What Is The Relationship Between Williams And The African American

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The crowd cheered and roared when these words were delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. during his iconic Washington march speech in 1969. This was the time when America found itself torn apart in the racial conflicts. During the Civil Rights Movement, it was evident that not only black Americans but also many white Americans opposed the African American oppression. One such personality was John Howard Griffin, a Texan Journalist who documented his experiment of experiencing life as a ‘negro’ by deliberately turning his skin black through pigmentation and other medical procedures.
Griffin exposed his secret to Williams as he felt that Williams might be helpful in integrating him with the black community. Griffin considered Williams as a casual friend. Williams was a shoe shiner by profession. He was a kind-hearted person and very articulate. When Griffin explained him about his experiment he readily agreed to help Griffin out in his endeavors. He taught Griffin how to shine shoes and how to talk to other white people. From the narration of the story it is clear that Williams understood the position of black people in the society and also was quite compassionate towards his own people. It can be also seen that even though blacks were facing scrutiny Williams never showed hatred towards white people. It maybe because of the reason that Williams got the chance to talk to various white folks while shining their shoes, and from this he must have known that not all white people were the same. It can be seen that increased intergroup contact may result in prejudice reduction (Brauer et.al,
He was quite different from the other black people that Griffin had come across. He was very well dressed. He seemed to have liking towards white people and hated black people. From his talks Griffin came to know that he did not considered himself as a negro. He believed black people were beneath him and should be treated as the way they are treated. Strangely at a point during the conversation he came out to be emotional. When he was talking about how he is going to be re-united with his wife, he became teary. He was so frustrated with his being black skinned and its negative implications that he had stopped recognizing himself as one and resultantly started hating other black people. This may be seen as one of the reasons why black oppression was carried out for a long period of time. If the members of an in-group themselves develop hatred towards each other it is evident that inter group discrimination would prevail (Taunya,