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Black Like Me Allusions & Cultural References

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

  • Jacques Maritain (10.42, 13.105) Scholasticism and Poltitics (21.21)
  • Saint Thomas Aquinas (10.42) Pange Lingua (10.93)
  • Christopher Dawson (10.42)
  • Plato (10.64)
  • Adolf Hitler, Mein Kamph  (10.72)
  • The Confiteor (10.96)
  • Jean de La Fontaine, "Les Deux Amis" (10.219)
  • Lionel Trilling,"The Opposing Self: Nine Essays in Criticism" (10.250)
  • Maxwell Geismar (10.289)
  • P.D.East, The Magnolia Jungle (10.290)
  • Monoculus (10.307)
  • Father Robert Guste, For Men of Good Will (12.22)
  • Saint Augustine, Homily 7 on the First Epistle of John (13.105)
  • Heinriech Hoffmann, Christ in the Temple with the Doctors (13.110)
  • The Bible, John 11:1-46  (13.116)
  • Lillian Smith, Strange Fruit (15.78)
  • John H. Rohrer and Munro Edmonson ,The Eighth Generation: Cultures and Personalities of New Orleans Negroes (15.114)
  • Langston Hughes, Dream Variations  (Epigraph, 15.152 )
  • Salve Regina (21.10)
  • William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona I iii 9  (21.17)
  • Robert Guste, For Men of Good Will (21.18)
  • Flannery O'Connor  (21.18)
  • Time Magazine (30.1)

Historical References

  • Mack Charles Parker Lynching Case (10.8)
  • Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (10.8)
  • World War II  (10.285)
  • Brown v. Board of Education  (10.295)
  • Hodding Carter (10.308)
  • Easton King (10.308)
  • Ralph McGill (10.308)
  • Mark Ethridge (10.308)
  • Mozart (11.2)
  • Alfred Kinsey (13.63)
  • Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  (16.1)
  • Gandhi(16.1)
  • Tuskegee Institute (20.10)
  • George Washington Carver (20.11)
  • Marvin Griffin (20.69)
  • Ralph McGill (23.7)
  • T.M. Alexander (23.14)
  • Benjamin Mays (23.15)
  • Rufus Clement (23.15)
  • Dr. Moreland (23.15)
  • F. Earl McLendon (23.16)
  • A.T. Walden (23.17)
  • John Wesley Dobbs (23.17)
  • Atlanta Negro Voter's League (23.17)
  • Spelman College (23.23)
  • Chief Justice Curtis Bok (36.2)

Pop Culture References

  • Verne Barnes, "Way Down South in Mississippi" (10.262)
  • Bach, Toccata in D (23.23)
  • Paul Coates (28.2)
  • The Dave Garroway Show (30.1)
  • Harry Golden (32.1)
  • Mike Wallace Show (32.1)
  • Long John Show (32.1)
  • Radio Televisions Francaise (33.10