American Experiences: The Man Who Changed His Skin
Bibliographical Citation:
Sharpe Jr., Ernest. “The Man Who Changed His Skin.” American Experiences: Reading in American History Volume II from 1877. Seventh Edition. Randy Roberts and James S.Olsen. United States: Pearson Education Inc, 2008.240-250. Print.
Main Point of the Article:
The article’s main purpose was to give an idea of racism through the perspective of a white man in the shoes of a black man. In the article, the author gives a brief account of the life of an unusual man who for short period of time posed as a black man in a racist society. The article highlights some of his life achievements, emphasizing one of his greatest- his quest to understand racism firsthand by ‘temporarily becoming black’.
Why is the article significant? …show more content…
In the article, the author makes a comment of which I find very intriguing.
In regards to Griffin, he says, “It is hard to imagine a person worse suited than Griffin to pass for black. A cultural epicure who had spent his adolescence in France and lived a blind, sheltered existence for the previous decade, Griffin had remarkably little in common with Southern whites, let alone with blacks” (248). Though this may have him slightly awkward when interacting with both races, I believe these qualities made him the best candidate for the task he wanted to undertake in discovering the degree of racism in the South. Because of these qualities, i.e. not being raise in the American racial society, being a cultural epicure, being sheltered, and even being blind, I felt equipped him, if it’s safe to say, with the ‘naivety’ he needed to have an experience free from biasness. This we see in his reaction and comments to some of the acts of discrimination and violence towards him, he was shocked, and I interpreted that as his naivety to the situation. I felt his novel on his experience spoke volumes because of its tint of non-biasness. This is what I believe prompted the authors comment about the book “Black Like Me”, that “there was too much of the author, too little of others”. Griffin experience was personal, from his perspective. Including others, I believe would have lead to biasness of the report. I argue against the author’s perspective that Griffin’s work was ‘imperfect’ because of this. I say that it was the exact factor that was needed, i.e. the explanation of racism from a personal standpoint; this is what I believe gave voice to the book “Black Like
Me”.
Another aspect that really intrigued me was the observation made by Ernest. He stated, “Which makes it all the harder to see how he [Griffin] pulled it off. Naturally, he fooled the whites; whites didn’t look at blacks. But how did he dupe blacks? Surely somebody should have seen through such a thin disguise. No one did. His transformation was skin-deep, but neither whites nor blacks ever looked deeper… We hear him secretly wail, “I’m just like you,” at each new indignity or abuse, and we cannot believe that no one else hears him.”(246). This, I believe, is the definition of racism. Its assumptions and prejudices run no deeper than because of skin color. I agree with the author in that it should have been obvious to both parties, black and white, that he was in fact not black. His experience I believe teaches that if we could only ‘look deeper’, we would surely conclude and cry out with Griffin that “I’m just like you” and others would hear.
Interestingly enough, I found it very intriguing was that even Griffin in the beginning discovered that he had the spirit of racism. It was not until after the ordeal that his mentality changed. This makes me challenge the point I made above. Question: Is it possible that we can ‘look deeper’ without first ‘stepping inside the victim’s shoes’ like Griffin did with both blacks and the Southern whites? For some of the readers, a personal experience from someone else just like themselves (white) was sufficient to help them to look deeper, but for others, like those who sought after the life of Griffin, I think the prejudice and hate run too deep to, that even a personal experience of their own into their victim’s shoes might not work.
From the excerpt, I see Griffin as an honest man. He was honest with himself and that honesty transpired into him gaining an unbiased account of racism firsthand. Another contributor to the success of his experience was the circumstances that marked his life, i.e. the factors that sheltered him from full exposure to the world of racism.
Sharpe Jr., Ernest. “The Man Who Changed His Skin.” American Experiences: Reading in American History Volume II from 1877. Seventh Edition. Randy Roberts and James S.Olsen. United States: Pearson Education Inc, 2008.240-250. Print.
Main Point of the Article:
The article’s main purpose was to give an idea of racism through the perspective of a white man in the shoes of a black man. In the article, the author gives a brief account of the life of an unusual man who for short period of time posed as a black man in a racist society. The article highlights some of his life achievements, emphasizing one of his greatest- his quest to understand racism firsthand by ‘temporarily becoming black’.
Why is the article significant? …show more content…
In the article, the author makes a comment of which I find very intriguing.
In regards to Griffin, he says, “It is hard to imagine a person worse suited than Griffin to pass for black. A cultural epicure who had spent his adolescence in France and lived a blind, sheltered existence for the previous decade, Griffin had remarkably little in common with Southern whites, let alone with blacks” (248). Though this may have him slightly awkward when interacting with both races, I believe these qualities made him the best candidate for the task he wanted to undertake in discovering the degree of racism in the South. Because of these qualities, i.e. not being raise in the American racial society, being a cultural epicure, being sheltered, and even being blind, I felt equipped him, if it’s safe to say, with the ‘naivety’ he needed to have an experience free from biasness. This we see in his reaction and comments to some of the acts of discrimination and violence towards him, he was shocked, and I interpreted that as his naivety to the situation. I felt his novel on his experience spoke volumes because of its tint of non-biasness. This is what I believe prompted the authors comment about the book “Black Like Me”, that “there was too much of the author, too little of others”. Griffin experience was personal, from his perspective. Including others, I believe would have lead to biasness of the report. I argue against the author’s perspective that Griffin’s work was ‘imperfect’ because of this. I say that it was the exact factor that was needed, i.e. the explanation of racism from a personal standpoint; this is what I believe gave voice to the book “Black Like
Me”.
Another aspect that really intrigued me was the observation made by Ernest. He stated, “Which makes it all the harder to see how he [Griffin] pulled it off. Naturally, he fooled the whites; whites didn’t look at blacks. But how did he dupe blacks? Surely somebody should have seen through such a thin disguise. No one did. His transformation was skin-deep, but neither whites nor blacks ever looked deeper… We hear him secretly wail, “I’m just like you,” at each new indignity or abuse, and we cannot believe that no one else hears him.”(246). This, I believe, is the definition of racism. Its assumptions and prejudices run no deeper than because of skin color. I agree with the author in that it should have been obvious to both parties, black and white, that he was in fact not black. His experience I believe teaches that if we could only ‘look deeper’, we would surely conclude and cry out with Griffin that “I’m just like you” and others would hear.
Interestingly enough, I found it very intriguing was that even Griffin in the beginning discovered that he had the spirit of racism. It was not until after the ordeal that his mentality changed. This makes me challenge the point I made above. Question: Is it possible that we can ‘look deeper’ without first ‘stepping inside the victim’s shoes’ like Griffin did with both blacks and the Southern whites? For some of the readers, a personal experience from someone else just like themselves (white) was sufficient to help them to look deeper, but for others, like those who sought after the life of Griffin, I think the prejudice and hate run too deep to, that even a personal experience of their own into their victim’s shoes might not work.
From the excerpt, I see Griffin as an honest man. He was honest with himself and that honesty transpired into him gaining an unbiased account of racism firsthand. Another contributor to the success of his experience was the circumstances that marked his life, i.e. the factors that sheltered him from full exposure to the world of racism.