The United States is a multicultural nation composed of different races. This encourages diversity in the country. However, the minorities are largely subjected to discrimination and racism. According to InterNation (2020), racism was mainly seen in conservative states in the south and west. This is because most of these states practiced slavery in the 1600s. The culture of racism is well demonstrated in the film “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin. Griffins is a white man who decided to go the southern states in the 1950s to get information on the relationship between the whites and black. Griffins’ findings demonstrate that racism and segregation are still practiced in America. The movie is a call for introspection by all Americans, especially the whites to reevaluate their beliefs. Looking at the incidences in the movie, there is lack of tolerance across races. Therefore, this is a call for tolerance across racial groups.
Black Like Me (1964) is a film about John Howard Griffin, a white man who decides to have his skin temporarily darkened. Upon darkening his skin, he decides to go south with a hope of obtaining information regarding the relationship between blacks and whites. In his journey, he experiences love from the Africa American population. Conversely, he experiences contempt and hostility from the white community. He also witnesses firsthand the suffering blacks go through in the southern states. Griffin’s first encounter is in New Orleans. Here, he meets an African American shoe shiner who offers him friendship. He welcomes him into the African American community. Griffin also encounters his share of discrimination by the whites. He is harassed while in New Orleans by the white supremacists. He also witnesses the treatment African Americans accord him. It is a treatment laced with courtesy and respect.
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Griffins then decided to take a tour deep south to Mississippi to check out on a case where a jury rejected a case where a black man was lynched. While at the bus station, the whites there stare at him with utmost hatred. At the rest stop of their journey, Griffins witnesses Negroes being denied a chance to depart. They are denied a chance to go even for a short call. He continues with his trip to Montgomery. During this trip, he meets perverted white drivers. At some point, Griffins is kicked out of the car and left stranded. At this time, he experiences the generosity of a young black male who offers him a ride and a place to sleep (Griffin & Bonazzi, 2010) . This is a genuine gesture from the young black man because his family is large. Despite the fact that the young man has a large family of a wife and six children, he still offers Griffins a place to sleep. The family declines to take money given to them by Griffins as a sign of gratitude. This shows their sincerity in helping him. While heading back to Montgomery, Griffins witness outright black segregation where two blacks could not sit down on one seat so that a white lady can sit on it. After reverting to his original complexion, Griffins goes back home and does an interview on his story. He also writes his experiences on in a book (Griffin & Bonazzi, 2010) .
Griffins’ encounter mainly covers the southern states of the United States of America. The southern states of the United States of America were the bedrock of human slavery. Their economies were heavily reliant on cheap labour from slaves, most of whom were Africans. The slaves worked mainly in tobacco, sugarcane and cotton farms. Therefore, it was clear that American prosperity relied largely on slavery. Slaves were regarded as the most significant investment of farm owners and planters. The history of slavery dates back to the 1600s. Most farms and businesses in the American colonies relied heavily on labour. This labour was provided for by Europeans workers who were unemployed and poor. After working, the owners of the farms gave them food and shelter. At times, they were also given some education and offered opportunities to trade (History, 2020) . However, in 1680 the economy in Britain had improved. Therefore, most of the European labourers were now employed. This meant that the numbers of labourers declined. This was a threat to the economy of the American colonies opening a hiatus for slavery. Slavery as a concept had by this time become legally, morally and socially acceptable. According to InterNation (2020), African slavery now became a necessity.
Due to the need for slaves as a source of labour, most the large scale farmers ventured into the business of importing slaves. These were mainly imported from the west African countries. This created a new industry, that of slave auction. In these auctions, humans would line up and be inspected like animals. Bidding was done and the highest bidder would become the owner of a slave. This can explain why Griffins was treated badly by the blacks who saw him as a second class citizen. As time moved, slave trade and labour become a norm in the Southern states. This propagated the narrative that human beings were not equal. This was so entrenched in these states that it would be hard to put it otherwise (Griffin & Bonazzi, 2010) . In a bid to calculate political representation in the congress, the delegates agreed that a slave would be equivalent to three-fifths of a white as they would not be considered as “full” whites. This was very demeaning to the slaves, most of who were blacks. This is an indication that blacks were viewed as lesser human beings. This notion of blacks being lesser human beings continued even after the abolishment of slavery. This is evidenced in the film “Black Like Me” where blacks are treated so inhumanely by the whites (History, 2020) .
Racism was legalized by the Jim crow laws. These were laws and regulations that existed after the civil war until 1968. The intention of these laws and statutes was to segregate and marginalize African Americans. Blacks were denied the right to vote, get a good education and hold good jobs (History, 2018) . Anyone who defied these laws was either fined or jailed. Other forms of punishment i ncluded violence or even death. The ratification of the 13 th Amendment in 1865 is what led to the Jim Crow laws. This amendment abolished slavery. However, there was the introduction of black codes. These were laws that stipulated the terms of engagement with the slaves. They outlined the amount of compensation for the work done, where and when such free slaves could work. This hiatus gave the southern states a way of ensuring that blacks remained under their control. They took away their voting rights and controlled every aspect of their lives. They even controlled where they lived and where they could travel to. The southerners also took the children of the blacks with the intent of using them for labour purposes.
The legal system also helped propagate segregation. Griffins together with the other African were for example denied the right to go for a short call as whites were effortless granted this right. This was not different in the earlier years. This system was handled mainly by the former confederate soldiers. These worked as judges and police offices. They had the duty of ensuring that African Americans were subjected to the black codes. They also ensured that Africa Americans did not win any case against the whites. Further, sentences for black offenders were much longer than those of the whites for similar crimes. Some even did not finish their sentences. They were subjected to great trauma and violence throughout their sentences (History, 2018) .
The reconstruction era also gives great insight on the intricacies of racial segregation. The national Democratic Party and local government put measures to ensure that African Americans were not freed. Moreover, there was noted increase in violence. Black citizens would be attacked by a group of violent whites especially at night. Further, whites would also vandalize schools belonging to African Americans. The birth of the Ku Klux Klan in 1865 did not make it easier for blacks. This was a ruthless private club composed of confederate veterans. This group functioned like a vigilante. It attacked and terrorized blacks. Its composition spread across from top government officials to the lowest criminal gang members (Tischauser, 2012) .
As years progressed, the Jim Crow laws became widespread. This was especially true in the 1880s where the laws were implemented in the big cities of the southern states. This happened because the whites in this states demanded the execution of these laws in these cities. The cities were for some time thought to offer a little bit of freedom to Africa Americans. The relative freedom had prompted a considerable number of the African American population to move to the cities. After the spread of Jim Crow laws across the country, blacks were not supposed to use public parks. Further, they were also forbidden to use restaurants and theatres (Fremon, 2014) .
There was segregation of other social amenities such as restrooms, waiting rooms, elevators and even cemeteries. This is evident in the movie for when blacks are denied access to washrooms. Further, African Americans were also forbidden to live in white neighbourhoods. Education was also not spared. Some southern states required that African Americans use different textbooks from what the white children were using. Blacks were also not allowed to cohabit with a white. Some states even had signs meant for blacks to notify them that they were not welcome at specific places. In court, some states such as Atlanta offered different Bibles for whites and blacks to swear. Marriage between a black and a white was strictly forbidden (Tischauser, 2012) .
Various individuals were strong enough to launch fights against the Jim Crow laws. One such individual was Ida B. Wells, a teacher who was based in Memphis. She at one point refused to alight a first class train car. This was the preserve of the white. It led to her being forcefully evicted from the train by a conductor. Ida, through articles in the newspaper strongly opposed the Jim Crow laws. She co-owned the Free Speech and Headlight newspaper. She was a voice of dissent. In her works, Ida advocated for the arming of the black community. She also investigated various acts of injustices such as lynching. This strong opposition to the Jim Crow laws did not go well with the whites. She was threatened with death. This led to her moving to Northern States where she still continued with her works (History, 2018) . Isaiah Montgomery also disagreed with the Jim Crow laws. Montgomery was an ex slave. He in 1887 decided to form a town called Mound Bayou in Mississippi. This was an exclusive African America town. The former slaves went and cleared the wilderness after which they created a town from scratch. The town had among other things a sawmill, a bank and an Andrew Carnegie sponsored library. Charlotte Hawkins Brown was another black woman who resisted the Jim Crow’s laws. She was a teacher with the American Missionary Association and founded her own school referred to as Palmer Memorial Institute (Fremon, 2014) .
In the 20 th century, Jim Crow laws became even more widespread in the Southern States. There was increased violence and lynching. This attracted similar race related riots. Black college graduates were a segregated lot. This motivated the Great Migrations of these graduates in the 1920s. they migrated to the northern states. Griffins encounter in the Southern States revealed a deep seated racial issue that was practiced mainly in these states. However, Northern states also had their share of Jim Crow’s laws. In of the Northern States, in order for someone to vote, the needed to own property. Blacks were also not allowed to live in the whites’ neighbourhood. The same was for white schools. Some business also had a signage indicating “White Only” (History, 2020) .
Griffin’s experiences in the movie illustrate silent and outright racism against African Americans. Denial to have blacks go out for a short call at a stop station was racism. However, this situation shows some steps had been made against racism as projected in the Jim Crow era. Both whites and blacks would use same bus. Some of the struggles that led to some of these changes were effected through politicians and civil rights movements. Allen Granbery Thurman vied ran for the governor seat of Ohio in 1867. He lost the race but was appointed to the senate where he advocated for reforms aimed at benefiting African Americans (Fremon, 2014) .
“ Black Like Me” (1964) is a film that was filmed in an era of civil rights movements. The civil right movement era was characterized by activities that were met to repel Jim Crow laws. Some efforts to ushered in tolerance were made by United States presidents and the judiciary while others were through intense civil rights mobilization. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled against educational segregation. This happened in the Brown v. Board of education case. The court termed educational segregation as unconstitutional. Earlier in 1948, President Harry Truman had done the same thing in the military. He ordered that blacks be also integrated in the military. Further, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Acts in 1964. This legally meant the end of racial segregation. The 1965 Voting Rights Act also meant that minorities would now vote in the United States of America. Further, the Fair Housing Act which was enacted in 1968 ended the discrimination that was evidenced in the housing industry (History, 2018) .
The film captures the state of Mississippi and other southern states in the 1960s. During this period, Mississippi was described as the most violent and racist state in America. This is what led to the emergence of the American Civil rights movement. The efforts of these movements led to a change in both civil and voting rights of Americans. In the 1960s, public officials, law enforcement agencies and private citizens worked very hard to drive the segregation agenda against blacks. The history of Mississippi States with regards to slavery and segregation dates back to 1865 when the civil war ended. Since then, whites always tried to maintain dominance over the minorities through segregation (History, 2018) . Civil Rights Movement during this period advocated for non-violence in a bid to end institutionalized racial segregation, inequality and discrimination. The leaders wanted the world outside Mississippi to witness their struggles. They understood that it would be very hard for the then establishments to agree to end this segregation. The segregationists would at any cost maintain their control over the blacks. According to History (2020), the leaders of the civil rights movement such as Bob Moses and Martin Luther King Jr hoped that the world would see through print and television the violence and segregation meted against blacks.
In conclusion, Black Like me (1964) is a film that illustrates the deep seated racial segregation that was witnessed in the Civil Right Movement era. Griffins desired to witness what it felt like to be an African American during these times. He experienced love and kindness from “his” fellow blacks. Conversely, he experienced hatred and contempt from the white. As noted in the film, this racial segregation was largely witnessed in the southern states. The explanation behind this is that slavery was a huge economic activity in the Southern state. In order for the whites to dominate over the blacks, they made them slaves to work in their plantations. Some large scale planters also thrived as a result of slave trade. During these times, slaves were regarded as commodities and would be sold to the whites following a bidding process. Jim Crow laws helped propagate racial segregation in the United States. This laws were repelled in the 1960s following intense agitation by civil rights movements.
References
Fremon, D. K. (2014). The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in United States History. New york: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Griffin, J. H., & Bonazzi, R. (2010). Black Like Me. New york: Signet.
History. (2018). Jim Crow"s Laws . Retrieved from History: https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws
History. (2020). Slavery and Profitable Southern Economy . Retrieved from History: https://www.history.com/news/slavery-profitable-southern-economy
InterNation GO. (2020). Racism and Discrimination in the US . Retrieved from InterNation GO: https://www.internations.org/go/moving-to-the-us/country-facts/racism-and-discrimination-in-the-us
Tischauser, L. V. (2012). Jim Crow Laws. New york: ABC-CLIO.
