CHAPTER 1

For years the idea had haunted him, and that night it

returned more insistently than ever.

If a white man became a Negro in the Deep South,

what adjustments would he have to make? What is it like to experience discrimination based on one's skin colour,

something over which one has no control?

This speculation was sparked again by a report that lay on his desk in the old barn that served as his office.

The report mentioned the rise in suicide tendency

among Southern Negroes. This did not mean that they

killed themselves, but rather that they had reached a stage where they simply no longer cared whether they lived or died.

It was that bad, then, despite the white Southern

legislators who insisted that they had a 'wonderfully'

harmonious relationship' with Negroes. Ilingered on innmy office at my parents' Mansfield, Texas, farm.

My wife and children slept in our home five miles away.

I sat there, surrounded by the smells of autumn coming

through my open window, unable to leave, unable to

sleep.

How else except by becoming a Negro could a white

man hope to learn the truth? Though we lived side by

side throughout the South, communication between the

two races had simply ceased to exist. Neither really

knew what went on with those of the other race. The

Southern Negro will not tell the white man the truth.

He long ago learned that if he speaks a truth un-

pleasing to the white, the white will make life miserable

for him.

The only way I could see to bridge the gap between

us was to become a Negro. I decided I would do this.

I prepared to walk into a life that appeared suddenly mysterious and frightening. With my decision to become

a Negro I realized that I, a specialist in race issues, really

knew nothing of the Negro's real problem.

I drove into Fort Worth in the afternoon to discuss the

project with my old friend George He is the owner of Sepia, an internationally distributed Negro

magazine with a format similar to that of Look.

large, middle-aged man, he long ago won my admiration

by offering equal job opportunities to members of any

race, choosing according to their qualifications and extra

future potentialities. With an on-the-job training programme, he has made Sepia a model, edited, printed

and distributed.

It was a beautiful autumn day. I drove to his house

arriving there in mid-afternoon. His door was always

open so I walked in and called him.

An affectionate man, he embraced me, offered me some hot

coffee and had me take a seat.

He listened, his cheek buried in his fist as I explained about

the project.

'It's a crazy idea,' he said. "You'll get yourself killed fooling around down there.' But he could not hide that excited smile on his face.

I told him the South's racial situation was a blot and that the only way i could see to bridge the gap between

them was to become a Negro. I decided I would do this.

I prepared to walk into a life that appeared suddenly

mysterious and frightening. With my decision to become

a Negro I realized that I, a specialist in race issues,

really knew nothing of the Negro's real problem....

"Negro"is a word used for the black skin people