Living In Two Worlds, By Marcus Mabry And Black Men And Public Space

I am a small town, young African American girl. I know first hand how racial stereotypes can affect someone 's life in a negative way. In the essays “Living in Two Worlds” by Marcus Mabry and “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples both authors explore the effects of racial stereotypes, using notably many similarities and differences throughout each essay. One key similarity that both essays share is prejudice that African American men receive in public settings. In “Living in Two Worlds” Mabry discloses, “I, too, encounter prejudice, but it is softened by my status as a student in an affluent and intellectual community.”(101) This shows that clearly this man has been subject to prejudice based on solely his skin color, but because of his status, it was wiped away. In “Black Men and Public Space” Staples discloses:

To her, the youngish black man 一 a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket 一seemed menacingly close. After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds she disappeared into a cross street.”(294)

Both quotes above clearly show that the men suffered the effects of racial stereotypes, although, one was to a lesser extent. This also shows based on an intellectual standpoint and how wealthy you are can have an effect on the way people think of you. A difference that the essay have is how each person lives. In the Staples essay the man was born in poverty and still lives in it. In the essay it says:

“As a boy, I saw countless tough guys locked away; I have since buried several too. They were babies, really 一 a teenage cousin, a brother of twenty-two, a childhood friend in his mid-twenties一 all gone down in episodes of bravado played out in the streets. I came to doubt the virtues of intimidation early on. I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow 一 timid, but a