Black Like Me

Rating:
Summary: About he color line
Review: I got to read 'Black like me', when I was an exchange student in Michigan in 1968. For me, the question of color had been very distant before - I dindn't know any 'Negroes'. My Highschool had *one* black girl. Thanks to our librarian, I got hold on 'Black like me'. This book taught me a whole lot about the question of race in the US. It is a huge book - everyone ought to read it.

Rating:
Summary: The Story of Our Lives
Review: BLACK LIKE ME is a classic in every form and needs to be a mandatory read in today's high schools. It totally mirrors the struggles we, as african-americans, face even today. My sister gave me this book when I had nothing else to read, and I'm glad she did. I bought my own copy to have and share with others. If only others would put themselves in our positions, as Mr. Griffin did. Then, at least, the understanding could begin, and that is a great beginning in itself.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book was assigned to me for an English essay, and I did not expect it to be so fabulous. John Griffin walked the streets as a completely different pigment, yet he was always the same man. He made startling discoveries of how tough it actually was to be a black man in the deep South, and how almost equally hard it was to be a white man.

Rating:
Summary: Black Like Me
Review: After I read Black Like Me, I was touched. This book makes you think about how people of different nationalities have to live their lives. Some do not live their lives because they choose to; they live life because they are forced to. Hate in this world really affects peoples lives. What would it be like to trade places with someone that is completely opposite of you? How would life be, if people treated you differently because of your color? ... This man made a big sacrifice, but at the same time a discovery. He left his everyday life, family, and home to go and see what it was like to be treated differently because of race. He didn't go walking down the streets just as he was. He had gotten his skin darkened to fit in. He went from being white to black. He did something that not many people would do. I think people should read this book, not because I say it's a good book to read, but because it give you a different perspective on life.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I read this book for Black Histroy Month, and a lot of times I resort to Cliffs Notes, but this book was too good to pass up! I simplly could not put it down! It made me realize that to really understand what Blacks were going through, you had yo experience it for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: realization
Review: this book made me realize that there was more to the civil rights movement than what was taught to me in my years of history class in elementary, middle and high school. its a really good book that tells of john griffin's personal experiences as a black man in the south. i never would have known of the many things blacks went through if i hadn't read this book. i strongly reccommend this book to everyone.

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Summary: My insight for the first 60 pages of the book
Review: The intro of this book was quite slow, but the pace started getting faster as it got into the experiment and the problems got harder for this author. It is so realistic how this is the only way to learn about another race. That is if you actually become the race.

Rating:
Summary: Astonishing!
Review: A first-hand story which embraces all poverness through the eyes of John H. Griffin in the ghetto. Determined to darken the pigment of his skin, Griffin impacted the world and left the reader to sympathize with the negro race like never before. I recommend this book to all people, regardless of color.

Rating:
Summary: Obviously an important book
Review: I'm still pretty young but I loved this book. It's so utterly obvious how important and true this is it's almost frightening. It's truely (I'm not kidding) a page-turner. It's kind of depressing but maybe you'll have more respect for everybody once you've read this.

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Summary: TEMPORARILY BLACK LIKE ME
Review: WEB DUBOIS PREDICTED THAT THE PROBLEM OF THE 20TH CENTURY WOULD BE THAT OF THE COLOR LINE. JOHN HOWARD GRIFFINS 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NON-FICTION BOOK TITLED BLACK LIKE ME IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF LITERATURE IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAT IT CAPTURES THE BLACK AMERICAN EXPERIENCE AT A TIME WHEN AFRICAN AMERICANCS HAD VERY FEW OUTLETS TO EXPRESS THE DAILY DEGREDATIONS INFLICTED UPON THEM. AS IT WAS IT TOOK A COURAGEOUS AND COMMITTED WHITE PERSON TO GET THE WORD OUT ON A NATIONAL LEVEL THAT AMERICA WAS BRUTALIZING ITS BROWNER NATIVE SON. NOT THAT BLACKS WEREN'T TRYING WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT TO GET AMERICANS TO LISTEN. IT IS JUST THAT THE DOMINANT MEDIA,THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT NOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GAVE A HOOT ABOUT BLACKS BEING LYNCHED,DENIED DECENT HOUSING, THE RIGHT TO VOTE,OR A DECENT EDUCATION. THE BOOK BLACK LIKE ME HAS JOHN GRIFFIN SELF INJECTING A CHEMICAL THAT CAUSES AN INCREASE IN THE MELENIN IN HIS SKIN,THUS HE BECOMES A WHITE MAN IN A BLACK SKIN. HE TRAVELS THROUGH A FEW SOUTHERN STATES AND EXPERIENCES FIRST HAND A KIND OF HELL ON EARTH. GRIFFIN GOES FROM A PRIVLEGED WHITE MAN TO A BLACK MAN DENIED ALL THE HUMAN RIGHTS YOU CAN IMAGINE. HIS PILGRIMMAGE THROUGH THE SOUTH AND ALL THE HORRIFIC THINGS HE EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVES IS A TESTIMONY TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS,BLACK, WHITE, RED AND BROWN WHO FOUGHT TO MAKE THIS COUNTRY WHAT IT PROMISES IN ITS CONSTITUTION. WHILE THE BOOK FOCUSES ON THE SOUTH, ITS WEAKNESS IS THAT IT ONLY CONCENTRATES THERE. CERTAINLY A BOOK CAN'T COVER EVERYTHING AND IT WAS AN HONEST START BUT THE READER SHOULD KNOW THAT BLACKS IN THE NORTH ALSO SUFFERED THROUGH HOUSING AND JOB DISCRIMINATION,SEGREGATED SCHOOLS AND NEIGHBORHOODS,BANK LOAN DENIALS,AND RED LINING;JUST READ A RAISIN IN THE SUN. IF YOU WANT TO SEE AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF A WHITE MAN WHO TEMPORARILY GAVE HIS LIFE TO LIVING AS BLACK MAN AT A TIME AND IN A PLACE WHERE THAT COULD MEAN DEATH AT THE HAND OF ANY HOT HEADED WHITE PERSON THIS BOOK IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. IT WILL CERTAINLY HOLD YOU CAPTIVE.