I recently finished reading Black Like Me by John Howard Griffen. The story goes something like this.
A white writer in the 1950's wants to understand what it is like to be black. The writer goes to his doctor and is able to obtain a prescription for medication that darkens his skin. With enough medication and some sunlight his skin turns as dark as a black mans. He then starts his journey to try to understand what everyday life is like for a black man in the south.
What makes this so interesting is that this book is non-fiction. The discrimination was about as I had expected with the exceptions of a few stories. I would recommend this to anyone interested in studying the civil rights movement and why there was a need for this. I wanted to share an excerpt from the book with you.
Gandy bent down with laughter and outrage. He asked P.D. how the voting situation was in Mississippi and P.D. told the story of the Negro who went to register. The white man taking his application gave him the standard literacy test:
"What is the first line of the thirty-second paragraph of the United States Constitution?" he asked
The applicant answered perfectly.
"Name the eleventh President of the United States and his entire cabinet."
The applicant answered correctly
Finally, unable to trip him up, the white man asked, "Can you read and write?"
The applicant wrote his name and was then handed a newspaper in Chinese to test his reading. He studied it carefully for a time.
"Well can you read it?"
"I can read the headline, but I can't make out the body text."
Incredulous, the white man said:"You can read that headline?"
"Oh, yes, I've got the meaning all right."
"What's it say?"
"It says this is one Negro in Mississippi who's not going to get to vote this year."
Hopefully you enjoyed this passage as much as I did. Now go buy the book.
For the lowest prices check here.
