Did anyone else read the title of Elizabeth Kolbert's New Yorker article, "Green Like Me," and automatically think of John Howard Griffin's 1961 memoir, Black Like Me? Kolbert's article is a critique of the new spate of environmental "stunt" books, such as No Impact Man, by white writer Colin Beavan, that engage in what she calls nouveau-Thoreauvian conceit--the belief that a move from mere mortal with a heavy U.S. carbon footprint to supergreenhero No Impact Man for one year will actually have some impact. Kolbert says that it won't because it is all "gimmickry" and no engaged action.
Fade 2009. Cue 1959.
John Howard Griffin, a white writer in Texas, decides that he wants to experience life as a black male in the south to more fully understand racism and segregation. So he travels to New Orleans, takes an anti-vitiligo drug and embodies blackness for six weeks. He keeps a journal, the basis of his book, detailing the encounters he has with black southerners and white southerners. He is shocked by what he sees and feels. He first shares his experiences in Sepia magazine in March 1960 (the editor financed his journey) and there is an immediate white backlash in his hometown, as well as thousands of letters of support. But the terror unleashed against him, his spouse and children propels him to move to Mexico in order to feel safe.
I have not yet read No Impact Man (or seen the movie) and have not read Black Like Me since college (or seen the movie). I definitely plan to read both now because the comparative possibilities are ripe for further study.
Let's begin the discussion now. How is green like me like black like me?
Kolbert's critique is petty and clueless from a woman who should know better. Big changes (abolition of slavery, the suffrage movement, the anti-nuclear movements) are not just made up of Big Politics & Big Legislation, but the micro-aspects of our lives. This is nowhere more true than with climate, and Colin Beavan is mis-represented by her.
ReplyDeleteIt would be helpful if those who see the value of local Transition Towns could also see the value of the May 2012 Earth Summit in Brazil, and vice versa.
(I think Black Like Me was one of the first serious books, in 1968 in 4th grade or so-- it was lying around the house).
thanks for your comment! how do you think Kolbert misrepresented Beavan?
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