black man as athreat to the white lifestyle. As experiencedthrough the eyes of John Howard Griffin as a blackman, the white man would have many questions as tothe nature of the black man. (5) Through Griffins experience, he learned thatthere is no fundamental difference in the nature ofthe white man as compared to the nature of theblack man. There seems to be a desire to survive. The white man attempted to survive by making theblack man a second citizen, which is to saylesser citizen. The black man attempted tosurvive by banding together as a race. This helpedthe race survive through a feeling of empathy. Ifa human feels that he is not alone, it tends togive a more powerful sense of strength.Another interesting finding from John HowardGriffin was that white children did not necessarilyshare their parents racial beliefs. This offersproof that racism is not a part of human nature,but rather a by-product of the human nature of thefear of the unknown. Since the white person wasunfamiliar with the black man, there was a sense offear of the black man. Racism is merely a defensemechanism passed down from parent to child. Thewhite men in Black Like Me would teach theirchildren to use racial slurs like nigger inreference to a black man. (6)This theory is supported by the great thinkerThomas Hobbes. Hobbes theorized that man isdictated by a psychological egoism. Thatbasically is to say that people are selfish. Theyput their own needs in front of the needs ofothers. (7)It is in this manner that the white man savedhimself from the black man. The white man saw onlyhis own need for self-preservation. He feared theblack man because of the white mans ignorance ofthe black man. The white man feared that the blackman was different than the white man, and thereforedangerous. It is from this fear that racismsprings. By keeping the black man down insociety, the white man can fulfill his need tosurvive. This is the manner in which Hobbes ...
