Previous
Sterling Williams
A white dermatologist whom Griffin visits in New Orleans when he wants to darken his skin. Griffin explains the entire project to the dermatologist, who is onboard with the idea at first but grows increasingly hesitant as time goes by, eventually coming to regret his decision to help. However, by the time he realizes that he wishes he hadn’t helped Griffin darken his skin pigmentation, it’s already too late. As such, he issues a number of “warnings” to Griffin about the danger he’s likely to encounter. Although the dermatologist claims to be in favor of racial equality, he says a number of bigoted things without seeming to understand the prejudice that has seeped into his language. Indeed, the dermatologist has formed many implicit biases against black people, making vast generalizations about all African Americans and suggesting that light-skinned black people are somehow superior to dark-skinned black people. In this way, the dermatologist is the first person Griffin encounters who thinks of himself as magnanimous and enlightened while simultaneously setting forth harmful, bigoted viewpoints.
The Dermatologist Quotes in Black Like Me
The Black Like Me quotes below are all either spoken by The Dermatologist or refer to The Dermatologist. 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:
).
November 6, 1959
Quotes
I believe in the brotherhood of man. […] I respect the race. But I can never forget when I was an intern and had to go down on South Rampart Street to patch them up. Three or four would be sitting in a bar or at a friend’s house. They were apparently friends one minute and then something would come up and one would get slashed up with a knife. We’re willing enough to go all the way for them, but we’ve got this problem— how can you render the duties of justice to men when you’re afraid they’ll be so unaware of justice they may destroy you?—especially since their attitude toward their own race is a destructive one.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He also told me things that Negroes had told him—that the lighter the skin the more trustworthy the Negro. I was astonished to see an intelligent man fall for this cliché, and equally astonished that Negroes would advance it, for in effect it placed the dark Negro in an inferior position and fed the racist idea of judging a man by his color.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Black Like Me LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Dermatologist Quotes in Black Like Me
The Black Like Me quotes below are all either spoken by The Dermatologist or refer to The Dermatologist. 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:
).
November 6, 1959
Quotes
I believe in the brotherhood of man. […] I respect the race. But I can never forget when I was an intern and had to go down on South Rampart Street to patch them up. Three or four would be sitting in a bar or at a friend’s house. They were apparently friends one minute and then something would come up and one would get slashed up with a knife. We’re willing enough to go all the way for them, but we’ve got this problem— how can you render the duties of justice to men when you’re afraid they’ll be so unaware of justice they may destroy you?—especially since their attitude toward their own race is a destructive one.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He also told me things that Negroes had told him—that the lighter the skin the more trustworthy the Negro. I was astonished to see an intelligent man fall for this cliché, and equally astonished that Negroes would advance it, for in effect it placed the dark Negro in an inferior position and fed the racist idea of judging a man by his color.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
