posted April 02, 2008 10:46 AM              

the book is free online. anyone interested in black history should have a look at it.

http://www.bartleby.com/114/index.html

posted April 02, 2008 12:48 PM            

synopsis from wikipedia:

Account of the trip

In the autumn of 1959, John Howard Griffin checked into the Monteleone Hotel, located at 214 Royal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Once there, under the care of a dermatologist, Griffin underwent a regimen of large oral doses of the anti-vitiligo drug Oxsoralen and spending up to fifteen hours daily under an ultraviolet lamp. (Vitiligo is a disease that causes lightening of the skin and is most noticeable among people of African ancestry.)

To complete the illusion, Griffin used dyes to cover uneven areas and closely cropped his hair
During his trip Griffin made it a rule that he would not change his name or alter his identity; if asked who he was or what he was doing, he would tell the truth. In the beginning, he decided to talk as little as possible to ease his transition into the "black world", i.e., the social milieu of southern U.S. blacks.

After disguising himself many people who knew John Howard Griffin as a white man did not recognize him. A shoeshine man named Sterling Williams in the French Quarter, a man whom Griffin regarded as a friend, made no connection with his looks now that he was black. The only way Sterling realized it was Griffin was because he recognized his shoes, and Griffin opened up to him, explaining his research

New Orleans (Santa Crose)
A black counterman at a small restaurant chatted with Griffin about the difficulties of finding a place to go to the bathroom. He turned a question about a Catholic Church into a joke about "spending much of your time praying for a rest room".

An episode on the bus reveals the climate of the times. Griffin began to give his seat to a white lady on the bus, but disapproving looks from black passengers stopped him. He thought he had a momentary breakthrough with the lady, but she insulted him and began talking with other white passengers about "how uppity they are becoming".

Themes
From the entire experience, Griffin discovers that when people (in the book's case, black people) are mistreated or deprived of rights they in turn do mischievous and bad things in order to manage their lives or to ease off the pain which they receive from their abuses, such as killing, drinking, drugs, etc. Because their acts are considered bad, those who inflict the pain on them (in the book's case, racist white people) only hate them even more and thus, gives the reasons of why segregation and racism continue to go on, even to this day. Also, it turns to the theme of falsely judging people.

Backlash
After the publication of the book Griffin was vilified; he was hanged in effigy in his home town and threatened with death. However, the book earned him international respect as a human rights activist. After its publication, he became a leading advocate in the Civil Rights Movement and did much to promote awareness of racial situations.

Not only did many people hang his effigy in the town center, a few people also sent negative letters threatening to kill him if he didn't recall his book. However, the majority of letters were positive, helping him to get through this challenging period in his life.

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted April 02, 2008 02:25 PM              

quote:

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From the entire experience, Griffin discovers that when people (in the book's case, black people) are mistreated or deprived of rights they in turn do mischievous and bad things in order to manage their lives or to ease off the pain which they receive from their abuses, such as killing, drinking, drugs, etc. Because their acts are considered bad, those who inflict the pain on them (in the book's case, racist white people) only hate them even more and thus, gives the reasons of why segregation and racism continue to go on, even to this day. Also, it turns to the theme of falsely judging people.

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this is quite offensive. there are enormous numbers of people, black and otherwise, who rise above their "pain" and do not engage in "killing and drinking" (as if the act of killing equates with that of drinking.) how demoralizing for all those who have not killed and drugged up (and let's not forget, that whether it's drugs, or killing, same difference...), and who continue to endure the pain of racism and discrimination, yet still live ennobling lives, to be lumped this way. what a reality distortion.

and when those who do participate in these activities are not black? are they then "hated" more? usually not.

look at the quantities of consumption of drugs and alcohol at a typical frat house. are the members of such hated and ostracized? no of course not. all in days a work...boys will play...right? (i imagine that killing would not be considered the equivalent of drinking and drugging for them).

posted April 02, 2008 02:47 PM              

"well, she's a nigra, what do you expect?"

posted March 27, 2013 12:22 AM            

and it seems zanya had not met the people who DO find drunk fratters beyond disgusting...