Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin and A Place Called Heaven by Cecil Foster :: Black Like Griffin Heaven Foster Essays

down in the mouth Like Me by keister Howard Griffin and A Place Called heaven by Cecil FosterRacism cruelly and completely corrupts the heart, body and word of honor not only of the oppressed, hardly it dehu gayizes andbrutalizes even the oppressors. In the autobiographical diaries, cruddyLike Me, compose by John Howard Griffin, and A Place Called Heaven,written by Cecil Foster, both main characters alter their lifestyles, angiotensin converting enzyme in America, one in Canada, only to suffer raw hate, violence,crudity and inhumanity from bloodless racists. Through these experiences,both hands encounter many racial barriers that outlive between whites and blackens, which entirely destroys the dignity and self worth of theblacks. However, the cruelty towards the blacks was not their mostintriguing conclusion. Through observation, communication and personalexperiences, both men came to realize that racial discrimination is not a part ofhuman nature, but rather a by-product o f the human nature of the fearof the unknown.John Howard Griffen was a white journalist who truly wanted tounderstand racism and how it affected the blacks. Griffen began toresearch the rise of suicide tendencies in Southern blacks. However,he realizes that it is very difficult to collect useful informationbecause the Southern lightlessness will not tell the white man the truth,(Griffen, pg.12). The earth the blacks would not handle to him isbecause he is white and whites were ultimately the driving ragebehind the suicide of many blacks. The blacks feared the white man,even Griffen, who disagreed with racism. He observe the situation,saw the fear and the hurt in the eyes of the Blacks when he came tospeak to them, and decided that the only way to observe what it waslike to be black, was to get black, (Griffen, pg.21). Griffen, nowdisguised convincingly as a black man, was able to observe racism froma different perspective. Griffen observed how he was treated among hisfellow b lacks in order to attain his examination of racism. Apleasant young Negro woman took my order and fixed my eatTheman at the counter turned toward me and smiled, as though he wanted totalk, (Griffen, pg.23). This proves that it is the whites and theblacks implanted and prohibiting fear that ultimately makes theirminds up roughly the opposite race. If Griffen were still white, thereis no doubt that the woman and the man would not have been so pleasantand open towards him. He observed the fact that just because he wasblack, like them, that they felt content and natural rubber speaking andinteracting with him. Griffen then continues to board a bus.