“30 Days a Black Man”

A new book 30 Days a Black Man chronicles the month Pulitzer Prize-winning – and white – journalist Ray Sprigle spent living as a black man in the American South in 1948. His experiences were published in two Pittsburgh newspapers in a 21-part series called “I Was a Negro in the South for 30 Days” and caused much shock and reaction, including from Eleanor Roosevelt. The book also reflects on the ethical nuances of doing such a thing and how his own assumptions influenced his writing. This article tells the story and goes into the issues in more detail.