Black Like Me.

BLACK LIKE ME. John Howard Griffin. 1950/2004. Read by Ray Childs. 6 cds. 7 hrs. Audio Bookshelf. 0-9741711-1-5. $49.95. Vinyl; content notes. JSA*

This is one of the few books of social commentary that have changed the face of our country and that, half-a-century after they were written, can still bring their time to life for young people. John Griffin chose to darken his skin medically and then travel through the South at a time when the Civil Rights Movement was beginning to make itself heard and ugly tensions were rising. What today may seem like a journalistic stunt was, in 1959, an act of tremendous bravery that would endanger both him and, after the book came out, his family.

The book, which was written for white America, demonstrates clearly how racism and bigotry corrupted the values of white society, both conservative and liberal. Paradoxically, some of the power of the book for modern readers comes from its dated style. Griffin's 1950-ish diction seems a touch formal, almost stilted to a generation of readers brought up on journalistic exposes and cable TV pseudo-news. This should be a part of the standard curriculum of every American high school. Childs' reading is measured and articulate, perfectly matched to the rhythms of Griffin's text. Bernard Cooperman, Assoc. Prof., Univ. of MD, College Park, MD