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Billie East
A young black child whom Griffin hires to help clean out his parents’ house after they move to Mexico. As they work together, the boy asks if Griffin’s children hate black people, and Griffin assures him that kids have to be taught such hateful viewpoints and that he and his wife would never teach their children these things.
The Boy Who Helps Griffin Clean Quotes in Black Like Me
The Black Like Me quotes below are all either spoken by The Boy Who Helps Griffin Clean or refer to The Boy Who Helps Griffin Clean. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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August 17, 1960 Quotes
We had a long conversation during which he brought out the obvious fact that whites teach their children to call them “niggers.” He said this happened to him all the time and that he would not even go into white neighborhoods because it sickened him to be called that. He said revealing things:
“Your children don’t hate us, do they?”
“God, no,” I said. “Children have to be taught that kind of filth. We’d never permit ours to learn it.”
Related Characters:
John Howard Griffin (speaker), The Boy Who Helps Griffin Clean (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
163
Explanation and Analysis:
After Griffin’s family moves to Mexico to escape the threats they’ve received as a result of his project, Griffin stays in Texas to empty out his parents’ home. To do this, he hires a young boy to help him, and as they work, the child—who is black—says “revealing” things about what it’s like to grow up as an African American in a racist society. Whereas Griffin spent about a month of his life trying to understand the African American experience, it is simply this boy’s constant reality, as society essentially conditions him to expect hatred from white people. Indeed, he wonders if Griffin’s children “hate” black people—a sad question because it suggests that this young boy might assume (if Griffin didn’t tell him otherwise) that all white children “hate” him. Griffin’s response is also important to note, since he emphasizes the fact that people “learn” and develop prejudices. Indeed, nobody is born a racist. Rather, all racists have been “taught” to see the world a certain way. As such, if society can manage to stop racists from passing along hateful ideas, it might be possible to shift away from this widespread bigotry.
The most distressing repercussion of this lack of communication has been the rise in racism among Negroes, justified to some extent, but a grave symptom nevertheless. It only widens the gap that men of good will are trying desperately to bridge with understanding and compassion. It only strengthens the white racist’s cause. The Negro who turns now, in the moment of near-realization of his liberties, and bares his fangs at a man’s whiteness, makes the same tragic error the white racist has made.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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The Boy Who Helps Griffin Clean Character Timeline in Black Like Me
The timeline below shows where the character The Boy Who Helps Griffin Clean appears in Black Like Me. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
August 17, 1960
...racists’ attack. As he wraps up his last few days at home, he hires a young boy (who is black) to help him clean out his parents’ house. As they work together,...
(full context)
