In the book Black like me John Howard Griffin points out that the Negro doesn't understand the white any more than the white understands the Negro. Specific examples of the book show that both colors were racist to each other.

The whites are especially racist with the blacks as seen while Griffin was hitchhiking through Mississippi. The whites were all keens on inquiring about his sex life, which they were convinced, was different than their own. "What's the matter haven't you got any manhood"? Griffin was taken aback by the questions, he had no idea that there were such rumors of a black's sex life.

Another part in the book shows that the whites did not understand why blacks stayed in their towns when the towns offered nothing to the Negro in form of stores, washrooms or jobs. If this was asked to a black the answer would have been related to blacks desire to keep fighting and struggling for desegregation. Of course, nearly any white man

Griffin is witness to black racism when he roams the same streets that he did as a black but is faced with dirty looks from the blacks that said "you white bastard, you ofay sonofabitch, what are you doing walking these streets?" Griffin states that he detested the town of Montgomery as a black and he realized that it was just as bad as a white.

To a lesser degree the blacks in the book Black Like Me are racist towards the whites. These cases are less in your face than the vulgar actions of the whites and are examples of true misunderstanding. One example of black towards white racism occurs only because the black is so accustomed to being treated like dirt by the whites. Griffin encounters a man trying to sell turkeys from his car. Griffin states "Ignoring the white man, he spoke to me". One white man is sympathetic for the man's misfortune and poverty. In attempt to prove that "not all white men are bastards". He decides to do the man a favor by buying all the turkeys for a high pri

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 670
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)