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. Racism is mainly seen in conservative states in the south and west. This is because most of these states practiced slavery in the 1600s and thus this culture is still propagated in these states. The main groups that are segregated include African Americans, Hispanics and Jews (InterNation GO, 2020) . The culture of racism is well demonstrated in the film “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin. This is a white man who decide 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. It is a call for tolerance and humane coexistence (Griffin & Bonazzi, 2010) .
Black Like Me 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) .
The southern states of the United States of America were the bedrock of human slavery. Their economies were heavily reliant on cheap labor from slaves, most of whom were Africans. The slaves worked mainly in tobacco, sugarcane and cotton farms. As such, 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 of the enterprise in the American colonies relied heavily on labor. This 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 laborers were now employed. This meant that the numbers of laborers declined. This was a threat to the economy of the American colonies. This opened a hiatus for slavery. Slavery as a concept had by this time become legally, morally and socially acceptable. As such, African slavery became a necessity to the southern states (InterNation GO, 2020) .
Due to the need for slaves as a source of labor, 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 of the humans would happen and the highest bidder would become the owner of a slave. As time moved, slave trade and labor 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. 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) .
References
Griffin, J. H., & Bonazzi, R. (2010). Black Like Me. New york: Signet.
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
