I came across mention of this on, of all things, a Billy Connolly travelogue.
A bit of research shows that it was written by a New York postal worker, Victor H Green, from 1936 until the 60s, firstly for New York, then the whole of the USA, then the whole of North America and the Caribbean.
The purpose of the book was to inform black travelers of the hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, cafes etc that accepted black guests and to avoid humiliation or violence by going to the wrong place.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_H._Green

Green got the idea when he saw similar publications published by Jews who also had to "think ahead" when planning journeys in the US. At one time Irish emigrants to the UK were also issued with "guides" to major British cities in which no-go areas were pointed out, as well as lists of digs providers less likely to have this in their window ...



... I imagine West Indian and other immigrants were also getting almost identical advice at the time.

The history of discrmination is also a history of remarkable practical resourcefulness amongst those on the receiving end of it. During South Africa's apartheid years (how lovely to put that in the past tense, even still) organisations, often illegally, published pamphlets and booklets which were constantly updated and which gave township workers, already hugely restricted in their travel options, the latest news concerning reachable destinations where it was actually worth one's while to petition for work. These were often amazingly cleverly composed - with information such as "safe houses" and unapproved/illegal taxi and bus facilities referred to obliquely or in code so that the authorities were less likely to apprehend those providing the facilities.

But sadly such discrimination is far from dead, and so the need for similar guides is still very much with us, hence the 'Spartacus Guide' for 2013/2014:



And before anyone says that 'Spartacus' is just a hedonistic guide to tell you where to find the best "scene" or the dates of Gay Pride Festivals around the world .... actually it also gives very sensible advice about what areas (even in Europe) to avoid, local customs and prejudes, dangerous body language to avoid, friendy hotels, cab firms, bars etc, sources of advice and help, and where ... though the place might advertise itself as a relaxed sun-blessed tropical paradise ... you might well find yourself imprisoned or even on death row should you book in as two men! (and I'm not talking about any 'axis of evil' countries but certain Commonwealth nations who actually have her Madge QE2 as head of state!).

But I am diverting the thread from it's original point, sorry Trike.

I don't believe you are diverting the thread. If Victor Green was alive today he'd no doubt identify with the circumstances that give the need for such advice and the method used to impart it, whether he himself personally sympathised with those discriminated against or even approved of them.

Having said that however, the history of discriminated classes looking out for each other might tend to contradict any such an assumption. When two parties experience discrimination at the same time a common bond of suffering may often temporarily unite them. But alas such bonds are brittle as history all too often shows. Irish behaviour towards other minorities in New York when they went from ghetto dwellers there to having real political clout and power in the city and state is a matter that still raises the hackles both in Ireland and the USA. And, as I have been reading about recently, more and more of Victor Green's beneficiaries (or at least their descendants) who now have "made it" by American standards, are participating in political and economic activities which are consigning their once fellow discriminees to even more hardship, in many ways comparable to that which they underwent before - just the reasons for being despised and shunned having been changed.

Would that a "Green Book" could be written for all of us on the grander road-trip from birth to death ...

You're not diverting the thread Meles. The Green Book was something I had never heard off before and it was just something I thought worth mentioning.