- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Signet; 35th edition edition (20 Mar 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451192036
- ISBN-13: 978-0451192035
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.7 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 225,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
One of the most extraordinary books ever written about relations between the races. --'The Today Programme' (BBC Radio 4)
In 1959, a white American decided to turn himself into a Negro ... John Howard Griffin would venture alone into some of the Deep South s most virulently racist hotspots and experience life on the other side of the tracks... Black Like Me brilliantly reveals the dehumanisation of black people by the white majority... This reissued edition will introduce a whole new British readership to a work that is still an important, illuminating and fascinating read. --Bernardine Evaristo, 'The Times'
One of the most fascinating journalistic investigations carried out in the USA… When Griffin described what he experienced… it awoke a vast section of the American public to what was happening in their country. --'The Voice' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
In 1959, a white American decided to turn himself into a Negro ... John Howard Griffin would venture alone into some of the Deep South s most virulently racist hotspots and experience life on the other side of the tracks... Black Like Me brilliantly reveals the dehumanisation of black people by the white majority... This reissued edition will introduce a whole new British readership to a work that is still an important, illuminating and fascinating read. --Bernardine Evaristo, 'The Times'
One of the most fascinating journalistic investigations carried out in the USA… When Griffin described what he experienced… it awoke a vast section of the American public to what was happening in their country. --'The Voice' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
In October 1959, before the Civil Rights movement would spread across the United States, John Howard Griffin underwent medical treatments to disguise himself as a black man. He then travelled through the segregated Deep South of America, exchanging the privileged life of a white man for the disenfranchisement of the black man, and experienced the racism that was endured by millions on a daily basis. From the threat of violence to the simple indignities of being unable to use a drinking fountain or buy food from a particular shop Griffin documented the experience of racism and opened the eyes of white America to the abuses going on in their country. Black Like Me is required reading in schools and colleges in the United States but this is its first British publication in decades, reminding readers of the ever-present threats of racism and prejudice and demonstrating the difference that one man can make.
--This text refers to an alternate
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For years the idea had haunted me, and that night it returned more insistently than ever. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
For years the idea had haunted me, and that night it returned more insistently than ever. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book carries such a potent message that it should be compulsive reading for all. Last year I studied Race Relations: apartheid in South Africa and segregation in America, as part of my GCSE History syllabus and happened upon this book whilst browsing in the school library during an English lesson. From the moment I read the synopsis, I could not put it down. It's the true story of a white man who disguises himself as a black man and travels to the Deep South in the 1950s in order to discover what kind of life a black really lives in a place where racial hatred runs so deep. The results are incredible, heart-wrenching, and deeply disturbing. It inspires self-questioning. It made me wonder: if one can only learn of oneself by how he reacts to others and others react to him, then surely as other's perceptions of him change in reponse to a superficial outward characteristic such as skin colour, his inward sense or perception of self must also change, thus altering the essence of his soul and the nature of his self knowledge. Griffin found himself referring to blacks as 'we' and 'us', and he experienced a frightening identity crisis; after all, when you look black and others respond to you as black and either alienate or integrate you according to your blackness, the only thing preventing you from being black is your (literal) underlying whiteness! It poses questions about society, social groupings and appearances, and ultimately, how the fragile soul can be damaged or altered as a result of the reactions to the body it occupies. After all, does one's soul have a colour?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read this book almost 15 years ago, following studying an extract in an English class school. It was and remains one of the most consciousness raising books I've ever read, and whilst the times which inspired it are gone, it is still relevant today because of the overall message that perception changes everything.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are only a few books that have really given me a deeper understanding into the issues of the world around us. This book is one of them.
John Howard Griffin penetrates into a world that seems almost beyond belief and yet is undeniably and startlingly real. Realizations await on every page to show that the generally sheltered cultural perspective of the typical white (like myself) could not conceive the situation which confronted blacks in the south every day just a very few years ago -- as experienced by a white man who changed his skin color and dealt with the consequences.
The book is made even better by a series of stories about his experiences after returning to the world of caucausions and going on the lecture circuit about the plight of blacks in the south. He demonstrates the rationalization and close mindedness that characterizes even those who consider themselves "good people".
This book would probably be too much to accept if not for the authors remarkably unassuming and explanatory style. Rarely has such a sore subject been confronted so directly and yet so plainly.
Highly recommended. I keep having to buy new copies because people will read a few pages and want a copy.
John Howard Griffin penetrates into a world that seems almost beyond belief and yet is undeniably and startlingly real. Realizations await on every page to show that the generally sheltered cultural perspective of the typical white (like myself) could not conceive the situation which confronted blacks in the south every day just a very few years ago -- as experienced by a white man who changed his skin color and dealt with the consequences.
The book is made even better by a series of stories about his experiences after returning to the world of caucausions and going on the lecture circuit about the plight of blacks in the south. He demonstrates the rationalization and close mindedness that characterizes even those who consider themselves "good people".
This book would probably be too much to accept if not for the authors remarkably unassuming and explanatory style. Rarely has such a sore subject been confronted so directly and yet so plainly.
Highly recommended. I keep having to buy new copies because people will read a few pages and want a copy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A must read
This is a marvellous book which I read as part of a school course in about 1963 and noticing it mentioned on Twitter recently decided to give it a reread. Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. Jones
Was a perfect gift
Ive heard many things about this book and it was requested as a Christmas gift. Despite all the problems with snow around that time the book was delivered extremely quickly and I... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Sah Cunningham
Thought Provoking Read
An interesting well written book of observations on Black/White reltions in the deep south of the USA. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Dickie Diver
Interesting 1961 fraud
Like 'The Diary of Anne Frank' this is a phoney which has morphed into a money-spinner. There's a whole set of fraudulent books: 'T Lobsang Rampa' on Tibet is another... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Rerevisionist
A blast from the past
I first read this book when doing my sociology exams in school in the early 70s. I was, in fact, born the year of it's publication. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A. J. Russell-pattison
Unique story
I first read this book in the mid 1960's when I was 13. It made a big impact on me then, and over 40 years later it is still a powerful book. Read more
Published on 11 May 2010 by T. F. Horan
A VERY BRAVE MAN
I first read this book in the 60s. It was a Pan book. It affected me then. When I saw it was still in publication, I wished to read it again, and I have to say, it still affects me... Read more
Published on 7 May 2010 by Mrs. S. J. Jackson
a good insight
i bought this book for my husband,he ejoyed reading it and suggested i read it,i'm glad i did.I thought i knew about this subject how wrong i was and its an insight to what... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by Mrs. F. Hainsworth
Still relevant today
Here's something that often makes me laugh...
People who seem to have no Black friends, don't know any Black people other than at a distance (say in another department... Read more
People who seem to have no Black friends, don't know any Black people other than at a distance (say in another department... Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2007 by mrarchangel
Read 27 years ago; still the most meaningful book I've read
In High School in Canada this book was one of the required reading books. It gripped me then but over the past 27 years, it has become more and more meaningful. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2002
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