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Impact of racism
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Impact of racism
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In Kiese Laymon “How to Slowly Kill yourselves and others in America” and Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Spaces” both essays deal with being an African American man but the authors respond in a different ways. At one point in history being an African American wasn’t always the easiest but two Authors shared their stories about the experiences they had which were very different. Although the color of their skin is the same and how they treated was as well both authors take different precaution’s to handle the situations they were in to persuade the audience on how to deal with the effects of racism. Both authors show their hidden message through the actions presented throughout the essays. Laymon`s casual tone and will to fight make him more relatable Both authors have some of the same experience when it comes to racism and they don`t understand. Staples says “I was to become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear. At dark. Shadowy intersections. “I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver— black, white, male, or female — hammering down the door locks.” Laymon has a similar experience when “we got close to Shonda`s Saturn and one of the men says. “Kiese write about this!” Then another voice calls me a “Nigger” and Shonda a “nigger bitch” I think and feel a lot but mostly I feel that I can’t do anything to make the boys feel like they`ve made us feel like right there.” After reading these experiences both authors have a sense of fear from the side effects of racisms. Laymon goes on to tell you to stand up for what you believe in contrary to Staples. Laymon comes off very high strung, not afraid to speak his mind. “Fuck you” I tell him and suck my... ... middle of paper ... ...ach essay I would say that authors do an amazing job of telling their stories. I do think it would be nice is Brent Staples tell more of how he really felt when dealing with these situation instead of giving just a brief example. Laymon essay was well writing and very understandable I love that he doesn’t tell you what you are supposed to learn from this essay but you make of it what you will. While each author has shared experiences they handle these situations differently. A difference the authors had were the approach they took to the different situations they faced, and the words while writing about them. Some of them similar things these authors shared were the emotions they felt when facing these adversities. One of the biggest things they shared was there hidden message while subtle is very powerful. Peace is a very powerful tool for dealing with animosity.
In his article “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, which first appeared in the women’s magazine Ms. Magazine and later Harpers, Brent Staples explores the discrimination he faced as a black man living in Chicago and New York. In writing this piece, Brent Staples hoped to use a combination of pathos and ethos to demonstrate to the women that read Ms. Harper’s that Staples is actually the victim when the women treat him the way they do and to get these women to view him, and other black men, differently and to make them realize that they are people too. Staples use of his ethos and pathos serve well to support his position and convince others to take a new perspective. Staples uses ethos in multiple ways
The article “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples, originally published in Ms. Magazine in 1986, under the title “Just Walk on by,” depicts the existence of racism within the unconscious prejudice of people. The main idea of this article is the fact that blacks are perceived as a violent and disastrous people, and this, in turn, puts them in danger. Staples uses a detailed imagery to illustrate the stereotype of individuals based on black people. In the article, the author portrays the poignant events that black people face and uses pathos to describe his melancholy of people judging him by his skin color. He attracts the focus of audience towards the main idea of this article by using onomatopoeia as well as diction. The usage of such rhetorical strategy has successfully clarified the main idea of the article and widened the approach of this article towards public.
Staples, Brent. “Black Men and Public Space.” Reading Critically, Writing Well. Sixth edition Eds. Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 134-136. Print.
Brent Staples’ piece “Black Men and Public Space” first published in 1986 in a liberal feminist magazine “Ms.” An African American, Staples was often the victim of racial prejudice throughout his young-adulthood. The publication, mostly directed toward white, feminist, affluent women, was supposed to send a message about racial prejudice and empathy. Staples develops his purpose, that people should be empathetic toward African Americans, through self-blaming tone, imagery, and ethical appeal.
In his essay “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples discusses his personal experiences of being an African American male, while coming to the realization of the harsh realities of the stereotypes it carries. Through his anger and frustration, he learned to alter himself in public spaces by making others around him feel less threatened. Not always would it work, such as the occasional double glances he’d get from the person in front of him or a click when walking past someone in their car. Seeing first-hand the effects of being an African American male made me think twice about how they had to present themselves in public due to the decade long stereotypes that the color of someone’s skin can carry. Seeing this happen through my eyes made
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
Ethnic group is a settled mannerism for many people during their lives. Both Zora Neale Hurston, author of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me; and Brent Staples, author of “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” realize that their life will be influenced when they are black; however, they take it in pace and don’t reside on it. They grew up in different places which make their form differently; however, in the end, It does not matter to them as they both find ways to match the different sexes and still have productivity in their lives.. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, a quiet black town with only white passer-by from time-to-time, while Staples grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, surrounded by gang activity from the beginning. Both Hurston and Staples share similar and contrasting views about the effect of the color of their
Brent Staples created a perfectly structured essay that clearly unmasked a racist and judgmental society. As explained he used methods such as word choice, literary devices, many experiences of his past and pure emotion in order to place the reader in his shoes. Each method supported the main idea in, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, very strongly. It enhanced the way a reader should feel about prejudicial thoughts and not only did he descriptively share his story but made it so that the reader could feel a personal connection to this phenomenon. Some people would not understand or try to understand how it truly is to be judged as a black male, but Brent Staples portrays great points throughout his personal experiences.
When handling a controversial subject, it is important to recognize the opinion of everyone, not just of oneself. If an author does not recognize, at least to some degree, the opinion of everyone in their audience, they risk losing the interest of readers whose opinions are different. African American writers must consider how it feels to be an African American to their audience; they must understand that there is no such thing as one identity for an entire race.
In my essay I have chosen the essay “ black men and public space” by Brent Staples, and “ on seeing England for the first time” by Jamaica Kincaid . In Staples essay he shows us what does it mean to be a black man who walks in the night, living between people “ white people” who sees a criminal or a “mugger” when they look at him , because of the color of his skin that makes him stranger . And Kincaid explains how she felt as a stranger in her home town as well as in England when she went there . And both of Staples and Kincaid share the feeling of the fear, different types of fear ,as they both been through racism from people around them in different ways , in one hand Kincaid had the fear of losing her identity , and her culture identity and thus losing herself , while Staples had the fear of facing others fears of him, and both never did any harm to white people but they been suffering from white people and under they control and under their judgement .
In the article, “A Letter My Son,” Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes both ethical and pathetic appeal to address his audience in a personable manner. The purpose of this article is to enlighten the audience, and in particular his son, on what it looks like, feels like, and means to be encompassed in his black body through a series of personal anecdotes and self-reflection on what it means to be black. In comparison, Coates goes a step further and analyzes how a black body moves and is perceived in a world that is centered on whiteness. This is established in the first half of the text when the author states that,“white America’s progress, or rather the progress of those Americans who believe that they are white, was built on looting and violence,”
Without details, the words on a page would just simply be words, instead of gateways to a different time or place. Details help promote these obstacles, but the use of tone helps pull in personal feelings to the text, further helping develop the point of view. Point of view is developed through the story through descriptive details and tone, giving the reader insight to the lives of each author and personal experiences they work through and overcome. Issa Rae’s “The Struggle” fully emplefies the theme of misplaced expectations placed on African Americans, but includes a far more contemporary analysis than Staples. Rae grapples as a young African-American woman that also struggles to prove her “blackness” and herself to society’s standards, “I feel obligated to write about race...I slip in and out of my black consciousness...sometimes I’m so deep in my anger….I can’t see anything outside of my lens of race” (Rae, 174). The delicate balance between conformity and non-conformity in society is a battle fought daily, yet Rae maintains an upbeat, empowering solution, to find the strength to accept yourself before looking for society’s approval and to be happy in your own skin. With a conversational, authoritative, humorous, confident and self-deprecating tone, Rae explains “For the majority of my life, I cared too much about my blackness was perceived, but now?... I couldn’t care less. Call it maturation or denial or self-hatred- I give no f%^&s.” (Rae 176), and taking the point of view that you need to stand up to racism, and be who you want to be not who others want you to be by accepting yourself for who you are. Rae discusses strength and empowerment in her point of view so the tone is centered around that. Her details all contribute to the perspectives as well as describing specific examples of racism she has encountered and how she has learned from those
Brent Staples focuses on his own experiences, which center around his perspective of racism and inequality. This perspective uniquely encapsulates the life of a black man with an outer image that directly affects how others perceive him as a person. Many readers, including myself, have never experienced the fear that Staples encounters so frequently. The severity of his experiences was highlighted for me when he wrote, “It also made it clear that I was indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area from the surrounding ghetto.” (135) Having to accept that fact as a reality is something that many people will never understand. It is monumentally important that Staples was able to share this perspective of the world so others could begin to comprehend society from a viewpoint different from their
Staples successfully begins by not only admitting the possible faults in his practiced race but also by understanding the perspective of the one who fear them. Black males being opened to more violence because of the environment they're raised in are labeled to be more likely to cause harm or committing crime towards women but Staples asks why that issue changes the outlook of everyday face to face contact and questions the simple actions of a black man? Staples admits, "women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence," (Staples 384) however...
In “Black Men in Public Spaces” the author talks about multiply situation where he was treated different for being an African American. Staples said,” I entered a jewelry store on the city’s affluent near North side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash” (161.) Then there is “Right Place, Wrong Face, which is focused on and African American man that is wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. White said, “I was searched, stripped of my backpack, put on my knees, handcuffed, and told to be quieted when I tried to ask questions” (229.) The two articles have many similarities. Both articles have two educated African America men who get treated different because of their race. Staples and White both have situations where they are being stereotyped by society because there black