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More handpicked essays just for you.
How race as a social construct affects a person’s life
Effects of racial discrimination on society
Effects of discrimination on african americans
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Response to Black Men and Public Space We still consider a black person as a bad individual in today’s society. In his essay, “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples describes why he had to alter his behavior in order for the public to feel safe around him. Staples uses different examples in order for the reader to comprehend as to why he needed to do this. Staples further gives us details how he is being discriminated throughout all his life. Moreover, Staples tells us his emotions and frustration at how societal is prejudice towards black people. I agree he had altered his behavior because of the way society was treating him and how he lived day by day the injustices of society. There are many reasons why I feel he needed to alter his behavior. As he explains, he first recognized how much …show more content…
While Staples understood that the principles and beliefs of society were changing, he felt disturbed that black men were still being judged and misjudged by their appearance alone. One example, was around when he was a journalist in Chicago and rushes back to the office in order to meet a deadline and he is mistaken for a burglar. The office manager gets alarmed and calls security in the attempt to get him out of the building. The next example, he gives is where he is waiting for a job interview and decides to enter a jewelry store. As he came in the owner excuse himself and quickly came back with a Doberman Pinscher in hand. It was clear the owner was scared as she stood her ground, not even noticing the questions he was asking. One of his colleagues was arrested while trying to cover a story of a killer that lived in Waukegan, Illinois and he was wrongly erroneous mistaken for the killer. Although, he considers himself lucky so far he is thankful he did not get the same fate one of his colleague had. It is because of this that Staples continues to alter his behavior in order to seem les
For instance, Staples faces many stereotypes. He is a journalist who is consistently judged due to his appearance. In paragraph 1, “As I swung onto the avenue behind her, there seemed to be a discreet, uninflammatory distance between us.” Staples creates an image by describing himself as a monster but his description is based on how the outside world see him. He considers his presence a cause for altering others emotion. According to Stereotypes by Rachel E, “In the United States, some of the longest-held and potentially most detrimental stereotypes are those about African Americans.” This relates to Staples crucial journey to greatness. Staples was perceived as a mugger, a murderer, and a rapist because of his outside image and how others viewed
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
The assumption that black people have lesser moral values and have a greater inclination towards violence is not new. According to Herman Gray, “Blackness was constructed along a continuum ranging from menace on one end to immortality on the other, with irresponsibility located somewhere in the middle.” (Gray) T...
He does so by giving personal accounts of this horrific discrimination and utilizing descriptive vocabulary that get the audience to notice a sense of knowledge within the author. He begins to discuss the judgment he faced by stating “I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with people crossing to the other side of the street rather than pass me” (Staples, 189) which allowed the audience to step into the Staples’ shoes and somewhat experience the treatment he endured on a daily basis due to his appearance. The author also justifies his credibility by giving further examples such as when he was racially profiled in a jewelry store to the point where a woman worker brought out a red Doberman pinscher. By implementing these appeals to ethos, Staples was able to effectively convince the audience that he was a credible witness regarding these unjustifiable acts by describing to the reader events that he himself experienced. He was able to put forth this example which not only various African-American males could relate to, but also one that he himself personally endured which assisted in further strengthening his argument and successfully pulling the audience towards his
In the book “Tally’s Corner: A Study of Negro Streetcorner Men” written by Elliot Liewbow, the author, Liewbow uses a certain methodology to study their subjects. This methodology is called participant observation. Elliot Liewbows purpose for this method was to investigate the theory of proletariat societal stereotypes about the African American race in Washington D.C in the 60’s. He observed the group of men for nearly 18 months straight.
In today’s society there are many stereotypes surrounding the black community, specifically young black males. Stereotypes are not always blatantly expressed; it tends to happen subconsciously. Being born as a black male puts a target on your back before you can even make an impact on the world. Majority of these negative stereotypes come from the media, which does not always portray black males in the best light. Around the country black males are stereotyped to be violent, mischievous, disrespectful, lazy and more. Black males are seen as a threat to people of different ethnicities whether it is in the business world, interactions with law enforcement or even being in the general public. The misperceptions of black males the make it extremely difficult for us to thrive and live in modern society. Ultimately, giving us an unfair advantage simply due to the color of our skin; something of which we have no control.
Through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language, Staples demonstrates his understanding of his presence threatening pedestrians. Discrimination is not uncommon, and, sadly, this distorted world will never be rid of it. However, one should still strive to get to know someone before making assumptions about them, as the old saying goes, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
In everyday things, blacks are thought of as, for the most part, people that start useless bloodshed. People that live in rundown neighborhoods and are outcasts. For some, this may be true. However, people of all different skins colors and races also live, and act, in these areas. Police are also thought of as murderers. Because of a few unjustified shootings, some people in the world believe that all police officers are murderers. Because of the actions of a couple people, a huge amount of people are affected. People like to look at the bad in people, instead of the good. Like Tom, they looked over who he was as a person and instead, looked at his skin color. People have always looked past the person behind the uniform. Behind the clothing. Behind the religions. Behind their gender. Behind their skin color. This isn’t only happening in the United States. All around the world, people are still fighting for equal rights for everyone. For women, religion and for all around freedom. These issues are not as strong as they were in the past. But they are ever as important and will always continue. No matter how the world changes, there will always be people in this world that would much rather look at a person’s skin color or uniform much rather than the person that is wearing that uniform or has that skin. In this world, the battle for equality isn't just a courthouse battle, but a world wide battle. As
Although black men have been and still are being ridiculed and proposed to be a mugger, rapist, drug dealer, or a subject of someone’s crime, it is not always true. All black men are not and should not be seen as a hazard to another life. Some men of color are trying to make it out, aside from being a statistic of being an uneducated man that gets through by selling drugs. Some men are trying to make it to the top of the food chain, rather than remaining at the bottom and never moving elsewhere. These men are those who are most offended by others who consider them to be hazardous or a threat to them.
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...
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
He creates this tone to convey his purpose to the reader which is that prejudice is still an ongoing problem in American society, and that it will never be a thing of the past. Staples gives many personal anecdotes that are very somber; the readers are affected by this because they can emphasize and feel the prejudice that the victim, Brent Staples, faces. Although Staples is never delighted with the positions he is in, he never shows his resentment. In one part of the article, Staples said, “It is not altogether clear to me how I reached the ripe old age of twenty-two without being conscious of the lethality nighttime pedestrians attributed to me.” (Staples, 2). Staples attributes that he knows many people in American society automatically assume that he is a threat to “their” society because of
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.
Staples was taken a gander at as a black man who needed to take or hurt somebody each time he was within the sight of a white person. Staples likewise clarified how as a young man he saw extreme folks going to prison and how he lost his sibling, high school cousin, and dear companion. He was practically expelled from an occupational building because the director had confused him with a thief. Following quite a while of being mixed up for a criminal, Staples discovered that on the off chance that he would avoid potential risk to make himself less undermining. He does that by changing his physical conduct.