Black Like Me

A detailed Summary of Black Like Me

This novel opened my eyes to things I could never imagine. Some of the encounters that Griffin had, I honestly believed only happened on The Jerry Springer Show. I, being too young to have experienced segregation, have never known anyone to cat in such hypocritical ways. This book truly enlightened me on my own personal ignorance of my own ignorant country.

When Griffin first began his "transformation" into a Negro, I was astonished at how the doctor reacted. I am sure that the doctors intentions were good natured though the way he kept warning Griffin made it sound as though "becoming" a Negro was the worst thing a man could possibly do to himself. By sending this subtle message, he showed me that even a doctor who speaks and acts as though he is definitely not raciest in any way, shape, or form somewhere deep down in his soul he still believes that the Negroes are a lower class.

As Griffin begins his journey as a Negro he comes across his first encounter of pure racism (on both sides of the spectrum). Griffin merely tries to be polite and offer a white woman a seat next to him on the bus. The other Negro's on the bus showed disapproval. This is the first of many instances where the Negro's show their racism toward the

One man that picked up Griffin had some real issues that he needed to deal with. He was practically certifiable. He talked about his family and church as though they were a large part of his life. Yet, he showed absolutely no shame in admitting that he would only hire a Negro woman if she "put out". This seems, to me, to be a very large case of conflict of interest. One cannot possibly be a family man and a man of God and still commit adultery (practically rape) every other day. Being that this display of conflict of interest was so great I would be willing to bet that this psycho must be schizophrenic. This is the only logical reason that I can think that would cause a man to act in this fashion.

It is a sad thing to read that the very Negro's who constantly complain about how they are treated by the whites, Griffin included, can treat another human being in that very same manner (another Negro no less). By calling a beggar a "dogass" directly to his face and by purposely degrading this man Griffin and his Negro friends are putting themselves on a higher level than the beggar. This is exactly what the whites do to them. The saddest part of it all is that Griffin and his friends actually take pleasure in doing this and making this poor man feel as if he were on a lower level than they were. Maybe some Negro's do understand why the whites act in the way that they do. The whites do it for they same reasons that the Negro's do it, to feel as if they are better than the other person. Somehow this makes them feel good about themselves.

Once Griffin got on the bus he had another run in with the public transportation employees. The bus had stopped at a rest stop. The white passengers were allowed off to stretch their legs and use the restroom. The Negro's had to remain on the bus. Now this guy has no excuse he was just plain dumb. When someone has to go, they have to go, even if they are black. The one Negro who decided to urinate in the back of the bus is a better person than I. I would of sat right down in the drivers lap and gone there. Of course this would not have been very smart. The Negro's, on the other hand, had the right idea. They did not let the stupid bus driver get to them. That man, in the back of his puny brain, wanted the Negro's to humiliate themselves by urinating all over the bus and therefore paying the consequences.

e not scared to let it be known exactly how they feel towards Negro's. The old man, for whatever reason, felt the need to hide behind a fake smile.

Griffin's last encounter, as a Negro, with the transportation in the South was very humorous to me. The driver of the bus that Griffin was on in Georgia always made it a point to tell the white passengers to "watch your step, please". He never said this to the Negro passengers. An older Negro woman was boarding the bus behind a group of white people. The driver had to say, "watch your step, please" to the white people. As the black woman passed him she was the only person to say thank you. I was so proud of this woman. She put th

Some common words found in the essay are:
Griffin Orleans, Jerry Springer, Turret Syndrome, Maybe Negro's, Americanism Negro's, Negro South, Griffin Georgia, Negroes South, Griffin Negro, , bus driver, degrading griffin, transportation south, white people, watch step please, little boys, lower level, skin color, whites restaurant, reason whites, step please,

Approximate Word count = 2068
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous