РефератыИностранный языкBlBlack Like Me Essay Research Paper Greg

Black Like Me Essay Research Paper Greg

Black Like Me Essay, Research Paper


Greg Trumbold


Black Like Me


In the Fall of 1959, John Howard Griffin set


out on a journey of discovery. A discovery of his


own nature, as well as a discovery of human nature.


With the help of a friend, Griffin transformed his


white male body into that of an African-American


male body. Through a series of medical treatments,


the transformation was complete. He spent the next


several months as an African-American traveling


through the deep South of the United States. What


he discovered changed his perspective of himself,


as well as his perspective of others.


On his journey, John Howard Griffin encountered


what could be termed the dark side of human nature.


He experienced racism in its purest form. He


experienced what it was like to live in squalor


with a sense of hopelessness. John Howard Griffin


also experienced the antagonism of those that


feared him solely because of the color of his skin.


His experiences even included witnessing acts of


racism with the African-American community. (1)


As a “white man” in “White America”, John


Howard Griffin enjoyed certain luxuries. With


those luxuries, however, is an independence of


sorts. A majority of white people pass through


life without much notice of other white people.


What he found as an African-American was that he


developed a bond with other African-Americans. The


type of bond that is shared between people in the


same situation. (2)


With this discovery came a certain amount of


hope. A hope that the human spirit will prevail


through any hardship. Through his journey, he


would step back into his true white self, and enter


back into the white world. He would then observe


the “black” world with a new sense of clarity. (3)


While in the “white” world, he encountered white


people that had a desire to change the wrongs of


white society.


It would seem that white society is comprised


of a great deal of felicity. That is to say, a


human being will naturally be drawn towards the


preservation of the self. (4) During this time


period, the white man viewed the black man as a


threat to the white lifestyle. As experienced


through the eyes of John Howard Griffin as a black


man, the white man would have many questions as to


the nature of the black man. (5)


Through Griffin’s experience, he learned that


there is no fundamental difference in the nature of


the white man as compared to the nature of the


black man. There seems to be a desire to survive.


The white man attempted to survive by making the


black man a “second citizen”, which is to say


“lesser citizen”. The black man attempted to


survive by banding together as a race. This helped


the race survive through a feeling of empathy. If


a human feels that he is not alone, it tends to


give a more powerful sense of strength.


Another interesting finding from John Howard


Griffin was that white children did not necessarily


share their parents racial beliefs. This offers


proof that racism is not a part of human nature,


but rather a by-product of the human nature of the


fear of the unknown. Since the white person was


unfamiliar with the black man, there was a sense of


fear of the black man. Racism is merely a defense


mechanism passed down from parent to child. The


white men in “Black Like Me” would teach their


children to use racial slurs like “nigger” in


reference to a black man. (6)


This theory is supported by the great thinker


Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes theorized that man is


dictated by a “psychological egoism”. That


basically is to say that people are selfish. They


put their own needs in front of the needs of


others. (7)


It is in this manner that the white man “saved”


himself from the black man. The white man saw only


his own need for self-preservation. He feared the


black man because of the white man’s ignorance of


the black man. The white man feared that the black


man was different than the white man, and therefore


dangerous. It is from this fear that racism


springs. By keeping the black man “down” in


society, the white man can fulfill his need to


survive. This is the manner in which Hobbes’ views


of psychological egoism are supported by John


Howard Griffin’s experience as a black man in the


Deep South.


John Howard Griffin’s experiences also helped


to point out many of the known African-American


stereotypes held by many white people. One scene


in particular involves Griffin hitchhiking in


Biloxi, Mississippi.(5)


It was November 19, and Griffin had just


arrived by bus in Biloxi. He proceeded to seek


transportation to his next resting spot, Mobile,


Alabama. He found that transportation by


hitch-hiking with several anonymous drivers.


Griffin encountered a great deal of curiosity


from the people that stopped to give him


transportation. Most were white males, and they


all bombarded Griffin with questions. Questions


ranging from the size of his genitalia to his


sexual prowess. Most of the questions dealt with


the stereotypes dealing with the black male’s


libi

do.


Griffin describes an almost perverse pleasure


that was achieved by the white males in asking such


sexual questions during these episodes; questions


about his past sexual experience with white women.


One such driver even asked Griffin to exit the car


after Griffin refused to answer one such question.


This would seem to support the theory that


humans are curious, and maybe even a little


frightened, of the unknown. The constant craving


for answers to apparently perverse questions showed


a fear of inadequacy on the part of the white male


drivers. By achieving the answers to these


questions the white males were possibly hoping to


allay their fear that the black man was sexually


superior.


Were this to be found true, this in turn would


lead to further racism. If the black male was in


fact found to be sexually superior to the white


male, the white male would in turn continue to


“keep the black male down”, if Hobbes’ theories of


psychological egoism are to be believed. By


“keeping the black male down”, the white male could


indeed maintain their superior position in society,


thereby allowing them to take care of their own


selfish needs.


Towards the end of John Howard Griffin’s


journey, he ended up in the city of Atlanta. In


Atlanta, he found a different sort of spirit among


the black community. It was a spirit of social


change. Griffin had arrived in Atlanta feeling


that the black condition in America was one without


hope. It was in Atlanta that he found a glimmer of


hope within the black community. (7)


While in Atlanta, John Howard Griffin met with


several black community leaders. Civic leaders,


men of the cloth, and various black business owners


throughout the city were among his audience.


Through these conversations, Griffin discovered


that Atlanta had found a way to deal with the white


person’s suppression of the black person.


Griffin found that three main ingredients were


responsible for the improved racial conditions in


Atlanta. First, blacks in the community were


united in their purpose. Secondly, Atlanta had at


the time a fair and just mayor. And finally, the


city newspaper was known for taking a stand on


racial injustices. (7)


These findings helped Griffin to understand


another facet of human nature: the survival


instincts of the oppressed. Griffin found that


although the Southern African-American was


suppressed in society, the Southern


African-Americans came together as a people as a


means of survival.


The black civic leaders that John Howard


Griffin had encountered in Atlanta organized the


black community in such a was as to give the black


people a better chance at education, health care,


and employment. This in turn changed the black


person’s outlook on life in the city. This is what


gave the black person in Atlanta hope, which is


necessary for survival, which in turn is a basic


element of human nature.


During this entire event, John Howard Griffin


had been keeping a journal of his experiences. He


was a reporter of sorts, and this was his story.


He enlisted the help of other affluent white people


from the North, as well as an internationally


distributed black magazine. The trip was paid for


by the magazine “Sepia”, and in return for the


trip, Griffin was to supply the magazine with the


tales of his journey.


While John Howard Griffin and Thomas Hobbes are


from different eras, their concepts of basic human


nature were in most cases very similar. Hobbes


theorized that man is consumed by psychological


egoism, which is the need to attend to one’s own


needs over that of another human being. Griffin


found the same line of thinking in the white man


while living as a black man in the Deep South.


However, Griffin also stumbled upon the


resilience of the human spirit in times of duress.


The black people that Griffin encountered in


Atlanta were determined to improve their condition.


The difference between the white people and the


black people in this instance was that the black


people held into account the needs of other black


people. The white’s seemed only concerned with


their own personal well being.


It would appear as though both thinkers share


similar ideas in regards to this form of human


nature. It would be interesting to determine


whether race makes a difference in the outcome.


That is to say, what would happen if the roles were


reversed? What would happen if the black person


were in a position of power and the white person


were supressed?


If these are truly examples of human nature,


one could theorize that the outcome would remain


the same. As John Howard Griffin discovered from


his experiences, the only difference between white


and black is the color of our skin.


Bibliography


(1) “Black Like Me” John Howard Griffin Pg. 55-59


(2) “Black Like Me” Pg. 116-117


(3) “Black Like Me” Pg. 118-121


(4)&(7) “The Battle For Human Nature” Barry Shwartz Pg. 41


(5) “Black Like Me” Pg. 85-96


(6) “Black Like Me” Pg. 156


(7)”Black Like Me” Pg. 133-139

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