30 days a black man : the forgotten story that exposed the Jim Crow South

In 1948 most white people in the North had no idea how unjust and unequal daily life was for the 10 million African Americans living in the South. But that suddenly changed after Ray Sprigle, a famous white journalist from Pittsburgh, went undercover and lived as a black man in the Jim Crow South. Escorted through the South’s parallel black society by John Wesley Dobbs, a historic black civil rights pioneer from Atlanta, Sprigle met with sharecroppers, local black leaders, and families of lynching victims. He visited ramshackle black schools and slept at the homes of prosperous black farmers and doctors. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter’s series was syndicated coast to coast in white newspapers and carried into the South only by the Pittsburgh Courier, the country’s leading black paper. His vivid descriptions and undisguised outrage at "the iniquitous Jim Crow system" shocked the North, enraged the South, and ignited the first national debate in the media about ending America’s system of apartheid. Six years before Brown v. Board of Education, seven years before the murder of Emmett Till, and thirteen years before John Howard Griffin’s similar experiment became the bestseller Black Like Me, Sprigle’s intrepid journalism blasted into the American consciousness the grim reality of black lives in the South. Author Bill Steigerwald elevates Sprigle’s groundbreaking exposé to its rightful place among the seminal events of the early Civil Rights movement. In 1948, most white people in the North had no idea how unjust and unequal daily life was for the 10 million African Americans living in the South. But that suddenly changed after Ray Sprigle, a famous white journalist from Pittsburgh, went undercover and lived as a black man in the Jim Crow South. Escorted through the South’s parallel black society by John Wesley Dobbs, a historic black civil rights pioneer from Atlanta, Sprigle met with sharecroppers, local black leaders, and families of lynching victims. He visited ramshackle black schools and slept at the homes of prosperous black farmers and doctors. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter’s series was syndicated coast to coast in white newspapers and carried into the South only by the Pittsburgh Courier, the country’s leading black paper. His vivid descriptions and undisguised outrage at "the iniquitous Jim Crow system" shocked the North, enraged the South, and ignited the first national debate in the media about ending America’s system of apartheid. Six years before Brown v. Board of Education, seven years before the murder of Emmett Till, and thirteen years before John Howard Griffin’s similar experiment became the bestseller Black Like Me, Sprigle’s intrepid journalism blasted into the American consciousness the grim reality of black lives in the South. Author Bill Steigerwald elevates Sprigle’s groundbreaking expose to its rightful place among the seminal events of the early Civil Ri The dangerous, trailblazing work of a white journalist and black leader who struck a shocking early blow against legal segregation In 1948, most white people in the North had no idea how unjust and unequal daily life was for 10 million African Americans living in the Jim Crow South. Then, Ray Sprigle, a famous white journalist from Pittsburgh, went undercover and alongside Atlanta s black civil rights pioneer Wesley Dobbs lived as a black man in the South for thirty days. His impassioned newspaper series shocked millions and sparked the first nationally aired television-and-radio debate about ending America s shameful system of apartheid. Author Bill Steigerwald returns this long-forgotten part of American history to its rightful place among the seminal events of the Civil Rights movement. For 30 days and 3,000 miles, Sprigle and Dobbs traveled among dirt-poor sharecroppers, principals of ramshackle black schools, and families of lynching victims. The nationally syndicated newspaper series hit the media like an atom bomb, eliciting a fierce response from the Southern media. Six years before Brown v. Board of Education, seven years before the murder of Emmett Till, eight years before Little Rock s Central High School was integrated, and thirteen years before John Howard Griffin s similar experiment became the bestselling Black Like Me, an unlikely pair of heroes brought black lives to the forefront of American consciousness." Retells The Story Of A White Journalist From Pittsburgh Who Lived For Thirty Days As A Black Man In The Jim Crow South Alongside Atlanta's Black Civil Rights Pioneer Wesley Dobbs, An Experiment That Exposed The Shameful System Of Segregation. Foreword / Juan Williams -- Jim Crow, U.s.a. -- Ray Sprigle, Star Reporter -- Pittsburgh In White And Black -- Mr. Naacp -- Learning To Become A Negro -- Teaming Up With Mr. Dobbs -- The Poor, Poor South -- Atlanta In Black And White -- On The Road To Americus -- An Oasis In The Desert Of Injustice -- Sneaking Through The Delta -- America's Last Outpost Of Feudalism -- The Long Reach Of White Malice -- Nominating President Dewey -- Waking Up The White North -- A Civil War Over Civil Rights -- Telling Sprigle's Story To Black America -- Sticking Up For Old Jim Crow -- Truman's November Surprise -- The Great Radio Debate -- A Mission Forgotten By History. Bill Steigerwald. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 298-301) And Index. Foreword / Juan Williams -- Jim Crow, U.S.A. -- Ray Sprigle, star reporter -- Pittsburgh in white and black -- "Mr. NAACP" -- Learning to become a negro -- Teaming up with Mr. Dobbs -- The poor, poor South -- Atlanta in black and white -- On the road to Americus -- An oasis in the desert of injustice -- Sneaking through the delta -- America's "last outpost of feudalism" -- The long reach of "white malice" -- Nominating "President Dewey" -- Waking up in the white North -- A civil war over civil rights -- Telling Sprigle's story to black America -- Sticking up for Old Jim Crow -- Truman's November surprise -- The great radio debate -- A mission forgotten by history.;Retells the story of a white journalist from Pittsburgh who lived for thirty days as a black man in the Jim Crow South alongside Atlanta's black civil rights pioneer Wesley Dobbs, an experiment that exposed the shameful system of segregation.