Black Like Me: October 28–November 8, 1959

by John Howard Griffin
In the 1950s, John Howard Griffin underwent a skin-darkening procedure to investigate how he would be treated in the segregated South if people perceived him as African American. Learn these words from Griffin's harrowing investigation of race and racism.

Here are links to our lists for the book: October 28–November 8, 1959, November 10–15, 1959, November 16–29, 1959, December 1, 1959–Aug 17, 1960
40 words 769 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. discrimination
    unfair treatment of a person or group based on prejudice
    What is it like to experience discrimination based on skin color, something over which one has no control?
  2. harmonious
    exhibiting equivalence or correspondence among constituents
    It was that bad, then, despite the white Southern legislators who insisted that they had a “wonderfully harmonious relationship” with Negroes.
  3. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    I told him the South’s racial situation was a blot on the whole country, and especially reflected against us overseas; and that the best way to find out if we had second-class citizens and what their plight was would be to become one of them.
  4. resentment
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    She felt that when my book was published, I would be the butt of resentment from all the hate groups, that they would stop at nothing to discredit me, and that many decent whites would be afraid to show me courtesies when others might be watching.
  5. repulsive
    offensive to the mind or senses
    And, too, there are the deeper currents among even well-intentioned Southerners, currents that make the idea of a white man’s assuming nonwhite identity a somewhat repulsive step down.
  6. jurisdiction
    the territory within which power can be exercised
    Though I knew my project was outside their jurisdiction and that they could not support it in any way, I wanted them to know about it in advance.
  7. hubbub
    loud confused noise from many sources
    Every view was magical, whether it was a deserted, lamplit street corner or the neon hubbub of Royal Street.
  8. garish
    tastelessly showy
    I walked past garish bars where hawkers urged me in to see the “gorgeous girls” do their hip-shaking; and they left the doors open sufficiently to show dim, smoke-blue interiors crossed by long rays of pink spotlights that turned the seminude girls’ flesh rose.
  9. bigot
    a prejudiced person who is intolerant of differing opinions
    I knew that he had no prejudices, but I nevertheless did not want to involve him in any way, since reprisals might be taken against him by bigots or by his associates, who might resent his role as my host once my story became known.
  10. dilemma
    state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
    I told him my contacts indicated that Negroes themselves were aware of this dilemma
  11. condemn
    express strong disapproval of
    they were making strong efforts to unify the race, to condemn among themselves any tactic or any violence or injustice that would reflect against the race as a whole.
  12. astute
    marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
    (Not that I had any illusions that I knew him, for he was too astute to allow any white man that privilege.)
  13. oblivion
    the state of being disregarded or forgotten
    As I left his office, he shook my hand and said gravely, “Now you go into oblivion.”
  14. kinship
    relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption
    I was imprisoned in the flesh of an utter stranger, an unsympathetic one with whom I felt no kinship.
  15. distress
    extreme physical discomfort
    Even the senses underwent a change so profound it filled me with distress.
  16. ghetto
    a poor densely populated city district
    No, the reflections led back to Africa, back to the shanty and the ghetto, back to the fruitless struggles against the mark of blackness.
  17. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    Suddenly, almost with no mental preparation, no advance hint, it became clear and permeated my whole being.
  18. appall
    fill with apprehension or alarm
    The completeness of this transformation appalled me.
  19. tamper
    play around with, alter, or falsify, usually dishonestly
    I had tampered with the mystery of existence and I had lost the sense of my own being.
  20. naive
    marked by or showing unaffected simplicity
    As I had suspected they would be, my discoveries were naive ones, like those of a child.
  21. segregated
    separated or isolated from others or a main group
    Though streetcars are not segregated in New Orleans, I took a seat near the back.
  22. patronize
    be a regular customer or client of
    I went into a drugstore that I had patronized every day since my arrival.
  23. banter
    light teasing repartee
    She handed them to me, took my bill and gave me change with no sign of recognition, none of the banter of previous days.
  24. loath
    strongly opposed
    I sensed the conversation made little difference, that for a few moments we were safe from the world and we were loath to break the communication and go back to our rooms.
  25. counterfeit
    not genuine; imitating something superior
    Their voices wheedled and they smiled in counterfeit.
  26. chortle
    a soft partly suppressed laugh
    Though we talked quietly, the waitress heard, and her high chortle was quickly muffled in the kitchen.
  27. sassy
    improperly forward or bold
    “They’re getting sassier every day,” she said loudly.
  28. clarity
    the quality of being coherent and easily understood
    I learned a strange thing—that in a jumble of unintelligible talk, the word “nigger” leaps out with electric clarity.
  29. glint
    be shiny, as if wet
    Sunlight fell on them, causing the hairs to glint against the black skin.
  30. derelict
    worn and broken down by hard use
    I turned back toward them, astonished that even among skid row derelict joints they had “separate facilities.”
  31. morality
    the quality of being in accord with right or good conduct
    Though not all, by any means, were so open about their purposes, all of them showed us how they felt about the Negro, the idea that we were people of such low morality that nothing could offend us.
  32. obscene
    offensive to the mind
    I listened to the easy and usually obscene give-and-take between Joe and men of the quarter who passed the sidewalk.
  33. contentment
    happiness with one's situation in life
    My first afternoon as a Negro was one of dragging hours and a certain contentment.
  34. anodyne
    a medicine used to relieve pain
    They provided us deep pleasure, an anodyne to the squalor and clutter of the street.
  35. affluent
    having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value
    There I met a much more educated and affluent class, older men who brought me into the conversation.
  36. mulatto
    (offensive) a person with both black and white ancestry
    No, you have to be almost a mulatto, have your hair conked and all slicked out and look like a Valentino. Then the Negro will look up to you.
  37. avid
    marked by active interest and enthusiasm
    I’m an avid reader. I must have read something by you.
  38. pester
    annoy persistently
    I sat at the window and watched them until hunger began to pester me.
  39. silhouette
    an outline of a solid object as cast by its shadow
    High above the buildings’ black silhouette stars shone in a clear sky.
  40. clangor
    a loud resonant repeating noise
    I listened as the metallic clangor rolled away over the rooftops of the quarter.
Created on Tue Apr 14 19:16:03 EDT 2015 (updated Wed Sep 05 16:36:04 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.