Identity And Identity In John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that he had “a dream that [his] four little children [would] one day live in a nation where they [would] not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Did King’s dream become a reality? Countless activists, journalists, and Civil Rights leaders fought to earn the African American population their God-given rights as both humans and Americans. Did their work amount to anything? White journalist, John Howard Griffin, used medication that darkened his skin to deep brown in order to pose as a black man and see the struggles of blacks living in the 1950’s firsthand. His memoir, Black Like Me, is comprised of his diary entries from his time traveling through the segregated Deep

Does ones’ identity stem from the color of his or her skin? Is it stereotypical to assume personality types or traits of a person when regarding his or her skin? Griffin writes his thoughts on the moment when he first sees himself as a black man, “In the flood of light against white tile, the face and shoulders of a stranger—a fierce, bald, very dark Negro—glared at me from the glass. He in no way resembled me” (10). His description reveals that he has lost his identity; he does not recognize the face looking back at him from the mirror. To make matters worse, he does not like the new face he sees. Griffin’s thoughts also divulge that he once harbored negative stereotypes about African Americans. His choice of words, such as “fierce,” “very dark,” and “glared,” show that Griffin viewed African American males as the stereotypical aggressive, hateful Negro. The second time he looks into a mirror, Griffin refers to himself in third person. He marks, “As I looked up to thank her [Mrs. Davis], I saw the image in the large mirror of the wardrobe. Light gleamed from the elderly Negro’s head as he looked up to talk to the Negro woman” (33). Griffin is still in shock at his appearance and even writes how he felt “invisible in the room, observing a scene in which [he] had no part” (33). He is still viewing his situation through the eyes of a

Prejudices are still held, certain races are still subjected to discrimination, and stereotypes are utilized to label others. The infamous app, Yik Yak, can definitely prove this point. Someone posted, “I don’t understand racism. How can you truly think you’re better than someone because your skin color is different?” A reply to this post was literally, “White is right.” Another person posted, “It makes no ‘since’ why white people defend blacks when blacks would never defend white people.” He was both ignorant in his spelling, “sense,” and his statement. One last example of a post would be, “Some white idiots like to kiss the Black race’s asses.” People who were trying to fix the situation by telling others he or she was offended by the racist posts made the situation worst by identifying themselves as “from a white person.” Black and white students misunderstand each other extremely. With segregated clubs and fraternities/sororities, such as Alpha Phi Alpha and Black Student Alliance, there is no hope for unity in Georgia Southern. There are even still hangouts frequented by only black students or white students. When the Russell Union was populated by a majority of black students, a white student made the comment on Yik Yak saying, “They must be selling fried chicken in the Union with all these black ppl up in here.” Due to stereotyping, racial slurs, and