Brent Staples Irresponsiveness

Humans will always be judgemental. It is human nature to avoid a dangerous situation before it goes downhill. However, these judgments may not be fully rational. Examples of this are when people categorize people by the color of their skin, socioeconomic standings, or by their religion. In Brent Staples’ “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, he discusses incidents where he has been judged to be an ominous black man. Brent Staples uses a mixture of pathos, logos, and ethos to support the argument that civilians often assume that black men have malevolent intentions to perform criminal activities. As a black man himself, Staples describes in anecdotes about his encounters with prejudice in America. When Staples finally ventured into the adult world, he became “familiar with the language of fear”(652). He witnessed this language on a daily basis. For example, Staples recalled that as he walked by cars, he heard a “hammering down [of] the door locks” (652). He then experienced “unpleasantries with policemen, doormen, bouncers, cab drivers, and other who business it is to screen out troublesome individuals before there is any

Staples provides the argument that “young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of [street] violence”(653). This was a simple fact that he used to basically confirm that black men are viewed more often as criminals and thugs. However, he does say that he understands why people, especially women, fear the dangers of violence. Staples said, “that the danger [women] perceive is not a hallucination. Women are particularly vulnerable to street violence” (653). Using logic, Staples is able to provide the other side of the argument. He states a reason why black men are overly represented as criminals. His ability to represent the other side of the argument convinces the readers that he is credible and able to use logic to back his