John Howard Griffin is a white, middle-aged man who lives in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. He wants to fully understand the difficulties black people face in society. Annoyed with not being able to understand why black people face such hardships of radical justice, he sets out on a six week journey in seek of an answer. With the help of a doctor he decides to undergo a medical treatment to temporarily darken the color of his skin. This consists of exposure to ultraviolet light, skin dyes, and oral medication. In order to be able to successfully achieve this on his own he had to receive support from his Wife and George Levitan, the editor of a black-oriented magazine, called Sepia. George agreed to fund Griffin’s journey on one condition. In return for the funds, Griffin must allow George the right to publish a series of articles about his experience in Sepia. Griffin agrees and sets out on his six-week journey. Along the way he keeps a journal in which he will write down his experience.…show more content… While in Mississippi he comes in contact with a local, humble, well-spoken shoe-shiner by the name of Sterling Williams. He then sets out to experience how the community views him as a black man although he already expects to find prejudice, oppression, and hardship. Griffin is shocked at the extent the white people will go to in order to make a black person feel ashamed and embarrassed. He constantly experienced difficulties in finding a job, somewhere he could get a drink, clerks refusing to cash his checks, the word “nigger” constantly being used, or simply a restroom that blacks are able to go
