John Howard Griffin, a white writer, entered the black community in 1961 to see if the deep South's reputation for extreme racism was accurate. Though he already lived in the South (Texas), his travels took him down through Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. He spent a mere two months first as a black man, then alternating between black and his natural skin. He was given medical treatments that changed the pigmentation of his skin, in addition to a dye.
He was horrified by how he was treated, constantly being given what he called the "hate stare" and the complete lack of respect he was given, even on a basic human level. The conditions most blacks were living in were barely fit for animals, much less humans.
This book was a short, depressing read, as is any material that exposes the disgusting side of human nature.
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