In Black No More, by George Schuyler, the main character, Max Disher, undergoes a scientific procedure that changes his skin from black to white. Originally very proud of his African-American background, he finds himself going from wishing he was white, to being grateful for being white, to feeling really powerful over black people because he is white. Herbert C. Kelman contextualizes one way of understanding the surprising attitudinal shifts during the 1930s in the United States, particularly in Black No More, by proposing that opinion change is a process of conformity, of identification and internalization. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayKelman discusses this process of attitude change in his article “Compliance, Identification, and Internalization: Three Processes of Attitude Change ", published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution in 1958. A professor of social ethics at Harvard University, Kelman is known for meeting with opposing politicians to convince both sides to converge on important issues. He is very knowledgeable about the social influence process, and this expertise is evident in his article. His ideas are significant because they provide a model for why Max, other characters in Black No More, and many people during the era of racial segregation in the 1930s experienced a complete change in opinion and treatment of black people in a way they never thought possible. Max Disher's actions at the beginning of the novel can be explained by the first stage of Kelman's attitude change: conformity. This stage is characterized by an individual allowing societal influence in the hopes of receiving a favorable reaction from another person or group, as demonstrated by Max's strong desire to integrate with rich, high-status white men. At this stage of Kelman's model, the individual adopts the new behavior not because he believes in his ideals, but because he hopes to obtain rewards or approval. We see this in Max from the beginning of the novel. He has very strong attitudes and desires regarding his race, and he believes that his life would be of much better quality if he were not a man of color. Max constantly wishes to be white for the sole purpose of being socially accepted, especially by white women (namely Helen Givens). When Max is at the Honky Tonk Club in the novel's opening scene, he offers to buy alcohol from white men in exchange for social acceptance: “How lucky! This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. These people could invite them to their table” (Schuyler 4). He hopes that by doing what the white men ask, they will invite him to his table. He hates acting like a servant to these superior men, but puts aside his pride in the name of social approval. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. Faced with the white men's ignorance toward Max, “he returned to his table and looked wistfully at the group” (Schuyler 4). Despite its compliance, its objective was not achieved. Shortly after Max receives the "Black No More" procedure and transforms into a white man, we see him act out Kelman's next step of changing his attitude. Identification, Kelman describes, is the process of “accepting influence because one wants to establish or maintain a satisfying, self-defined relationship with another person or group” (Kelman 53). This process involves the individual taking on the role of another person, as seen in a very literal sense by Max becoming his suave, white alias, Matthew Fisher. Itsnew physical appearance already gives him the impression of being a whole new human, more important and more powerful: “The world was his oyster and he had the open sesame of pig-colored skin! The reflection in the mirror gave him new life and new strength” (Schuyler 14). Shortly after leaving the sanitarium, however, Matthew experiences confusion over who he should associate with and who knows him based on his new identity. “He was not known and did not belong to any organization” (Schuyler 36). He comes across a newspaper advertising the Knights of Nordica. “Here,” thought Matthew, “was exactly what he was looking for” (Schuyler 36). An organization previously very offensive to Max, he now sees it as a way for him to establish relationships with people of his own kind. He expresses immediate interest and is fascinated by the social approval he receives upon entry. Addressing Givens, Matthew exclaims: “It always seemed to him that there was no more important question in American life than that of preserving the integrity of the white race. We all know what was the fate of those nations who allowed their blood to be polluted by that of inferior races” (Schuyler 38). Although he recited this argument in a newspaper, this moment marks the transition in Matthew's attitude from tolerance of whites to approval of whites. This is the first time he expresses a separate state of mind, and despite the highly performative quality of his monologue, these words catch the reader off guard when they come out of Matthew's mouth. By saying these words out loud, he assured himself that this was the new attitude he was supposed to adopt. Hearing himself say previously offensive things essentially made him believe he believed them. This reinforces his deep identification with his new white self. Matthew deepens his acceptance of white supremacy when he speaks to the Knights of Nordica. “For an hour Matthew told them aloud what they believed: that is, that white skin was a sure indication of the possession of superior intellectual and moral qualities; that all Negroes were inferior to them; that God intended the United States to be a white man's country and that with God's help they could keep it that way; that their sons and brothers might marry blacks inappropriately, if Black-No-More, Incorporated, were allowed to continue their dangerous activities” (Schuyler 45). Shortly after, Matthew becomes one of the leaders of the Knights of Nordica. This type of change is also evident later in Chapter 6, when several black leaders address a white audience on behalf of the Knights of Nordica. This tolerance for the influence of social factors corresponded to the mindset of many liberal whites in the 1930s, who were convinced that whites were far supreme. Kelman's identification model reflects this change. The final stage of Kelman's model deals with internalization, which describes the deepest form of an individual's attitude change. He or she accepts the new behavior because the ideas it encompasses are intrinsically rewarding. “He adopts the induced behavior because it conforms to his value system” (Kelman 53). This satisfaction in internalization arises from the content of the behavior, which results in a complete change in attitude. Although there are examples of this in the novel, such as Matthew stating that he would kill his black baby before people knew his true race, I don't think Kelman's idea of ​​true internalization is achieved , due to the complexity of Matthew's attitude change. linked to his physical change of race. Although the Kelman model offers a.