12-8-15 Brent Staples Essay In the busy streets of New York City, an Arab approaches a mother. His long beard, bellowing hair, and brawny presence made the woman feel a sense of powerlessness, of vulnerability, of intimidation, of disturbance. Likewise, around the corner of an old cafe in Mexico City, an older child encounters an old Indian woman. A sudden stench filled the air, and sweat enveloped the woman like a cloud. Her clothes were ripped, her hands were cracked, her body was undernourished but luckily her Saree covered most of it. The child sees her, walks faster, and hopes to lose sight of her as quickly as possible. What makes the mother and the child uncomfortable and uneasy are the races of the man and woman and the stereotypes …show more content…
In Brent Staples’ essay, "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Spaces," and throughout society, races play a dominant role in perceiving a man or a woman as a menace in a public space. This type of racial segregation has been ubiquitous throughout history. In the 1850s, African Americans were frequently deprived of the basic necessities of life. In the 1940s, Hitler, who believed that his Aryan race was superior, executed a genocide that killed six million innocent Jews. Even today African Americans, like mentioned in “Black Men and Public Spaces,” often find themselves victims of discrimination and members of a stereotype by falsified beliefs. Although discrimination is not as dominant as before, it is something that will forever be omnipresent. Race plays a dominant role in the way we perceive others as safe or dangerous. For example, Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Arab who built a clock simply to impress his math teacher, was arrested because …show more content…
Wether it is racial slurs, derogatory remarks about a person's race or color, teasing, or offhand comments, it can really affect the physiological well-being of a person. Although the judgment of others can come very naturally to some people through the rife use stereotypes in our society, it is important to begin to stop making quick conclusions over a person. Stereotypes tell us little about a person’s actual morals and values. In fact, they urge us to hate a certain group for minimal reasons. It springs up from ignorance- from the lack knowledge, evidence, and narrow-mindedness of a person. It favors color and looks over talent. It is used to debase people and divides them by their visible difference, not for whats inside. Although it is difficult and almost impossible to eliminate stereotypes, we should begin to stop using them. Race doesn’t define who we
In American history, there are centuries upon centuries of black people being deemed less than or not worthy of. Never in were black people equal, even in the sense of humanity. White people declared black people as three-fifths of a human, so to the “superior race”, because one has darker skin that automatically takes away 40% of their humanity. Now, in white history they repeatedly dominant over other nonwhite groups and especially the women of those groups because they feel anything that isn’t white is inferior.
In his essay “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples discusses his personal experiences of being an African American male, while coming to the realization of the harsh realities of the stereotypes it carries. Through his anger and frustration, he learned to alter himself in public spaces by making others around him feel less threatened. Not always would it work, such as the occasional double glances he’d get from the person in front of him or a click when walking past someone in their car. Seeing first-hand the effects of being an African American male made me think twice about how they had to present themselves in public due to the decade long stereotypes that the color of someone’s skin can carry. Seeing this happen through my eyes made
In Brent Staples “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” (Published Version in Ms. Magazine in 1986):
In Brent Staples’ narrative, he asserts the fact that society has stereotypical and discriminatory views towards black males, which has caused him to experience distasteful encounters leading him to behave in a very careful and docile manner around others in public spaces. Personally I agree with Brent Staples, the misjudgment and stereotypes that are enforced on certain races has caused there to be an unnecessary disruption and uneasiness in the daily life and activities of such people. I have also found myself in situations that are similar to Brent Staples’ experiences, all of which were caused by the stigma surrounding immigrants and people of color. Author Brent Staples begins the essay by addressing an experience he had when he was younger,
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.
I am choosing to write about “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Spaces by Brent Staples”. His story is one I can feel sympathy for and is relatable to many people. The prejudice black people face is one that not many others do not have to deal with. That same prejudice makes their lives harder to live, and they shouldn’t have to change the way they live to make those around them feel safer. We are all human we should not fear those who look
Many are unaware of the atrocities committed against African Americans after Hurricane Katrina. America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but those that lived in New Orleans were abandoned to die, making the scene look like a third world country. Once they were finally evacuated, families were separated, some were jailed, and others were put in highly guarded housing. Some saw the cruelty, birthing the idea behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Although founded in 2013, the Black Lives Matter activist movement still has momentum. One of the campaign’s focuses is police brutality and, specifically, the deaths it has caused in the African American population. Due to an unfair association with black people and crime, they become
Ghettos, low-riders, hip-hop, rap, drugs and crime, it has got to be a Black man right? Saggy pants, unintelligible language, lazy, and the lists continue to both stereotype and describe Blacks. Do Black Americans perpetuate their own discrimination? Are Black Americans creating their own low status in society? Black people around the world have been hypnotized into believing all their failures in life are due to discrimination, but are they correct? Blacks are often their own worst enemies, often the cause of their own disasters, and many don’t see that until it’s too late, if ever. Discrimination and prejudice are imposed upon Blacks, often because the culture they live in is not “acceptable” to the dominant society. On the other hand, an understandable reason for Blacks actions is often due to unattainable opportunities towards the American Dream.
In “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” by Brent Staples has a different perspective of the people who is discriminated against by their appearance. This short story gives the audience an overview of a young African American male who is categorized as a criminal. Although, Staples was discriminated against he sees the perspectives of White Americans’, and tries to go out of his way to ease their concerns. Staples created this short story to give people an outlook of his life with the color of his skin. Staples accomplishes this through figures of speech such as Point of View, Hyperbole, and Idioms.
Staples describes his experiences in Chicago of being racially profiled, for example: people locking car doors as he walked by, people crossing to the other side of the street after seeing him, or police officers assuming him to be a threat. Then, Staples moved to Brooklyn and experienced similar responses, seen as “a fearsome entity with whom pedestrians avoid making eye contact” (136).
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
In Brent Staples article Black Men in Public Spaces, he recalled on times that he was perceived as a mugger, rapist, or burglar on the streets because of his appearance. He began by stating that his first “victim” was a white it wealthy woman in Chicago. After she avoided him, he realized that she was frightened by his presence-- large, black and intimidating. Other incidents, which include him being mistaken for a burglar, instilled anxiety to him. He quickly began to try and change his appearance and how others perceived him by whistling while walking down the streets. Staples used these experiences to show how racial stereotypes have reluctantly changed his behavior in order to be perceived by others in a different way.
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.
“As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2016, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways. Though racism may be less blatant now in many cases, its existence is undeniable.”- Al Sharpton. Discrimination has been around for many generations, but now in modern days, discrimination has played a huge role in our society. Although discrimination isn't as bad as it was in 1964 where it was the time of segregation, discrimination still uses some violence around the world. For example the movement “blacklivesmatter” is a group that is protecting justices and freedom for black people. Discrimination is something that people should not spread because
Brent Staples’ “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” is about how racial profiling has affected his life and made him think of himself as a perilous person. He supports this argument by allowing the readers to see things from his point of view during the times when he was treated like an outsider because of the color of his skin, followed by sharing how the situation made him feel confused and foreign. Staples’ wrote this essay in order to make readers become aware of how often racial profiling actually happens among men. His intended audience is primarily people of color because that is what his essay focuses on, but the intended audience is also those who are not of color because the author is trying to convince them about the