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More handpicked essays just for you.
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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 in how society is prejudice towards black people. I agree he had alter 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 believes 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 seemed les
First, Staples uses a self-blaming tone to help his purpose. The piece opens with “My first victim was a white woman, well dressed, probably in her early twenties” (1). He goes on to say that he had his hands in his pockets, and was giving a comfortable
Society also thinks of Staples as a threat and feels as though he should not have rights like the ones around him. Others also feel as though he is dangerous and think that he is capable of doing harmful acts. Staples mentions in the passage “After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds she disappeared into the cross street” (357). Staples figures there is not anything he can do to solve this issue and his conclusion was to change the way he acts around people so they are no longer afraid.This shows that society fears him and do not want anything to do with him. The ones around him try to get away from him as quick as possible that shows that they think of him as a threat and want to keep their distance. This helps readers understand the text by showing them that they fear him because they run away and keep their distance because they see him as a nuisance and someone to
Brent Staples was one of nine African American children born into the Staples family in Chester, Pennsylvania. He and his family were witnesses to Chester becoming victim to the slums after the city closed some of it’s major industries. As a former reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, he worked his way up a few positions to the assistant metropolitan editor of The New York Times Book Review. In 1994, he published his memoir, Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White. One of his most moving pieces is his essay on the stereotypical views of the average African American Male entitled, “Black Men and Public Space.” It was first published in Harper’s Magazine in 1986. This essay shows not only the average African American male’s thoughts while simply walking down the street at night, but he somewhat explains that he also understands what is going through the mind of the average white by passers as they are forced to cross each other’s paths in the dead of night.
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
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.
Throughout the years, the black community has been looked down upon as a community of criminals and a community of lesser educated and poor who have a lesser purpose in life. Journalist Brent Staples, the author of Black Men And Public Spaces, takes us into his own thoughts as a young black man growing up in Chester, Pennsylvania to becoming a journalist in New York City. He tells us his own challenges that he faces on a daily basis along with challenges that many black men his own age faced and the way he changed in order to minimize the tension between himself and the common white person. Growing up in the post-segregation era was a challenge for most blacks. Having the same rights and privileges as many white Americans, but still fighting for the sense of equality, was a brick wall that many blacks had to overcome.
He states that Black life still does not seem to matter in America to the point that at time it feels as if the mere existence of Blacks is ignored. He claims that blacks are still readily denied decent education, employment, and opportunities available to their white counterparts and they are harassed, criminalized, incarcerated, animalized and killed due to the color of their skin. There have been several recent incidents strengthening the fact that even in the year 2015, America is still plagued by the evil of racism, presumed racial superiority and
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.
Society is filled with prejudices often based on first impressions which are skewed by personal thoughts First impressions play a large role in how we view and judge people before we even know them. However, as people silently judge others most do not consider the impact it has on those who are judged. Both “Black Men and Public Spaces” by Brent Staples and “The Struggle” by Issa Rae exemplify the prejudices they experience as African-Americans and the misplaced expectations society places on them. The authors point of view greatly impacts the details and tone of the story. Through explicit details and clear tone, the author is able to portray their perspective and point of view.
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
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.
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.
Essay 1: WRITE A COHERENT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE USE OF BLACK ICONIC IMAGES (AND OTHER ETHNIC IMAGES) TO SELL PRODUCTS AS THE ECONOMY OF MASS CONSUMPTION EXPANDED IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO INCLUDE IMAGES IN YOUR PAPER! During the 19th and 20th century, America –mostly white collar, middle class Americans- saw a great increase in salaries and a huge rise in mass production which paved the way for the modern American consumerism which we know today. The advertising scene saw a dramatic boost during that period and tried to latch on to this growing pool of emerging consumers. Although only limited to print, advertising during this pivotal period showed panache and reflected American society and popular culture.