Black Like Me

Black Like Me, first published in racial segregation. Griffin was the native of Mansfield, Texas, who had his skin temporarily darkened to pass as a black man. He traveled for six weeks throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia to study life from the other side of the color line. Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the adjusting to print the account number one as a series of articles.

Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book. When he started his project in 1959, quality relations in America were particularly strained. The designation of the book is taken from the last line of the Langston Hughes poem "Dream Variations".

In 1964, a film description of Black Like Me, starring James Whitmore, was produced. A generation later, Robert Bonazzi published a biographical book about Griffin, these events, in addition to his life: Man in the Mirror: John Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me 1997.

Effect on pop culture

The denomination of the song "Black Like Me", by Mickey Guyton, was inspired by the book.