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

nastiness” (Staples 652). These incidents show that civilian show an unequal amount of vigilance and fear against black men. They assume that all black men have the intentions of engaging in rape, theft, and murder. Staples, being a black man, experienced this unequal treatment on a daily basis. Because of his experience, Staples effectively uses ethos to make his argument credible and support his argument.
In Staples’ stories, he instills emotions to the reader using the language of fear. Specifically using diction as his main method of displaying it. Staples begins his essay using the phrase, “My first victim was a woman” (651). This displays the idea of prey and predator. It puts into the mind of the reader the emotion of fear and death. Not only does it display this emotion, Staples’ decision to include this powerful line as his grabber effectively hooks the reader into the essay. Staples continues the essay writing, “I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street… I swung onto the avenue behind her, there seemed to be a discreet inflammatory distance between us” (651). Staples used the phrases “swung” and “I came upon her” to again display the notion that the female was the prey, and that he was the predator. In this anecdote, Staples effectively use the emotions of the reader not just to argue for his statement, but also make the reader think critically about his essay.
In Staples’ paper, logic was used several times to prove his statement.

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

argument.
Staples did not have a history of criminal activity. Despite this, people avoided him and feared him. Those people assumed that he was a criminal, merely because of the color of his skin. This is the result of a close-minded society. A society that quickly groups people by one single trait, and then makes general assumptions about them. It is rational for humans to be judgemental, but these judgments must be based on logical, critical thinking. People must take their time and analyze the problem at hand. If society does this, the marginalization of ethnic groups, races, religions, nationalities, and many more categories of people will be minimized.