The book “Black Like Me” had many strong messages, values, and morals. In the early to mid 1900s, segregation was a huge conflict, and many people, such as John Griffin, disagreed with this prejudice and fought against it.
After going undercover as a black man in the Deep South for research purposes, Griffin realized the sickening nature of; not all, but most white people. Griffin also realizes that, while in crisis, it is human nature to stick together and to not let anything get between you and your brothers.
A great example of this sticking together is when the black man shows Griffin where the movie theater is even though it is completely out of his way “'No, I live back there where you saw me.' "But this is taking you way out of your way." "I don"t mind. I enjoy the talk'” (Griffin 38). For instance, if one black person did something bad, they all did. These were just some of the physical lessons that John Griffin learned while undercover as a black in the Deep South.
There were also many emotional messages and lessons in this book. I myself learned the heartbreaking truth of how African-Americans were treated during the Civil Rights Movement, and how hard it was for black people to live a normal life in these circumstances. I also learned that you didn't need to know someone to help them, you just needed to be in their shoes and understand what that person is going through, which in the case of the Deep South, all blacks were experiencing these same problems. Sticking together in these times for blacks was what emotionally stabilized them to move on and fight for their rights.
If I reflect and put myself in the Deep South during this time, it is hard to say how I would have behaved. It seemed almost like a standard to be racist at that time, but I believe that I would actually find what is right and segregate myself from segregation. It is hard to say, however, that I would try to help the African Americans because of how blacks saw all whites until they proved themselves, and after that white person proved him/herself then that person would be a target to racism as well, even though he/she is white. Even after that though, I might have still at least tried to help the situation, even though without a doubt I would have endless troubles by both sides.
With this in mind you also had to think of the pressures that John Griffin was going through after the experiment. He always received constant threats, as well as his family. After this experiment, he had put his life in danger, and without disbelief there were probably a lot more white people who had to undergo this torture as well as black people. For this reason is why many whites, like the one on the bus who said “'I just wanted to tell you that before he slapped you, he'd have to slap me down first,'” had kept quiet until all of the whites were off the bus (Griffin 132). Although he said he would have helped, The Negroes frowned in disapproval at the fact that he hadn't said anything during the conflict to help the cause.
The status for these African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s was very low. Black people had their own separated bathrooms, and not many of them. Black people cannot walk into a restaurant just to get something to eat or to drink. Blacks also had to wait at the back of the line for a bus even if they had gotten there first, and they also had to sit in the back of the bus, rather then anywhere they wanted to sit. It was also uncommon that a white person had any common courtesy to a black person whatsoever. This is like the man in the park that told Griffin that he couldn't sit on a bench just because the white man really didn't want him there (Griffin 43). Things were bad for African Americans almost to a personal scale.
After the Civil Rights movement, things started to get increasingly better for African Americans. Today, African Americans can use the same restrooms as us, go into any restaurant they want, sit wherever and with whomever they want to sit with on the bus, and get the same privileges of waiting on line as whites. Today blacks are treated almost the same as whites. The key word in that sentence though is “almost.” There are still a few white people who decide that blacks are still inferior to whites, and therefore cannot socialize with them or even stand next to them sometimes.
Blacks also often undergo some of the more subtle racisms. For example if a black person is walking the streets at about midnight, he or she might be checked out by the cops, but if a white person is walking the same streets at the same time, the cops might not feel as if they have to check this person. Blacks, unfortunately still undergo a small amount of racism, which definitely needs to be improved.
Overall, I believe that all sorts of people who read this book can pull out the same messages and morals from “Black Like Me.” It is obvious how powerful the bond was between black people just from being in the same shoes. It is also obvious how powerful white racism could be in the times of the Civil Rights movement, and I believe anyone who reads this book can see that, no matter what color their skin is, what religion they are, or what their nationality is. “Black Like Me” has such powerful messages on racism in the mid 1900s, it can bring out the best in many people.
