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Racism in the african american community
Prejudice against african americans
Racism in the african american community
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English Project The first comic frame I drew was the first time John Griffin looked in the mirror as a black man. Griffin walked into the bathroom and got the first look at his transformation. He couldn't recognize himself and this caused him a lot of “distress” (which is why I drew his facial expression like that). He felt lost, like a whole new person was looking back at him in the mirror. This scene was important in the book because it showed that though Griffin understood that skin color is “something which one has no control”(Griffin 7), he hadn't fully acknowledged the lesson that a person’s skin color doesn't define who he or she is. Rather it's the person’s condition that makes he or she behave the way he or she does--He learned that …show more content…
In this scene, Griffin walked to the ticket booth to buy a ticket to Hattiesburg and the ticket lady’s reaction was quite uncalled for; she gave him his first hate stare and asked him “what do you want” (Griffin 53) in a harsh tone. He then got another hate stare when he entered the bus. This time it was a man and he looked so hateful that he appeared insane. The hate stare was another social issue that African Americans faced in the south. African Americans had to learn at a young age that their skin color was what offended the racist not who they truly were. Another thing to point out is that the man was so focused on making Griffin feel hatred about his skin that he didn't realize how he made himself look in the process. This part made me as a reader wonder how much hate a person have to generate to look so insane? That much hate could lead to a lot of trouble for the African American community. It made the reader afraid of what that man is capable …show more content…
“He received six thousand letters to date and only nine of them abusive. Many favorable letters came from the deep south states, from the whites”(Griffin 156). This was important to include in my comic because it showed progress in the south and hope for change. It showed that the whole south didn't discriminate which was a stereotype in the south. And as Griffin said, it confirmed that “the average southern white is more properly disposed than he dares allow his neighbor to see” (Griffin 156). As African American have the fear of being discriminated on, an average southern non-racist white man also have the same fear. In the south, if it was found that you believe in equal rights for African Americans, you make yourself a target for discrimination. An example of this is Griffin’s friend P. D.--a writer for the newspaper, the Petal Paper-- who wrote the truth about the southern way of life. As a result, he lost close friends and received plenty of telephone calls calling him a “goddamn nigger-loving, jew loving, communist son-of-a-bitch” (Griffin 76). From then on, P. D carried a gun everywhere he
The use and repetition of the word “nigger” suggest both physical and psychological boundaries for Griffin, which, of course, also extend to the black population of the mid-twentieth century. In identifying himself with the term, Griffin becomes overwhelmed by its dehumanizing and de-individualizing effect: “I knew I was in hell. Hell could be no more lonely or hopeless, no more agonizingly estranged from the world of order and harmony” (66). Griffin’s internalization of discrimination and his repression as “Other” allows Griffin to convey the “wrong-doing” by the white middle class, forcing a truthful realization of the detrimental effect of racism on the
The Negroes were about to urinate all over the bus, but they decided it would just be another thing for the whites to hold against the blacks. They arrived in Hattiesburg and John took a cab to a hotel to rest. In the hotel, Griffin tried to write a letter to his family, but there were too many things blocking his mind. Afterwards, Griffin called P.D. East, a white friend who writes in a black newspaper in Mobile, visited his family for a while. Continuing his trip to Montgomery, he covered a long distance with the help of passing white drivers (some were perverted) who gave him rides during the night time.
When various men at the jail refused to be in a picture with Geel Piet, a black man, he understood that “racism is a primary force of evil” (265). He hated the fact that a close friend and boxing coach of his was discriminated against by people he thought were good men. After Peekay’s school for black people got shut down, Peekay knew that not only was racism evil, but “It’s a disease, a sickness” (456). He tried to create something positive for the black African community, only for it to be shut down by racist policemen. He followed the rules with his school and didn’t break the curfew, yet the police still tried to get rid of the school because of their racist instinct. The unfair acts against his close friend and innocent Africans caused Peekay to remind people of the good in them. After Geel Piet’s death, he created a song dedicated to him, as an attempt to bring light to such a wonderful spirit rather than allow the negative claims about his race define
One examples is, even before his surgery was complete and he had not made the full transition from white to black yet, he was startled at what he heard from his doctor. At the time of his surgery, he spoke with the dermatologist who was changing his skin color, and found out that even this man had prejudices over black people. The doctor was insistent that the “lighter-skinned Negroes” were more ethical and more sensible than the darker-skinned ones. This man, with a high intellectual IQ and much schooling, also claimed that, as a whole group and race, blacks are always violent. Griffin, horrified that he let this man be in charge of his operation, was utterly and completely appalled that a liberal man could indulge in such hateful fallacies. Not only before and during his surgery does Griffin find himself being appalled by white people, but also during his time as a black man in the south he experienced many harsh and unfriendly situations, he never would have experienced if he was a white man. For example, on his first day as a black man he goes into a drugstore forgetting his skin color and that he now, since he is black, he forbidden from ordering a fountain drink, but after a few mean and disgusted looks from the white workers he realizes, he wasn’t even allowed in the store. His first day hit him hard when he figured out that everywhere he went whites seemed to look at him with suspicion and hostility. Also, after having the word nigger seem to never escape his ears its implications almost became unbearable. Hearing this really made me think about all of the black people in the south that have had to put up this and even worse things every day of their lives and how strong they all were; a white man has been through this one day and can barely take it; how have these people put up with this for so
In John Leo’s “The Beauty of Argument”, Leo discusses how discussion and debate has changed drastically over time.
Richard Wright describes in his autobiography 'The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch' the atmosphere at his first job, where his fellow workers would not teach him anything, just because he was black: "This is a white man's work around here, and you better watch yourself" (291). From that moment on, he never really felt at ease going to work. This kind of feeling of unease is also found in Countee Cullen's 'Incident.' It shows clearly how children are not really aware of the differences adults believe to exist between different races until being told that there is a difference. The poem seems to be a product of personal experiences as a child, when another child pokes out his tongue and calls the speaker of the poem "nigger" during a stay in Baltimore, and it pictures the human tendency to look no further than the colour of the skin. This is probably an event that stayed in the child's mind all his life, hence the final lines of the poem: "I saw the whole of Baltimore / From May until December; / Of all the things that happened there / That's all that I remember" (384).
While Griffin was expecting prejudices against himself as a Negro, he went into his project with an open mind, trying to discover the truth. He took note of all the prejudices of whites against him and took into consideration any acts of kindness. Therefore, Griffin’s journal was straightforward and unbiased. Griffin’s main goal in writing this journal was to break the gap between blacks and whites. He was not trying to offend whites, but aware of their injustices towards the Negroes.
Considering the circumstance of racial inequality during the time of this novel many blacks were the target of crime and hatred. Aside from an incident in his youth, The Ex-Colored Man avoids coming in contact with “brutality and savagery” inflicted on the black race (Johnson 101). Perhaps this is a result of his superficial white appearance as a mulatto. During one of his travels, the narrator observes a Southern lynching in which he describes the sight of “slowly burning t...
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James has been the cause of many debates about whether or not the ghosts are real, or if this is a case of a woman with psychological disturbances causing her to fabricate the ghosts. The story is told in the first person narrative by the governess and is told only through her thoughts and perceptions, which makes it difficult to be certain that anything she says or sees is reliable. It starts out to be a simple ghost story, but as the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the governess has jumps to conclusions and makes wild assumptions without proof and that the supposed ghosts are products of her mental instability which was brought on by her love of her employer
There is so much that can be learned from the past. Especially from an event that was as catastrophic as this one. How does one person gain such a grip on so many people? How was he able to influence them to change their entire life’s to conform to what he wanted. Somehow he was able to get them to move to a completely new place and create a world all their (his) own. How does one person convince and force so many people that it was time for their life to end? How does he force them to kill themselves? So many questions that are still being answered to this day. There are plenty of movies and research done on this event but there is still a lot to learn.
Mr. Griffin was a middle age white man who lived with his wife and children. He was not oriented to his family. He decided to pass his own society to the black society. Although this decision might help most of the African Americans, he had to sacrifice his gathering time with his family. “She offered, as her part of the project, her willingness to lead, with our three children, the unsatisfactory family life of a household deprived of husband and father” (Griffin 9). Leaving Mrs. Griffin and his children would deprive them of the care they needed. Even though he was not oriented to his family, he was full of courage. He was willing to discuss topics that people hesitated to talk about, trying new ideas that people were afraid to do. After turning back to his own skin color, he attended most media conferences and also wrote books about what he had gone through. During those interviews, Griffin was very considerate. He requested Wallace, a reporter, to report carefully so that he would not hurt his African American friends. “Please… Don’t mention those names on the air.
As I read Black Boy, Griffin provided me with a small insight on the way whites and blacks were differently treated. Black Like Me was based on a white man who wanted to get a better understanding of the life of negroes and how it feels to be treated unequally. He wanted to know what stood between the white man and black man, why they could not communicate. Griffin writes in his book that, “the only way I could see to bridge the gap between us was to become a Negro” (Griffin 1). His journey then began and he lived the life of a black man. It is with such bravery that he went and risked becoming a Negro. He knew that adverse consequences would occur once people knew the truth. He did not care; I was fascinated with his desire to see what...
In the novel “ To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee and as well as source F “ The 'N' Word, The 1st Amendment, And The University of Oklahoma: No Contest” written by Harvey Silverglate, both of these stories include the cruel and unfairness that people of the African-American community experience. The characters and people that are black are put to blame and dealt with punishment due to only being judged by the color of their skins which shows no limit for how far it can go. Judgement on the African-Americans has been a thing from the early 1900s to 2015.
After the Civil War, Andrew Johnson became Lincoln’s successor as a President. Even though he had always been a supporter of the Union, and Lincoln’s right hand in many ways, he was also extremely racist. So, the emancipation that Abraham Lincoln had fought for, wasn’t that important to Johnson when he took presidency, mainly because he never believed the black people could have any role in the Reconstruction. As a matter of fact, when President Johnson started to issue the proclamations that set the beginning of the Presidential Reconstruction, he restored some political and property rights for whites, but completely excluded African-Americans. Additionally, even though he made it a requirement for southern governments to abolish slavery,
In John Howard Griffin's novel Black Like Me, Griffin travels through many Southern American states, including Mississippi. While in Mississippi Griffin experiences racial tension to a degree that he did not expect. It is in Mississippi that he encounters racial stereotypical views directed towards him, which causes him to realize the extent of the racial prejudices that exist. Mississippi is where he is finally able to understand the fellowship shared by many of the Negroes of the 50's, because of their shared experiences. Although Griffin travels throughout the Southern States, the state of