TEKNOSASTIK ISSN 2656-6842 Volume X (X), Year Dharmawan 1 e-mail: teknosastik@teknokrat.ac.id ROAD TO UNDERSTANDING: AMERICAN VALUES IN GREEN BOOK (2018) Dimas Fachrurozy Dharmawan 1 , Muhammad Fithratullah 2 , Devan Ahmad Pramudia 3 , Muhammad Naufal Falih Susilo⁴, Bagus Herlambang⁵ dimastms70@gmail.com, fithratullah@teknokrat.ac.id, devan.ahmad.p04@gmail.com, mnaufalfalihs@outlook.com, bagushlb.sch@gmail.com Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia 1 Abstract This article examined how the film Green Book (2018) presents core American values such as freedom, equality, and mutual understanding, while grounding its narrative in the lived reality of racial segregation during the Jim Crow era. The story follows the journey of Don Shirley, an African American pianist, and Tony Lip, his white driver, as they travel through the American South a region marked by laws and customs that institutionalized racial discrimination. By incorporating the historical context of Victor Green’s Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide created to help Black Americans navigate segregated spaces, the film draws attention to how African Americans coped with exclusion and sought dignity in a deeply unequal society. This analysis highlights how the film reflects broader themes of mobility not just in the physical sense, but as a metaphor for social progress and personal transformation. Drawing from studies on segregation, public accommodations, and economic disparities, the paper shows that the values portrayed in Green Book particularly the pursuit of mutual respect across racial lines remain central to understanding the American experience. The film thus serves as both a personal story of unlikely friendship and a symbolic road to confronting and reinterpreting America’s complex legacy of racial division. Keywords: American values, Green Book (2018), racial segregation, public accommodations, civil rights Introduction American identity has long been shaped by ideals such as freedom, individualism, and equality yet history shows that these values have often been contested and contradicted, especially in the context of race relations. The Jim Crow era (late 19th to mid-20th century) legally enforced racial segregation, particularly in the southern United States, and created systemic inequalities that affected African Americans' access to education, housing, economic mobility, and even the basic freedom to travel safely (Cutler & Glaeser, 1997; Card & Rothstein, 2007). While many scholarly works have focused on residential segregation and labor inequality, less attention has been paid to how access to public accommodations shaped both the Black experience and the broader meaning of American values (Aaronson et al., 2018, p. 7). One historical artifact that sheds light on this issue is The Negro Motorist Green Book, published annually between 1936 and 1966 by Victor Green. This travel guide listed businesses,