Black Like Me

Content Warning: This section of the study guide contains detailed discussions of racism and violence motivated by racism, including references to lynching and suicide. The source material includes outdated and offensive racial terms and slurs, which are reproduced in this guide only via quotations.

“The Negro. The South. These are details. The real story is the universal one of men who destroy the souls and bodies of other men (and in the process destroy themselves) for reasons neither really understands.”

Griffin writes with a frank and sometimes brash tone and with a confident assuredness that he is doing the right thing and exposing an essential truth. He points out the cycle of destruction that occurs due to The Psychological Effects of Discrimination, as those who perpetuate discrimination not only tear down others, but also never truly interrogate their motivations.

“A chill breeze rustled dead leaves in the woods. It carried an odor of fresh-turned dirt, drawing my attention to the fields where the tractor had only a few hours ago stopped plowing the earth.”

Griffin stops to appreciate the natural environment of the farmland of his home before leaving it for several weeks. He creates detailed imagery to convey the smells, sights, and feelings around him that evoke a sense of gratitude that he usually was not aware of.

“I was astonished to see an intelligent man fall for this cliché.”

When Griffin’s dermatologist tries to tell him that Black people with lighter skin are more trustworthy than darker-skinned Black people, Griffin is incredulous that an educated man would express such a racist and falsifiable idea. This illustrates the pervasiveness of discrimination in the 1950s southern United States, and it reflects an assumption on Griffin’s part that intelligence insulates a person from racist beliefs.