"Black Like Me" is the eyewitness story of a white man who alters his skin color in order to experience the world of the Southern black man in the 1950s. John Howard Griffin travels through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia as an unemployed black man looking for work. He experiences the cruel racial divide of the South and realizes that racism is as rampant as rumored.

Mr. Griffin's efforts to expose America's prejudices lead him to a world where he is hated as a white man for speaking out about his experiences in TV interviews, newspaper and magazine articles. In his book, Mr. Griffin makes sure America becomes aware of its racial situation, especially because it is easily hidden behind a mask of tolerance.

After living as a black man, Mr. Griffin takes up the cause of the Civil Rights Movement. He works alongside Dr. Martin Luther King and other prominent civil rights leaders. Mr. Griffin works very hard to show whites that if they want to lessen the racial divide, it has to be done by working with black people, not over them.

This book is an inspiring and straightforward look at the courage of a white man facing the unknown in search of truth. In no way was this book a way of getting recognition for Mr. Griffin. It is solely the work of a man who believes in truth and the equality of all men. He knows that to really find out what divides the South, he has to live it from the side of the oppressed.

Black Like Me is a book for every American to read. It is a straight dose of the truth on racial issues, but it is also an inspiration because it allows us to see how far we have come and it gives us hope to continue our struggle to unite America.