Griffin had many opportunities that black men could ill afford. Griffin was a gifted student, he studied medicine and humanities in France - education was a luxury that many blacks did not have regardless of financial status. Whilst, technically education in America was separate but equal there were often not enough places for blacks and surplus places for whites. In a conversation with a black man Griffin hears that white boys go to college get good jobs, whereas a black boy, if he makes it to college, still cannot expect to gain dutiful employment. This is reflected in the fact the educated Griffin could not obtain employment suitable to his education level. Rowland and Williams note that there are very few opportunities for black due to
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As Ida B Wells said “The appeal to the white mans pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his conscience”. The concept of equality contains five separate ideas, political equality, equality before the law, equality of opportunity, economic equality and social equality. Griffin in being a white man does not seem to realise that civil right laws did not change the root condition of black people. Rowan heard a near impoverished Negroes say “I don’t want social equality. What I want is opportunity - food, clothing, and shelter for my family. I want my children to live better than I did.” The more a person has, the more a person wants. For those in the lower strata’s of society their main concern was not social or legal equality but equality of opportunity which could then lead to equality of economics. Once these things had been achieved they would be in a position to look at other equalities including political, legal and social equality. Griffin being a white man does not address these issues of equality on an individual basis, he holds an outside opinion that blacks should have equality without having the insight of what it is …show more content…
According to Sharpe white men have a morbid curiosity about sex lives of Negroes. In the showers Griffin is intimidated with black bodies, if Griffin was black it is unlikely he would be intimidated by bodies that were the same colour as his own. A lot of white discrimination against blacks is based on the theory that black men are sexual predators of white woman, who only sought political rights to allow them to freely have sexual relations with white woman. Griffin records that newspapers always reported suspected rapes by blacks in a manner which raised fear about the black sexual predator. Alternatively, Cash in The Mind of the South states that a white woman has as much chance of being hit by lightning as she does being raped by a Negro. Nevertheless, the fear of Negro sexual predators was dominant amongst southern whites and was used for the justification of not allowing Negroes on beaches or anywhere near the proximity of a white woman. Whilst hitchhiking with a white man, which incidentally is something Williams states is too dangerous for a Negro to do, Griffin is pummeled about questions of his sex life. He is asked if he has been with a white woman, or craves a white woman and about the size of his genitalia. These car scenes reiterate the shower scenes and the white mans fascination with black bodies. Griffin is deeply offended by the interrogation, exemplifying how Griffin is still thinking
As Ida B Wells said “The appeal to the white mans pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his conscience”. The concept of equality contains five separate ideas, political equality, equality before the law, equality of opportunity, economic equality and social equality. Griffin in being a white man does not seem to realise that civil right laws did not change the root condition of black people. Rowan heard a near impoverished Negroes say “I don’t want social equality. What I want is opportunity - food, clothing, and shelter for my family. I want my children to live better than I did.” The more a person has, the more a person wants. For those in the lower strata’s of society their main concern was not social or legal equality but equality of opportunity which could then lead to equality of economics. Once these things had been achieved they would be in a position to look at other equalities including political, legal and social equality. Griffin being a white man does not address these issues of equality on an individual basis, he holds an outside opinion that blacks should have equality without having the insight of what it is …show more content…
According to Sharpe white men have a morbid curiosity about sex lives of Negroes. In the showers Griffin is intimidated with black bodies, if Griffin was black it is unlikely he would be intimidated by bodies that were the same colour as his own. A lot of white discrimination against blacks is based on the theory that black men are sexual predators of white woman, who only sought political rights to allow them to freely have sexual relations with white woman. Griffin records that newspapers always reported suspected rapes by blacks in a manner which raised fear about the black sexual predator. Alternatively, Cash in The Mind of the South states that a white woman has as much chance of being hit by lightning as she does being raped by a Negro. Nevertheless, the fear of Negro sexual predators was dominant amongst southern whites and was used for the justification of not allowing Negroes on beaches or anywhere near the proximity of a white woman. Whilst hitchhiking with a white man, which incidentally is something Williams states is too dangerous for a Negro to do, Griffin is pummeled about questions of his sex life. He is asked if he has been with a white woman, or craves a white woman and about the size of his genitalia. These car scenes reiterate the shower scenes and the white mans fascination with black bodies. Griffin is deeply offended by the interrogation, exemplifying how Griffin is still thinking