Chapter 5 Summary

Dr. Crookman is in Los Angeles to open Black-No-More's fiftieth sanitarium and to discuss the state of his company with Hank Johnson, Chuck Foster, and others. Black-No-More has been open for seven and a half months now, and Crookman plans to cut the fee for the procedure so that more black people can afford to become white. Though there is increasing opposition to the company, Hank and Chuck have worked hard to keep it running, including stopping every legislative bill written to shut the company down.

Throughout the country, black society is rapidly changing. Many are so concerned with raising the money to undergo Crookman's treatment that they have stopped going to church, paying their dues in fraternal organizations, and frequenting the shops where they used to get their hair straightened and their skin whitened. Loss of business has hurt these shops, many...