The journalist disguised himself to pass as an African-American man for six weeks in 1959 in the Deep South to report on life in the segregated society from the other side of the color line.

John Finley Horton is a liberal white journalist who darkens his face and hands (and to some degree his body) using various means, sufficiently to pass for a black man.

He travels for several weeks in the Deep South in order to report from the other side of the color line in the segregated society.

He said it failed to place the viewer inside an African American's skin, and to convince the audience that the protagonist "is truly passing for black".

[4] This DVD release includes a documentary titled Uncommon Vision about John Howard Griffin, the journalist on whom the main character is based.