John Howard Griffin goes out to see if people are really judged by themselves, or by the pigmentation of their skin.

It is 1959, and John Griffin is as prepared as he can be. He has the funding of a newspaper, his ideas pretty thought out, and has medication and stain to make his skin dark.

This preparation doesn't prepare him for the feelings how ever-- and he quickly tumbles into a completely different world.

Actions he took before, simple liberties are denied him as people see the color of his skin. And when he removes the pigment, he can feel the seperation from one community to the other. It opens his eyes as everything about both sides of life becomes severely personal.

Understanding human rights, and part of the history behind the United States-- history isn't always a bright, shining, beautiful thing however, and this book tries to reveal the good and bad of that time.

Change history-- I really wish mistakes, and the hurt people can inflict on eachother didn't exist... I suppose this book just reinforced my belief of human rights, reminding me stand up against injustice.

It made me feel sad and joyful. Sad at the reality of the history, and joyful with the knowledge we have progressed past some of the most obvious wrongs.

Was facinating-- he is also the main character, and you can see his feelings and the conflict of both sides of the the life he lives.

History is something we should not forget, no matter how bad, because to forget it, to not learn from it's mistakes, is to doom ourselves to the chance of repetition.

I don't recommend this book to people who aren't ready for it. There is a lot of hurt in this book, and shameful things happen. I would suggest that the reader be at least 13 before reading this book.

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Created Jan 26, 2004 at 11:58pm • Submit your own review...