The novel Black Like Me follows a man named John Howard Griffin who begins in the city of New Orleans. Griffin had an unusual concept he wanted to pursue, he wanted to transform his Caucasian skin into that of an African American man. The reasoning behind his plan was to see what it was like to live life in the southern regions of the United States as a "Negro" man. He wanted to be present at his experiment and wanted to experience it firsthand and up close. Griffin has experienced much diversity and racism as the times have passed, "that the Negro is not treated even as a second-class citizen, but as a tenth-class citizen." The novel won the Anisdield-Wolf Prize which recognizes books with an important message about racism and appreciation of different cultures. Black Like Me is a genre of nonfiction written by John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Griffin is a Caucasian man with plans to turn into an African American in 1900 and what it was like to live in that time period. His six-week stint traveling through the racially segregated states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama. His purpose in writing the novel was to bring light to what it meant to be an African American and what situations they went through in their daily lives. Griffin kept all of his journals so he left nothing out for his book. The situations in his book were real-life experiences addressed to highlight the widespread racism in those southern states. Griffin's argument in Black like me that he is trying to convey to the reader is that when you are an African American in that time period you do not in fact be treated less and not as important. “This system of discrimination, an inculcated double standard, may vary in content from culture to culture, but it is always unfair. There are thousands of types of injustice, but there is only one type of justice: equal justice for all.” Griffin is explaining that everyone, regardless of culture or race, should be treated equally, with no double standards. Griffin during this experience is trying to get justice for equality and show everyone, no matter what race you are, that we are all equal. The positive feature shown in this novel is that you can be the same man inside even if you are different on the outside. He is proving to everyone that, even as an African American, he is still the same man as when he was white. “I am annoyed by those who love humanity but are rude to people.” It refers to those who treat African Americans as inferior people. His work was very thorough and clear as he explains his transition to becoming a black man and clearly explains his experiences that he had to go through. His work shows us readers the truth about what it was like to walk around, live in the Southern region as an African American, and the things they had to go through just to survive. It demonstrated our belief that they were treated unfairly and below average for whites. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The type of reader who would enjoy this read is one who is curious about how African Americans were treated during that time. Griffin teaches the reader a lot about how discriminatory and racist people can be just because of the color of their skin. Griffin had clear evidence of this racism with his experiences with these people, he gave an inside look at the real world of racism.