This book is an autobiography about John Griffin, a white male living in Texas, who decided that he needed to conduct an investigation in the lives of African Americans living in the South. He decided to fully experience what a black man goes through as best as he could, that he would change his appearance to that of an African Americans. To do this he took medication, spent many hours under a sun lamp, and used dyes on his skin to make his pigment different. He changed nothing else about himself. He was so pushed to do this because he wanted to know if people would treat him differently based on nothing else than the color
of his skin. The first place he went to in South was New Orleans. One of the first people he met was Sterling, a shoe shiner. He met him first as a white man, and then again later after his transformation to a black man. One of the first things he was surprised about when he converted himself into a black was the difficulty of finding a bathroom or something to drink. He studied how
blacks treated each other, him, and how they acted towards whites. The next place he traveled to was Alabama. In Alabama he noticed that things were much more unified. After that he traveled to Mississippi where he had heard things
were much worse. One of the main experiences he had in Mississippi was the "hate stares" so many of the whites gave, and a heated argument on one of the buses between a black and a white, and the bus driver of the bus. After seeing how
things were in Mississippi, he went back to New Orleans. He then had Rutledge photograph him at different places as a white and black man. After his six week investigation was over, he traveled back to his family. Back at his home he received many letters. He did receive a couple hate letters, but the majority of the letters were positive and support from both whites and blacks. After a while, his family and him started to get threated s much and didn’t feel safe in the town anymore, so they moved to Mexico.
of his skin. The first place he went to in South was New Orleans. One of the first people he met was Sterling, a shoe shiner. He met him first as a white man, and then again later after his transformation to a black man. One of the first things he was surprised about when he converted himself into a black was the difficulty of finding a bathroom or something to drink. He studied how
blacks treated each other, him, and how they acted towards whites. The next place he traveled to was Alabama. In Alabama he noticed that things were much more unified. After that he traveled to Mississippi where he had heard things
were much worse. One of the main experiences he had in Mississippi was the "hate stares" so many of the whites gave, and a heated argument on one of the buses between a black and a white, and the bus driver of the bus. After seeing how
things were in Mississippi, he went back to New Orleans. He then had Rutledge photograph him at different places as a white and black man. After his six week investigation was over, he traveled back to his family. Back at his home he received many letters. He did receive a couple hate letters, but the majority of the letters were positive and support from both whites and blacks. After a while, his family and him started to get threated s much and didn’t feel safe in the town anymore, so they moved to Mexico.