Analysis Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples

Staples talks about a black male journalist who, while writing a report about a murderer that was from a town in Illinois, was held at gun point by police authorities assuming he was the killer because of a call made by the public’s perception. Staples went through false assumptions daily. Likewise, the women "set their faces on neutral... [and] forg[ed] ahead as though bracing themselves against being tackled." (Staples 384) and the “thunking” of door locks as he crossed the streets didn't make that stereotype any less of a hurt. He came through to explain how "over the years he learned to smother the rage [he] felt so often [of] being taken for a criminal"; ultimately he had to mend his ways and initiates ways of being out looked from those labels. A strong argument for the false stereotypes of all black men being involved in criminal and sexual acts is displayed by Ulrich Boser in "The Black Man's Burden". Boser writes about how nine African American boys were falsely accused of raping two white females in March of 1931. Regardless of no signs of a rape taking place confirmed by doctors and the obviously poor work of the defending lawyer for the accused, the case continued and ended up sentencing the boys to jail. After they suffered years of torture, they were eventually released upon one of the

Staples exhibits a strong knowledge of pathos through his use of diction in his essay “Just Walk on By”. He uses diction to connect the overall feeling of fear and disappointment: the fear he sees in other people as a result of his presence, the disappointment in his reaction of witnessing this fear consistently. At the beginning of the essay, Staples uses

Staples starts the essay writing about how his skin color has a negative change on the public perspective. “Black Men in Public Spaces,” written in December 1986 by Brent Staples, tells about his life in Illinois as a frequent “night walker.” He starts

Through manipulation of language, Staples demonstrates his comprehension of the effect this discrimination had on innocent black males. Since he has had firsthand experience in this matter, Staples discerns his situation as an “unwieldy inheritance” with “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways.” Clearly, Staples feels as if he was cursed, for he was constantly treated like a “fearsome entity with whom pedestrians avoid making eye contact with.” This put him in an

In his essay, "Just Walk on By" Brent Staples explains how throughout his life, it is hard being a black man without having others discriminate against him because he is a tall, black man who works as a journalist in a predominantly white field. In Ta-Nehisi Coates book Between the World and Me Coates is addressing his son about the truth of being black in a society that is inherently races and the constructed stereotypes on them by those in power. Both Coates and Staples agree on the fact that the black body is being systematically oppressed by the powers of this society. Being born black which is something Coates and Staples has no control over, causes them to be perceived as a negative stereotype of black people. This is a world where the black body has been oppressed and damaged throughout history, but yet maintain a fearful presence implied by Staples piece. In Brent staples “Just Walking by”, a black male’s body is capable of altering public space because the stereotypical projection of their race, causing others to do irrational things damaging he black body.

Staples explained what he went through when he was in Chicago, New York, and Pennsylvania. He tells us a story about why people looked at him in a different way and how they acted towards him because of his skin color. Staple’s voice showed strong emotions of frustration and anger in his story. His tone is very serious and calm. In his essay “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space” He uses diction, figures of speech, and syntax. He wants everyone that is reading to feel and try to get the reader to see what he went through and how bad it was to get around town.

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 into 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.

The message that Brent Staples is trying to convey to the audience in his essay Just Walk On By, is that as a society we have positive and negative preconceived thoughts of other people who are of either the same or different race and gender. For Staples, this means that as a tall black man he has to deal with being seen as deadly and threatening to people who don’t know him. These people let their fear of biased opinions of black men think that all tall, black, and athletic men are going to attack them. Brent uses his stories of people’s fear and judgement of him, to allow the reader to both understand what the people were feeling and how he felt being judged.

Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Space” is a look at how people perceive black people in the 1960s. Staples explains how people would treat him on a day to day basis. Even when he was a child he would be looked at differently because of his color. He quickly establishes ethos, logos and pathos credibility tough the many examples. This article shows the injustices done to him while living in New York. Brent Staples Black Men and Public Space uses pathos, ethos, and logos effectively throughout the essay.

To engage a large audience, Staples appeals to readers with his use to two different points of views throughout the essay: societal views and black views. Staples tries to connect with the readers by giving examples of unconscious thoughts that run through the minds of most people when in the same situation as the “white women.” In his opening sentence, Staples calls the women a “victim.” In her own eyes, she herself was “victim” due to the influence of generalized stereotypes presented in our culture. She becomes quick to judge based on Staples appearance: his skin tone. Because of his color, his every action becomes nothing but threats and anxiety on the women. “She casted a back worried glance. To her, the youngish black- broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a

Brent Staples is an author and editorial writer for the New York Times. His writing is mostly on political issues, cultural issues and controversies including races. In one of his essay written in 1986 which was published in Ms. Magazine “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples explains about his personal experience being black in an American society. Author wants his reader to understand that we are living in a culture with is constantly becoming violent and dangerous. Staples in his essay is gathering sympathy from his audience. He explains his thesis throughout the essay describing different incidents which took place in his life. Staples wants his audience to know how racial stereotypes has affected him as well as many other peoples like him and forced him to change so that he is not misunderstood by people and can prove himself fearless for others.

In Brent Staples’ essay, “Just Walk on By” the author describes his experiences, feelings, and reactions towards the discrimination he has faced throughout his life as a black man. Staples describes several different personal experiences of when he felt that he had been judged or discriminated against by other people based on the color of his skin and how that contributed to his overall appearance. Staples has continuously been perceived as a danger or criminal simply because of his skin color, leading him to have to deal with many uncomfortable situations. The author has even gone so far as to take precautions when he is on the street just so that he will not be

Author and editorial writer for the New York Times, Brent Staples, skillfully uses both his educational and racial background to exemplify and reflect on the harrowing times black men faced during the mid-1900’s. Growing up the oldest of 9 in 1951, he pushed himself through primary schooling and against the predications of most, was accepted into college where he earned his B.A, and eventually, a coveted Ph.D. His anthology of literary works focus on politics and cultural issues and popularly include, Parallel Time: Growing up in Black and White, which won the Anisfield Wolf Book Award, An American Love Story, and the piece in mention, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space.

In Brent Staples’ life, he has had many life experiences dealing with racism and has experienced racism first hand. Relaying these personal experiences is what he chose to write about in his essay. A life experience that Brent Staples shared is, “My first victim was a woman - white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties. I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street in Hyde Park, a relatively affluent neighbourhood in an otherwise mean, impoverished section of Chicago…. She cast back a worried glance. To her, the youngish black man – a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into he pockets of a bulky military jacket-seemed menacingly close. After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds she disappeared into a cross street.” (Staples

Similar to Dumas’ struggle in America as an Iranian, Brent Staples’ “Black Men and Public Space” details the struggle of being a black man in America. There are countless stereotypes implanted in the minds of Americans of the typical black person, aggressive, dishonest, ruthless, and overall ill intentioned. The first encounter with this racist outlook on blacks Staples had was in a wealthier area of downbeat Chicago, who began to appear worrisome and soon after proceeded to run from the author, who had done nothing intentionally to provoke fear in her. I agree that women should always place their safety as their first priority and should remove themselves from any situation in which they find themselves uncomfortable or at risk, but if blacks and whites can’t manage to walk the same streets without one race thinking the other is going to attack at any given moment due to the misconceptions floating around in their heads, then America really isn’t a land of diversity. It then becomes a land of hierarchy. As he says, Staples is too scared to even wield a knife at a chicken, let alone wield a knife at another human being, but by the color of his skin and appearance, one would never know this. Being perceived as dangerous, he writes, is a hazard in itself, and could easily land him in the back of a police car