Essay Questions

This book described racist behaviors that were well documented at the time, and revealed problems that African-American people had been complaining about for years. What factors allowed Griffin's account of the same phenomena to be taken seriously?

Griffin was white. When he spoke, or wrote, other white people paid attention to him. His status as one of them gave him a credibility that was not being granted to the African-Americans who had lived their entire lives in segregation. At times, Griffin took along a photographer to provide photographic evidence of his experiences. Photo evidence provided compelling proof that Griffin wasn't simply inventing experiences to relate later.

Unlike most human beings, Griffin was a trained journalist. His education made him able to write about his experiences in a compelling way. He also had a contact with Sepia magazine which financed his travels in exchange for the right to publish the first copy of his work.

How is Griffin treated differently when he is in disguise?

White men tend to regard him as an inferior, and an oversexed one at that. African-American men regard him as a member of an extended brotherhood. He receives invitations to people's homes, people share their food with him, and African-American men speak frankly to him without editing their words or regarding him as a possible threat. They laugh, tell jokes, share food, and share stories of their personal lives instead of keeping him at a distance. An entire culture and group of people opens up to him, having been invisible to him before. He loves it. He feels trusted and accepted in a way he was not trusted or accepted before.

White women begin to regard him as a threat and as a social inferior. He experiences what he calls a "hate stare" from them. He finds that gestures of courtesy are often misconstrued, and that white people jump to the most negative possible conclusion about his motives. When he gives up his seat for a white woman on the bus, his courteous gesture is interpreted as presumption.

What rules did Griffin adopt for his own behavior when traveling in the South? Did he have a "cover story" or a fake identity?

No. Before starting his journey, Griffin decided to keep his own name and identification. He carried no fake ID, he did not use an assumed name, and he did not attempt to alter his voice or accent. All he changed was his skin color and his hair, which he shaved.

If asked who he was, Griffin provided his own name. Whenever someone asked what he was doing, he would say that he was a journalist traveling to experience everyday life as an African-American man in the deep South. Surprisingly, very few people noticed anything unusual about Griffin or his activities. Not one person realized that he was a white journalist in disguise.

One of the social institutions Griffin encountered was segregated drinking fountains and bathrooms, with one for "white" people and a separate one for "black" people. Is this any different from having separate, gender segregated restrooms and locker rooms for men and women? Why or why not?

Answer 1: Yes, it's different. Whereas men and women have different needs in terms of bathroom configuration there is no such difference imposed by race or ethnicity. Likewise, women have historically been on the receiving end of sexual violence from men far more than they have from one another, and the temporary vulnerability people experience in a bathroom or locker room could make women far more vulnerable to attack or unwanted attention. Having segregated restrooms and locker rooms helps protect women from unwanted male attention. The fact that the preponderance of unwanted sexual contact comes from heterosexual men and is directed at women justifies the decision. By contrast, there is no precedent of any particular race attacking members of another race in a restroom or locker room simply as a crime of opportunity. In most places where multi-person restrooms or locker rooms exist, there are facilities for both men and women. But in the segregated South, it was acceptable and common for restaurants or businesses to have white-only restrooms, and only White-only restrooms. The result was that for many people there weren't any facilities at all available for the folks who couldn't get into the White-only ones.

Answer 2: No, it isn't different, because either a restroom space exists or it does not. Older buildings such as courthouses and professional sports facilities frequently have restrooms and locker rooms for men only. When a female player makes it into the NHL or the NFL, she frequently has nowhere to change or to store her gear because of the design of the buildings. Furthermore, restroom space for men and women tends to be divided equally in square footage, however men and women use restroom facilities differently. A given room designed with a few stalls and several urinals can accommodate almost twice as many men as a female-centric room with stalls only. The need to provide breast feeding or pumping stations further restricts the number of women who can actually be served by the same space. This is why there are generally long lines outside the ladies' rooms in public places while the men's room line is almost nonexistent.