at school. I ...

Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird - Grade 10 English - Essay

1227 words - 5 pages ... order of social class, negroes being the lowest. The novel shows that the Ewells are terrible people yet they are still ranked above the negroes because of their skin colour. Calpurnia is considered lower class because of her skin colour. She acts like any high class women would and is like a mother to Jem and Scout however race is the determining factor when ranking social class. The majority of the black people in ​To Kill a Mockingbird​ act ...

Identity As A Young Black Women - English 101 - Essay

706 words - 3 pages ... Kayla Davis Sept 19, 2018 First Paper Identity Essay My identity as a young black women has led me to see how stereotypes affect our lives and shapes the way I learn. Growing up my parents always said that it’s important for me to have a good grades and and make sure I went to college because as a black person sometimes people look at me differently. Society has had a limited impact on my lifestyle, mostly because you shouldn’t have to live up ...

Song Analysis On Tupac Shakur "trapped" - Social Justice - Assignment

940 words - 4 pages ... this prison of seclusion Happiness, living on the streets is a delusion Even a smooth criminal one day must get caught Shot up or shot down with the bullet that he bought” Nine millimeter kickin' thinkin' about what the streets do to me 'Cause they never talk peace in the black community All we know is violence, do the job in silence Walk the city streets like a rat pack of tyrants - Prison = isolation from the rest of the world and you feel like ...

Is The United States Constitution Outdated - Composition - Essay

1356 words - 6 pages ... spoke about his dislikes in the school system. His grandmother encouraged him to questions his actions and motivations. Reading that made me think of my late grandmother. She would always challenge my siblings and I to always use our head before acting in every circumstance. Coates found his home in the library where he became profoundly interested in black intellectual thinkers like Malcom X. He also talks about how Howard university will always be ...

Wings Of Desire

338 words - 2 pages ... her. Only Damiel sees the color. He wants to know what it feels like to smell, taste, and be apart of the world. He wants to be apart of history. So, seeing colors is opening his eyes to the real world. You figure that out because he becomes mortal and he no longer sees black and white. As Damiel learns the different colors, it is during the day. Every time you see colors they are very distinct and bright. To me, Damiel is very happy living in and being apart of history, with Marion. It's like he's living in a fairy tale that lives happily ever after in a colorful world. ...

To Kill A Mockingbird-creative Oral On Chapter 12

555 words - 3 pages ... "linin'." This is a practise used by the black congregation and is used to aid illiterate people to sing hymns by repeating the lines after one person first reads them.When I asked Calpurnia about linin', she revealed that she is one of very few black people, four to be precise who knew how to read. She told me how she was taught to read by Atticus's relatives on the Finch Landing, and how she passed her skills onto her own family, in this case, her ...

Mistaken

364 words - 2 pages Free ... house, a plump, red-haired old woman, unmistakably my mum, stumped out of the kitchen. "Mum!" I shouted. "YOUR MUM? I never had a lunatic like you as a son. Look! Long, messy and greasy hair, long nails..." Although she continued bellowing at the top of her voice, I ignored what she was saying, for the first and yet, the last time. I could not accept the fact that she could not recognize me, her own son, anymore."BURGLAR!" My mum shouted suddenly ...

Othello

1439 words - 6 pages Free ... black men have an animal-like, hyper sexuality. Later on, Iago calls Othello the devil: "Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you" (1.1.9). Another racist slur portraying the beliefs of the people in 16th century that the devil takes shape and form of a black man. Iago knew what kind of racist Brabantio was, and he used his attitude toward the idea of mixed marriage in order to rile the man against Othello. Shakespeare used animal imagery and ...

English Personal Response Essay - English- Grade 11 - Essay

934 words - 4 pages ... sadness and disheartened after reading this essay because it’s sad that Beach is being discriminated just because she is black and a particular race. Also, I felt sorrowful because Beach and her friends deserve much more and they deserve to be treated equally like everyone else. They also should be able to do what they want without be worried about being judged. In the essay, she says “one of my friends told me I don’t sound “black” on the telephone ...

Malcolm X's Changing Philosophies - English - Research Paper

2202 words - 9 pages ... Perez, Jesus Perez Mr. Fons English 3 DC 14 December 2017 The Changing Philosophies of Malcolm X Black Power. What does that mean? What does it matter? It’s significance was non-existent during the beginning of U.S. history. The backs of slaves planted the roots of this young nation from tobacco to cotton. The belittling of African-American pride and culture that festered into an ongoing cycle of black subjugation took a heavy toll on black ...