Hello I'm Joshua Zincke from the Houston Chronicle and today I have the honor of interviewing one of the world's most daring men. Today I have John Howard Griffin and for those who don't know Mr. Griffin recently just completed his six week social experiment of crossing the color line into the segregated South.
Well Mr. Griffin I'll go right into it and ask the question on everyone's mind why. Why go to the length of changing your skin tone?Why go to that forbidden area of journalism no other journalist would go? Why come up with that idea at all?
•Well the idea haunted me for for years. What is it like to live in the deep South as a black man? what is it like to experience discrimination based on skin color, something we have no control …show more content…
Griffin what have you learned about the black community as a whole and in any what are some problems that stand out to you during your journey ?
•Through my travels I meet numerous black people. My experience talking and being around them was pleasant. They are willing to help fellow black, However, they did not support each other. The black community as a whole is not connected. They are not a unit. They tear each other down to survive. I believe that society is a cause other than blacks themself. Black people are denied the simplest of things because of their skin tone. The racial injustice placed on these people based on something they can't control have caused their community to become disjointed.
How was your family affected by this experiment?
•My family was very understanding of my reasons and supported me, but I felt that input them in danger. When I reveal my experiment to the public me and my family become the subject of hateful reprisals. An effigy of me, painted half white and half black, was burned on Main Street; threats were made against my family, including one to castrate me. Each day I rethink my discussion and if it's worth it, but I believe that my experiment have brought new view on the discrimination against blacks and provide new viewpoint that most whites might not think
Well Mr. Griffin I'll go right into it and ask the question on everyone's mind why. Why go to the length of changing your skin tone?Why go to that forbidden area of journalism no other journalist would go? Why come up with that idea at all?
•Well the idea haunted me for for years. What is it like to live in the deep South as a black man? what is it like to experience discrimination based on skin color, something we have no control …show more content…
Griffin what have you learned about the black community as a whole and in any what are some problems that stand out to you during your journey ?
•Through my travels I meet numerous black people. My experience talking and being around them was pleasant. They are willing to help fellow black, However, they did not support each other. The black community as a whole is not connected. They are not a unit. They tear each other down to survive. I believe that society is a cause other than blacks themself. Black people are denied the simplest of things because of their skin tone. The racial injustice placed on these people based on something they can't control have caused their community to become disjointed.
How was your family affected by this experiment?
•My family was very understanding of my reasons and supported me, but I felt that input them in danger. When I reveal my experiment to the public me and my family become the subject of hateful reprisals. An effigy of me, painted half white and half black, was burned on Main Street; threats were made against my family, including one to castrate me. Each day I rethink my discussion and if it's worth it, but I believe that my experiment have brought new view on the discrimination against blacks and provide new viewpoint that most whites might not think