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77d223e
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A couple of years ago I was seated in an auditorium in Detroit where Reverend Cleage was explaining to a conference of priests that what they called "black separatists" were in reality men who recognized the implacability of a white-imposed separation."
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racial-discrimination
us-history
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John Howard Griffin |
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04e58e2
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Turning off all the lights, I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I stood in the darkness before the mirror, my hand on the light switch. I forced myself to flick it on. In the flood of light against white tile, the face and shoulders of a strange--a fierce, bald, very dark Negro--glared at me from the glass. He in no way resembled me. The transformation was total and shocking. I had expected to see myself disguised, but this was ..
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John Howard Griffin |
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6822779
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Turning off all the lights, I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I stood in the darkness before the mirror, my hand on the light switch. I forced myself to flick it on.
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John Howard Griffin |
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1fe3270
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He kept himself in line with popular opinion, which meant popular prejudice.
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biases
conventional-wisdom
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John Howard Griffin |
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d9ac447
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In the context of today, this WAS heroism.
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culture
discipleship
humility
maturation
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John Howard Griffin |
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f59a60d
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We, who were reduced to eating on the sidewalk , were suddenly elevated in status by this man's misery. We were the aristocrats and he the beggar. It flattered us. We were superbly above him and the comedy gave us a delusion of high self-respect. In a while, the magnanimity of the rich would complete the picture. We would feed our scraps to the poor.
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poverty
social-classes
wealth
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John Howard Griffin |
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e1f2caa
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Now you take dark Negroes like you, Mr. Griffin, and me," he went on. "We're old Uncle Toms to our people, no matter how much education and morals we've got. No, you have to be almost a mulatto, have your hair conked and all slicked out and look like a Valentino. Then the Negro will look up to you. You've got class. Isn't that a pitiful hero-type?" "And the white man knows that," Mr. Davis said. "Yes," the cafe owner continued. "He utiliz..
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elitism
race-issues
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John Howard Griffin |