Rest at pale evening...
A tall slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.
-from “Dream Variation” by Langston Hughes
This book instills a need to explain every assertion I will make, because I cannot be misunderstood at the expense of this man’s journey and the racial truths he explores. I have dallied in writing this review, partly in trepidation of not providing due justice to the topic. I fear that my writing will be too dull or flat and you will miss the intense emotions that accompany this narrative.
I will do my best.
In 1959, John Griffin leaves his family in their Texas home to travel as a black man, in the South, for six weeks. John first visits New Orleans, where he darkens his skin with medicine, sun lamps and dye. Then he moves on to Mississippi and then Atlanta. He is financially supported by Sepia Magazine, for the promise of writing articles detailing his discoveries. Those are the basics. This is an easy read in terms of syntax and vocabulary - but you may find yourself pausing to digest the information. Let me take a moment to encourage you to do that - don’t rush this subject matter. Because it seems easy to understand and this is a topic we’ve all heard much about, it would be easy to dismiss as nothing-new-here.
Now, since this is already lengthy, I will write of two incidents that struck home.
The sad irony-
White men would often write want ads expressing desire for sexual acts with black women because it was widely believed that black people were sexually immoral and engaged in abnormal sexual behavior. (Griffin gives a shocking account of hitching rides with white men at night and the explicit sexual interrogations he was sure to encounter from these ‘respectable’ men). The ads promised the greater the ‘perversion,’ the more money to be made. White men would post these advertisements in the black male restrooms and give a reward to any black man that brought a black woman willing to prostitute herself. I can say it no better than Griffin, “In these matters, the Negro has seen the backside of the white man too long to be shocked. He feels an indulgent superiority whenever he sees these evidences of the white man’s frailty...He cannot understand how the white man can show the most demeaning aspects of his nature and at the same time delude himself into thinking he is inherently superior. To the Negro who sees this element of the white man’s nature- and he sees it much more often than any other- the white man’s comments about the Negro’s alleged “immorality” ring maddeningly hollow” (pg. 82-3).
More irony -
“You afraid I’m a cop or something?” “The unpardonable had been said. The white man, despite his protestations of brotherhood, had made the first dirty suggestion that came to his mind. He was probably unaware of it but it escaped none of us. By the very tone of his question he revealed his contempt for us...He had become just like the whites he decried.” Ok, you guys, this got me. I really strive to find the right, moral balance to racial relations. I struggle often with what I should be thinking or feeling or doing in this area. Maybe this sounds foreign to you, but here in the ‘buckle of the Bible belt’ (Louisiana), racial tensions are very much present. Not in the same sense they were in 1959, of course. But in the way this paragraph describes, in the subtleties and nuances of our language, tone, posture, etc. And I -full of pride at my grand ideals of equality and education on the matter- find myself, as I leave the drive-thru, trying to remember what the black guy that took my order at McDonald’s looked like. And I can’t remember. But I can remember the white men and women and the black women. (I realize what this may sound like to someone from a more integrated area. And it gives me a strong desire to plead for understanding that I'm not racist, yadda yadda). Despite my outward spurning of prejudices, I grow increasingly disturbed with just how ingrained these beliefs may be. Will no amount of awareness lead to purification of thought and feeling ? At this point, I feel the best I can hope for is a strong grasp and consciousness of the issue.
There are many more gems in this book, and I recommend it. I am quite intrigued to hear of your stories, especially with the geographical differences among this group.
Thank you, Katie, for telling us about this book and how it relates to your experiences. (It took me this long to compose a response, I can only guess how difficult it must have been to write the review!)
ReplyDeleteI lived in California's Bay Area until I was twelve, and then in the front range of Colorado until I graduated from high school. As a sheltered child, I thought racism was extinct in our society. With age and greater exposure to the world came the unsettling realization that I was mistaken.
And along with that realization comes something of a dilemma. I imagine that an ideal society would be 'color blind'. (It would be interesting to hear what you all think about that, especially if someone has a different view). But in a society that does not match that ideal, is it enough for well-intentioned people to try to be as 'color blind' as possible? Or does the solution, rather paradoxically, require that we pay attention to race, so as to right wrongs?
Katie's observation that it may be impossible for even the best-intentioned person to transcend the culture's racial divisions is relevant to this question.
Thinking over it today, it seems that the just response begins with alertness to whatever injustices are happening - and perhaps by extension to what has happened in the past. Reading Griffin's book sounds like a valuable, and painful, education on the latter subject.
Rachel, thanks for your response. It's always unsettling to show the ugly parts of yourself to others and wait for feedback!
ReplyDeleteTo address the question about being color blind. Having learned a good bit about this subject in school and through personal readings, I think the best way to approach the situation is by first acknowledging the injustices, just as you said in your last paragraph. It always strikes me as ironic when I hear white people say, "I mean, I'm not racist. My best friend is black." Or something to that affect. Or, "I don't see color." Of course we see race! And of course we make judgements based on our experiences with the other race. Even if those experiences are just mistruths we were taught as children.
So yes, I agree, an awareness of the inequalities and injustices is the first step. Attempting to understand cultural differences (because they are there - which is why we can't claim to be color blind) goes a long way in resolving irrational belief systems.
I have come so far with this issue through education. My parents are fairly moderate (some would even say liberal) on this issue compared to their neighbors. So I wasn't taught outwardly racist beliefs. But the underlying message was there (don't date a black guy, your grandparents won't understand or your mixed-race children will be outcasts). So I am glad I've learned so much about myself and racial inequalities since then. However, this book made me wonder just how deeply my racial beliefs are buried. I've read a lot of scholarly literature on racial tensions, but this book provided a different point of view than others. Because Griffin lived as a black and a white man, it's a completely different perspective.