White Journalist Who ‘Disguised’ Himself as Black Faces Backlash

Canadian-American journalist Sam Forster said he “disguised himself as a Black man” to write a book that claims to “document how racism persists in American society.” His comments and the book’s premise have drawn sharp criticism on social media.

On Tuesday, Forster posted on X, formerly Twitter, that writing Seven Shoulders: Taxonomizing Racism in Modern America “was one of the hardest things I’ve done as a journalist.”

The book’s description on Amazon calls it “the most important book on American race relations that ever been written.” That comment, in addition to Forster’s X post, have led to criticism for making money off of Black people’s experiences and using controversial methods to explore racism rather than interviewing people.

Forster also said in the email to Newsweek: “Speaking with Black Americans was a crucial part of my writing process. In particular, I think the interviews I did with Black politicians will be interesting to readers.”

On Wednesday, the book’s publisher, Slaughterhouse Media, forwarded Forster’s comments to Newsweek in an email: “As many people have noted since the book’s announcement, this sort of immersive journalism was an incredibly important part of the civil rights movement.” He added: “While modernizing this long-celebrated practice was incredibly difficult, I am sure that those who read the book with an open mind will appreciate the value of what I’ve produced.”

Newsweek reached out to several critical race theory academics and Black writers for comment via email on Wednesday. Newsweek also reached back out to Slaughterhouse for additional comment on Wednesday.

It is unclear exactly how Forster “disguised himself,” with many users on X speculating that he used Black face. On X, New York Times politics reporter Astead Herndon urged Forster to, “drop the pic, Samuel. I’m trying to see something,” inquiring to see how Forster looked.

Several users have flagged that this is not an original idea, as white author John Howard Griffin famously darkened his skin to publish Black Like Me in 1961 in the Jim Crow South. Griffin also received backlash for his approach.

B.A. Parker, a writer and audio producer who is the co-host of NPR’s Code Switch, posted a video of Boy Meets World on X in response to Forster’s post. The segment shows teacher Mr. Feeny speaking about Griffin’s book Black Like Me with a character Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) asking “wouldn’t it have been easier to just…ask?”

In a second post, Parker wrote: “A simple google search would’ve told him [Forster] it’s not even an original idea. And that it’s been frowned upon since. But like…that would require sincere engagement with the people he’s trying to empathize with.”

Janel Cubbage, a psychotherapist, posted on X on Wednesday that “instead of buying this book from a white author who traveled in Black face, read and listen to actual Black people about our lived experience.” She added that “profiting off of Black face and racism is nasty work.”

Another X user, Dr. Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, posted dozens of book covers by Black authors who wrote about their experience, including titles by Medgar Evers, Isabel Wilkerson, Harriet Washington, and Marcus Anthony Hunter among others. Her post urged readers to “please please please support BLACK authors writing our own experiences in our own voices using our own expertise!!!” In a thread post, she called out Forster for preferring to “cosplay a caricature of Blackness than engage actual real life Black people.”

Rapper Zuby, wrote on Tuesday night: “It’s hard to simultaneously draw the ire of black people, white people, conservatives, AND liberals… But I think you’ve just done it. 😂 I want to see the photos. 🍿”

The book is set to publish Thursday, but dozens of people have already posted negative, one-star reviews on Goodreads that criticize its “racist” roots and methodology.