In the Fall of 1959, John Howard Griffin set out on a journey of discovery. A discovery of hisown nature, as well as a discovery of human nature. With the help of a friend, Griffin transformed hiswhite male body into that of an African-Americanmale body. Through a series of medical treatments,the transformation was complete. He spent the nextseveral months as an African-American travelingthrough the deep South of the United States. Whathe discovered changed his perspective of himself,as well as his perspective of others.On his journey, John Howard Griffin encounteredwhat could be termed the dark side of human nature. He experienced racism in its purest form. Heexperienced what it was like to live in squalorwith a sense of hopelessness. John Howard Griffinalso experienced the antagonism of those thatfeared him solely because of the color of his skin. His experiences even included witnessing acts ofracism with the African-American community. (1)As a white man in White America, JohnHoward Griffin enjoyed certain luxuries. Withthose luxuries, however, is an independence ofsorts. A majority of white people pass throughlife without much notice of other white people. What he found as an African-American was that hedeveloped a bond with other African-Americans. Thetype of bond that is shared between people in thesame situation. (2)With this discovery came a certain amount ofhope. A hope that the human spirit will prevailthrough any hardship. Through his journey, hewould step back into his true white self, and enterback into the white world. He would then observethe black world with a new sense of clarity. (3) While in the white world, he encountered whitepeople that had a desire to change the wrongs ofwhite society.It would seem that white society is comprisedof a great deal of felicity. That is to say, ahuman being will naturally be drawn towards thepreservation of the self. (4) During this timeperiod, the white man viewed the...
