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In Brent Staples’ "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space," Staples describes the issues, stereotypes, and criticisms he faces being a black man in public surroundings. Staples initiates his perspective by introducing the audience in to thinking he is committing a crime, but eventually reveals how the actions taken towards him are because of the fear linked to his labelled stereotypes of being rapists, gangsters and muggers. Staples continues to unfold the audience from a 20 year old experience and sheds light onto how regardless of proving his survival compared to the other stereotypical blacks with his education levels and work ethics being in the modern era, he is still in the same plight. Although Staples relates such burdens through his personal experiences rather than directly revealing the psychological impacts such actions have upon African Americans with research, he effectively uses emotion to explain the social effects and challenges they have faced to avoid causing a ruckus with the “white American” world while keeping his reference up to date and accordingly to his history. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... that he was a grad student to familiarize them with his education levels; he shares his job position of being a writer, and at the same time openly reveals the emotions people feel with a black man's presences around them. Works Cited Boser, Ulrich. "The Black Man's Burden." U.S. News & World Report 133.8 (2002): 50. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Green, Makiah. “I’m a Scholar, Not a Criminal: The Plight of Black Students at USC.” Makiah-isms: A Vocal Vessel. N.p. 4 May. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. Myers, David G. “Chapter 14: Social Psychology.” Psychology. 10th ed. New York, NY US: Worth Publishers, 2013. 552-602. Print. Staples, Brent. “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space.” 50 Essays. Ed. Samuel Cohen. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 383-386. Print. “Trayvon Martin 911 Call.” The Young Turks. YouTube. 19 Mar. 2012. Web. Nov 16. 2013.
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
In the essay “Just Walk on by: Black Men and Public Space” Brent Staples shares his personal experiences as a young black male in the late 1900’s. He feels as if it is immensely hard to be accepted by everyone around him. Society assumes Staples to be a violent person and have a negative connotation about him because of the way he carries himself. Staples concludes that he would have to conform to the norms of society in order to feel accepted and not as an outsider due to his race. In order to feel accepted he changed certain characteristics like, the way he dressed, being calm when he was being pulled over by the police, and moving about with care and ease. These changes assured that he would no longer be looked at as a criminal. This essay is expressed with a lot of emotion and although it has much anger, a vibe of calmness is set throughout. Brent Staples does a phenomenal job opening the eyes of the outsider and reader by unmasking a racist and judgmental society through his word choice, literary devices, experiences, and emotions.
Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.
...nly seen in everyday television. Common beliefs of black families being more aggressive, having lesser moral values, and living less socially acceptable and lawful lives can be clearly seen through the actions of the white characters, and the thoughts that Chris expresses throughout the episode. The show uses satire to exaggerate black stereotypes to the point where it means the opposite of the comedic nature of which it was presented. The treatment and visualization of the lives of the black characters in the episode, through comedy and exaggeration, clearly shows the real-life problem of black stereotyping that is still all too present in American life. Chris’ everyday life as a black student in a white school and struggle to “fit in” is a struggle that non-white students have faced and are still facing today.
Throughout history, as far back as one could remember, African- American men have been racially profiled and stereotyped by various individuals. It has been noted that simply because of their skin color, individuals within society begin to seem frightened when in their presence.In Black Men and Public Space, Brent Staples goes into elaborate detail regarding the stereotypical treatment he began to receive as a young man attending University of Chicago. He begins to explain incidents that took place numerous times in his life and assists the reader is seeing this hatred from his point of view. Staples further emphasizes the social injustices of people’s perception of African-American men to the audience that may have not necessarily experienced
In the two essays, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” by Brent Staples and “I’m Not Racist But…” by Neil Bissoondath, there are both differences and similarities. The two authors differ in their opinion on the causes of racism and life experiences involving racism, but are similar in regards to the use of stereotypes in the world
According to West, “the attitudes of white scholars in the academy are quite different than those in the past” (West pg. 303). In the dilemma of the black intellectual Afro-American intellectual often known better as “black’s” have a stressful time in being acceptance in whites universities and find themselves in one of the black educational institutions for potential black intellectuals. Many black’s begin their intellectual career with hopes of self worth and self confidence in a way that is in alignment with certain values. Under the effects of their own emotional pain however, some black’s become removed from those values, removed from the purpose behind their intellectual. Black’s can feel like a ship in stormy seas, floundering with nothing solid to anchor to. When black’s make demands, use criticism or labeling to be taken seriously as potential scholars and intellectuals in our universities and colleges to vulgar perceptions fueled by
Fueled by fear and ignorance, racism has corrupted the hearts of mankind throughout history. In the mid-1970’s, Brent Staples discovered such prejudice toward black men for merely being present in public. Staples wrote an essay describing how he could not even walk down the street normally, people, especially women, would stray away from him out of terror. Staples demonstrates his understanding of this fearful discrimination through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language.
Staples, Brent. "Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space." MS Magazine
The audience understands how difficult it must be to be carrying on with your day, minding your own business and suddenly be seen as a mugger. As an individual who could possibly hurt another soul. He was not disappointed in himself, nor the woman, but rather society and its incorrect assumptions of black men. Making the audience feel concern toward him, the audience considers his perspective on the issue. “Yet these truths are no solace against the kind of alienation that comes of being ever the suspect.” Women constantly being victims is a truth, women being seen as weak are the reason they are normally attacked; on the other hand, what is not true and overrepresented is the violence that come with black men. Even the knowledge that women are constantly easy preys, does not comfort Staples; there is no comfort because black men are also victims, victims of being wrongly accused for acts that few committed. When he encountered a woman on the street he demonstrated her
In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).
Racism still exists today in this day and age. African American men are particularly stereotyped to be drug dealers, criminals, and gangsters. People have there on opinion about black men, if someone is sitting in their car, and a black man walks by they’re going to lock their door, because they’re scared there going to get robed. The stereotypes about African American men are not true. There are educated African American men just like any other race. Two articles “Black Men in Public Space” and “Right Place, Wrong Face” deal with the issue of two educated African American men that get treated differently, because of the color of their skin. The articles are focused on times when both
The author of Black Men and Public Space, Brent Staples, is an African American man who has a PhD in psychology from the University of Chicago and he is a member of the New York Times editorial board. Staples published an article that described several personal experiences in which he felt that the people around him were afraid of his presence. Staples’ purpose is to bring to light the prejudice that exists in everyday life for African Americans. In Black Men and Public Space, Staples appeals to pathos by using imagery and strong diction, and he uses a somber yet sarcastic tone to portray his message.
In the short essay, “Black Men in Public Space” written by Brent Staples, discusses his own experiences on how he is stereotyped because he is an African American and looks intimidated in “public places” (Staples 225). Staples, an intelligent man that is a graduate student at University of Chicago. Due to his skin complexity, he is not treated fairly and always being discriminated against. On one of his usual nightly walks he encountered a white woman. She took a couple glances at him and soon began to walk faster and avoided him that night. He decided to change his appearance so others would not be frightened by his skin color. He changed the way he looked and walked. Staples dressed sophisticated to look more professional so no one would expect him to be a mugger. Whistling classical music was referred to the “cowbell that hikers wear when they know they are in bear country”(Staples 226). The cowbell is used to protect hikers from bears. But in Staples case, it was to not be stereotyped and show that he is harmless. The general purpose of Staples essay was to inform the readers that stereotypes could affect African Americans and any other races.
The discrimination of white people to black people still dawdles even after the blacks took their freedom. Instead of having their own identity they are victims of discrimination and are stereotyped undesirably. Staples opens his essay with a story of him walking an appropriate distance behind a young white female that when she noticed him, she involuntarily picked up her speed appearing as if she was “the quarry of a mugger, a rapist, or worse” (Staples 110). Because of this, blacks constantly have this “precaution” they have to take when in public in order to make them less threatening. Brent Staples speaks about this notion when he takes precaution of the way he enters a building or his body language when he walks around at night even his response when pulled over by police (Staples 112). I do believe that these precautions become helpful because white American’s, no matter what, will always have a presumed judgment or schema in their minds about black people. The first thing that is assumed with a black person is negative or that they are up to no good. When Staples will be “ente...