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The effect of racism
How can stereotypes affect individuals
The effect of racism
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Opposites Relate As a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Brent Staples never realized before the strong stereotype against black men has he had the one late night walk. When on a late night walk, Staples, a young black man realized the stereotype that most Americans have of the young black male. As a young white woman was walking that night in front of him and caught a glimpse of Staples approaching her. She became uncomfortable in the situation and responded by running away from Staples. Not until this incident did Staples realize the negative impact of the young black male on other people, often resulting in being intimidated. He was not seen as a young bright adult with a prominent future, rather he was seen as a mugger, or worse yet a rapist. He did not ask to be seen as a misconception of what others may believe him to be. People were often quick to judge him based solely on the color of his skin and nothing else. He was a twenty-two year old black male that stood over six feet with a broad frame. Brent had experienced many instances where people would see him as a person he is not. For example, one time he walked into a jewelry store and instantly the cashier assumed he was about to rob the store. She replied to her false premonition by going to the back of the store and coming out with a Doberman Pincher to chase him away. It is instances like this that can scar an individual and make him doubt oneself, but Brent did not and he found that he could fix the situation. His solution to the problem was whistling. He found that when he would whistle people saw him as less threatening, even thought most low-lifes did not know Beethoven or Mozart. Still, he found ways to deal with his problems and so can everyone else who is judged only on their physical appearance. Similarly to Brent, I have been judged and looked upon differently for a physical condition that I have no control over. Like Staples, throughout my whole life I was judged primarily based on how I looked. I have had to endure a physical handicap my whole life. I have what is called Macular Degeneration, and what that is a breaking down of the retina. This has caused me to loose my vision for distance and closer visual needs.
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.
For instance, Staples faces many stereotypes. He is a journalist who is consistently judged due to his appearance. In paragraph 1, “As I swung onto the avenue behind her, there seemed to be a discreet, uninflammatory distance between us.” Staples creates an image by describing himself as a monster but his description is based on how the outside world see him. He considers his presence a cause for altering others emotion. According to Stereotypes by Rachel E, “In the United States, some of the longest-held and potentially most detrimental stereotypes are those about African Americans.” This relates to Staples crucial journey to greatness. Staples was perceived as a mugger, a murderer, and a rapist because of his outside image and how others viewed
Fueled by fear and ignorance, racism has corrupted the hearts of mankind throughout history. In the mid-1970’s, Brent Staples discovered such prejudice toward black men for merely being present in public. Staples wrote an essay describing how he could not even walk down the street normally, people, especially women, would stray away from him out of terror. Staples demonstrates his understanding of this fearful discrimination through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language.
Throughout history, as far back as one could remember, African- American men have been racially profiled and stereotyped by various individuals. It has been noted that simply because of their skin color, individuals within society begin to seem frightened when in their presence.In Black Men and Public Space, Brent Staples goes into elaborate detail regarding the stereotypical treatment he began to receive as a young man attending University of Chicago. He begins to explain incidents that took place numerous times in his life and assists the reader is seeing this hatred from his point of view. Staples further emphasizes the social injustices of people’s perception of African-American men to the audience that may have not necessarily experienced
Brent Staples created a perfectly structured essay that clearly unmasked a racist and judgmental society. As explained he used methods such as word choice, literary devices, many experiences of his past and pure emotion in order to place the reader in his shoes. Each method supported the main idea in, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, very strongly. It enhanced the way a reader should feel about prejudicial thoughts and not only did he descriptively share his story but made it so that the reader could feel a personal connection to this phenomenon. Some people would not understand or try to understand how it truly is to be judged as a black male, but Brent Staples portrays great points throughout his personal experiences.
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.
In Brent Staples essay, Black Men, and Public Space the author talks about the ways he was discriminated against because of his race. In a few incidents when walking down the street many women thought because Staples was African American he must be a rapist mugger, etc. In addition, another
Even so, his persona shines through with his point of view and recollection of past events of racial profiling he experienced. For example, he mentions that he was suffering from insomnia and, thus, would walk the streets at night, and when he faces the contempt of fellow pedestrians, he points out that he “was stalking sleep, not defenseless wayfarers” (Staples 542). With this in mind, it shows the reader that he is trying to defend himself against all the derision that society throws his way. Likewise, Staples’ persona can be seen as desperate, yet it can also be seen as angry and frustrated. As seen from his point of view, Staples indicates his helplessness and frustration in the way that he has no control over how the people of society view him; all he can do is try to act and coax people into believing he means no harm- the truth. Unfortunately, society still had a strong grip on stereotypes and judged and presumed the worst of him. In this case, by using his point of view, he gives the audience his insight of the cruel position he is in which gives him the credibility to show how racial profiling dominates in society against African Americans like himself. In the same fashion, Staples also uses anecdotes to show his difference between him and the stereotypical portrayal of an African American that society gives. One
Think about a time when you made a decision without carefully thinking. What factors motivate us to make such decision? We often make quick and effortless decisions based on our stereotype of other people. The stereotypes we make are simply due to the difference between their nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age or ability, and ours. Racial stereotype, as one of the most commonly seen stereotype in our life, has an efficient job on how people form judgments of other people and then make decision through three situations.
He creates this tone to convey his purpose to the reader which is that prejudice is still an ongoing problem in American society, and that it will never be a thing of the past. Staples gives many personal anecdotes that are very somber; the readers are affected by this because they can emphasize and feel the prejudice that the victim, Brent Staples, faces. Although Staples is never delighted with the positions he is in, he never shows his resentment. In one part of the article, Staples said, “It is not altogether clear to me how I reached the ripe old age of twenty-two without being conscious of the lethality nighttime pedestrians attributed to me.” (Staples, 2). Staples attributes that he knows many people in American society automatically assume that he is a threat to “their” society because of
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.
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
People being generalized based on limited and inaccurate information by sources as television, cartoons or even comic books (Tripod). This is a definition that seems to go against many public standards. The above words are the exact definition of stereotypes. Stereotypes as understood from the definition, goes mostly hand in hand with media -- only not the regular meaning of the innocent media we know. Media propaganda is the other form of media that is rather described as media manipulation. In this paper, the following will be discussed: first, how stereotypes of ethnic groups function in propaganda, why does it function so well, and finally, the consequences of these stereotypes on the life of Egyptians in particular in society. A fair examination will be conducted on this example of stereotypes through clarification examples and research results from researches conducted from reliable sources. The real association between Egyptians’ stereotypes and propaganda discussed in this paper shall magnify the association of stereotypes and propaganda in general.
Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.
A few years ago I noticed I had something unusual which made me dissimilar to most people, in fact everybody. At this time it was depressing with everybody looking at you just staring, no considerations for your feelings. What got up my back was small minded people laughing at me or pointing at me as if I was an outcast of society.