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Aug 09, 2014
Black like me is an extremely insightful book. In this novel, John Howard Griffin writes so honestly about issues we still face today. I can’t say enough good things about this book; it was truly an eye opener. I knew racism was a huge issue, especially in the south (where this book takes place) but I had no idea people could be so cruel and extreme. It was disgusting to come to terms with the fact that there were some people, and still are who believed they were superior to others, solely because of their race. In this novel, John Howard Griffin temporarily pigments his skin to dark brown in order to experience the levels of inequality among different races in the south. However, we have to keep in mind that Griffin only pigmented his skin for about 6 weeks, so he could not fully comprehend the experience, as he constantly shifted back and forth between being "black" and "white." His experience nevertheless, was thought provoking. There are so many things you can take away from this book, it was so honest and you could see the sharp contrast there was from his two perspectives from something as simple as walking down the street or getting a cup of coffee. I cringed at some of Griffin’s encounters, they deeply saddened me, it was unbelievable how disrespectful people could be, and how they believed in a “superior race”. What I think was most disturbing was the fact that this still continues, not as much as before but racism is still all to easily accepted. We live in a world where prejudice is still so rife in society, where questions like equal pay among people of opposite sexes are still at the forefront of discussions, now is the time for us to stop the inequality and continue Nelson Mandela’s long walk to freedom, and not just envision but live Martin Luther King Jr’s dream. “All people smile in the same language.”