Topic > Depiction of the everyday experiences of African Americans in Black Like Me by John Griffin

Most people in the world recognize the problems and persecution that African Americans receive from people of different skin colors, but there is only one man that he would purposely position himself to address the hatred stirred up by people with white skin. As he hid his white identity and became black, John Griffin felt what other African Americans did. As Griffin was getting off the bus, an old man makes a gesture that had an effect on Griffin, he said: "It was a little thing, but adding up to all the other little things it broke something inside me." Black Like Me received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and Griffin also wrote The Devil Rides Outside and Scattered Shadows. Griffin said he was, "Annoyed by those who love humanity but are rude to people," and sadly quickly discovered that many people are rude to people and love humanity. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin is an autobiography that tells the story of Griffin entering African-American life starting in 1959 in New Orleans. Receiving support along the way from other Black men in various cities, Griffin documents this part of his life to share with the reader. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Griffin's view is that people must treat others equally, regardless of skin color, if you say you love humanity. Griffin wrote this book to exploit what African Americans go through because of the white man. Griffin at the age of fifteen left to study medicine in France. In France, Africans were not treated as badly as they were in America. This discovery opened Griffin's eyes to racism in America. Griffin worked alongside Africans in France while in the French Resistance army. In France, Africans were treated like normal people and did not receive hatred like in America. While fighting for the French Resistance army, Griffin helped Jewish families trying to escape the Holocaust in Britain, this made him question the motive of racism even more. This led Griffin to question why the treatment of African Americans is different in the United States of America. In Black Like Me, Griffin is trying to chronicle what African Americans go through in their daily lives. Griffin wants to expose what white people do to make the lives of African Americans as hard as possible. Furthermore, like whites they did not believe that African Americans had morals and considered them an inferior being. Griffin argues that just because African Americans have a different skin tone, they should not be treated like animals or second-class citizens. While on a bus Griffin "[sounded] the buzzer, but the driver continued on for the next two stops." The driver eventually stopped eight blocks after Griffin's stop and let him get out just to lengthen Griffin's walk. Griffin allegedly left home to go eat at half past seven without causing any disturbance and was followed by a young white male who was harassing him. The man called Griffin names like "Mr. No Hair" and "Shithead." As he tried to lose the man, Griffin tried to call for help but was ignored and looked at as if he were "drunk." .Just because Griffin was black at the time he was harassed and scared, and for the same reason he was harassed, no one wanted to help him. While he was trying to move to a new city during his time as an African American, Griffin was being picked up by drivers white people, all they wanted to talk about was lifesexuality of the African. One man asked questions, “Totally sexual, and said that in the ghetto black life is a marathon of sex with many different partners.” All these events prove that the white man did not think of the African American as a person but as an animal having meaningless sex. Griffin is trying to convey that African Americans are considered less than people and are treated with disrespect and hatred for no reason. Griffin's main purpose in his study was to find out how African Americans were treated and he was shocked, he knew that they resisted discrimination , but he didn't expect so much hatred from men and women who went home and loved their family without thinking. of what they said or did to an African that day. Black Like Me provided great examples of what African Americans go through in their daily lives and how they live. During his time as an African American, Griffin was able to talk about how African Americans had to find their own place to use the bathroom, get water, or even eat. Griffin would be told, "Hey, nigga, you can't go in there." Hey, nigga, you can't drink in here. We don't serve blacks''. These quotes gave a good incite into what inconveniences made it difficult for African Americans to live a daily life. Griffin, however, does not explain what the African American can do to improve the situation. Griffin hopes, “The Negro will not miss his chance to achieve greatness, to build with the strength gained through his past sufferings, and, above all, to overcome vengeance.” Griffin prays for African Americans to become better people than whites, but does not seem to know how, despite having lived as such for a significant period. Griffin only seems to hope but provides no advice or information that the African American can use to overcome the cruel racism. Griffin's work is thorough throughout his documentation of life as an African American. Griffin told stories of old men who hated his own people and claimed to be "Not a pure nigger." But his: "Mum was French." Short stories like this made it easy to follow and provided good information on some of the characters Griffin met. Griffin's work is also very clear, Griffin's stories were clear and easy to read. While staying with a family living in a swamp, Griffin understood why African Americans needed to treat each other with so much love. ''When the swamp and the darkness surrounded them they evoked an immense solitude''. This part of the book made the reader focus on the book forcing them to understand more about it. The work is also compelling and meaningful. Griffin gave several examples of how African Americans were treated based on their skin color, this made the reader understand that all people are equal and should be treated equally. Everyone should have the same respect that others have, just because a man has different colored skin he shouldn't be treated like garbage. This is a constant problem in today's society, so the message in the book is extremely significant. This work increases my overall understanding of the topic by expressing how Griffin felt at times. Griffin would only cry about how he was treated based on the color of his skin and not the person he was. Griffin has no bias in his book considering it is his story. Griffin uses his evidence of being treated cruelly by telling what the racist man or woman would say or do. For example, all the men he traveled with asked him how his sex life was, and most of them thought it was meaningless. Many people in the South treat them badly.