More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of racial discrimination in society
The effect of prejudice on individual, society, education
Stereotype positive and negative effects
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“Black Men and Public Space” vs. “Right Place, Wrong Face” 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 …show more content…
In “Black Men in Public Spaces” the author talks about multiply situation where he was treated different for being an African American. Staples said,” I entered a jewelry store on the city’s affluent near North side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash” (161.) Then there is “Right Place, Wrong Face, which is focused on and African American man that is wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. White said, “I was searched, stripped of my backpack, put on my knees, handcuffed, and told to be quieted when I tried to ask questions” (229.) The two articles have many similarities. Both articles have two educated African America men who get treated different because of their race. Staples and White both have situations where they are being stereotyped by society because there black …show more content…
In “Black Men in Public Space” it seems that he is not angry about how people treat him, yet he is more aware of it. Staples feels like he knows people are not judging him as a person, but by the color of his skin and the stereotypes that there are about black men. The article says “I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composer. Even Steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax, and occasionally they join in the tune” (Staples 162.) Meaning Staple sings classical music, so people do not think he is a mugger walking the streets at night. In “Right Place, Wrong Face” the tone is angry. White is angry and upset, for he is wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit. White says “ I sat in that cell crying silent tears of disappointment and injustice with the realization of how many innocent black men are convicted for no reason”(230.) White was not only angry about the situation, but he was also embarrassed. White says “Before I was finally let go, exhausted, humiliated, embarrassed, and still in shock”
During Forman’s case with “Brandon” he began to notice that the courts convicting so many black males were in fact not white, but black. “It wasn’t
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.
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.
Ethnic group is a settled mannerism for many people during their lives. Both Zora Neale Hurston, author of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me; and Brent Staples, author of “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” realize that their life will be influenced when they are black; however, they take it in pace and don’t reside on it. They grew up in different places which make their form differently; however, in the end, It does not matter to them as they both find ways to match the different sexes and still have productivity in their lives.. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, a quiet black town with only white passer-by from time-to-time, while Staples grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, surrounded by gang activity from the beginning. Both Hurston and Staples share similar and contrasting views about the effect of the color of their
Even though they are innocent, blacks still get arrested in the most part of cases. The difference between these two authors are how they portray the messages of racism where Rankine shows it through images and artwork while Smith shows it through deep and powerful poems. For example, Rankine shows an image of “stop-and-frisk” policy where it shows that cops still stopped and questioned blacks even though they are not doing anything wrong. The reason why the cops stopped them is because of their skin color and the cops think that blacks always do suspicious things. All these African Americans are always the victims of suspicious crimes as it shows in the images. In addition, Smith expresses his emotions through poems, such as A History of Violence in the Hood, Dear White America and Dinosaurs in the Hood. In “A History of Violence in the Hood,” Smith writes: “& the preview just keeps repeating over & over.” It shows that history of violence for these African Americans never stop and the cycle keeps continuing where they always get arrested and questioned. In the end, they are always seen as a dangerous person and these people do not commit justice and fair treatment because of how the society treats them. In “Dear White America, “ Smith states: “I
He writes, “black men have a firm place in New York mugging literature” (1). The literature in his time have key influence to encourage negative thoughts towards black men. Staples mentions an essay that was popularized at the time; the essay by Norman Podhoretz titled “My Negro Problem—and Ours” narrates the childhood memories of terror that he experienced while encountering men of color on specific streets. This piece of literature creates a false image and displays encounters with black men as a scene from a horror film. It inspires hate and generalizes the image of African-American men. Staples also mentions the essayist Edward Hoagland, who openly displays his prejudicial beliefs regarding black males. Hoagland states that when he encounters a black man he views him as “a mugger who is clearly screwing up his nerve to do more than just ask for money” (1). Due to Hoagland’s influence, he spreads more unnecessary hatred towards the image of this racial
Griffin feels it is necessary to understand the hardship of blacks in the United States of America. Through medications, bleaching and ultraviolet light, Griffin is able to temporarily change his skin color so that he can walk through the streets and understand the injustices faced by African Americans. Later on, the author moves farther south where he is faced with even more racism and begins to switch between white and black skin, understanding the different expressions given by society of both races. While white, Griffin finds that white people treat him with respect and black people fear him. But while black, Griffin is despised and neglected by whites and is welcomed warmly by blacks (Griffin, 1962).
In the fire hydrant scene, the black people got the rich man’s antique car wet. When driving by, the police stopped to cease the water flow. When the rich man complained about his car, the police told him that he better g333et back to his car before the black people stripped it clean. The police referred to all blacks as criminals, which implied that whites were better than blacks, supporting the idea of white superiority over black people. Here, the stereotypes about black people are applied to the whole race, and the black people need to fight the false stereotypes given to them by the white people. The remarks of the police reinforce the stereotypes that all black people are criminals. The white bystanders who hear the police will continue to believe these stereotypes because they heard people with authority reinforcing
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.
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
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 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 main point of this presentation by William Julius Wilson was to make people realize that Americans tend to draw less attention to structural explanations for inequality and focus on cultural aspects. Wilson states that the general consensus is that “people are poor or on welfare because of their own personal shortcomings,” but this is not entirely the case. He talk about how race affects urban inequality as well as how racial stereotypes affect how others often negatively perceive minorities such as black men (who wear casual attire). Wilson talks about how racial (racist) perceptions of black men can affect whether or not they are hired for jobs and other economic opportunities within their lifetime. He asserts that if such racist ideals
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).
THESIS: African Americans in the media have been portrayed as loud, uneducated, and angry, leaving me to receive cold and distant glances when I go anywhere in a public setting or ridiculed by my black peers when not doing so; my grammar, the way I dress, and how I conduct myself around white people made others view me as ‘the exemplary black person’.