Black Men And Public Space Analysis

In “Black Men and Public Spaces”, Brent Staples is in his early twenties and is faced with the menacing crime of being a black man in the 1970’s. As Staples likes to walk the streets at night due to his insomnia, every stranger that comes close enough to realize that he’s a tall black man lets their fear take control of them as they avoid him to the point of fleeing. To the eyes of people (mainly women) at night, he was no different from any other thug or criminal who prowls the street. Having moved to New York, and growing accustomed to being perceived as a threat, Staples learned to properly give people their space to intimidate them less as he walks the streets. Despite being a journalist, he has even had security called in on him at a

Staple’s “Black Men in Public Spaces” and Rae’s “The Struggle” address misperceptions with ethnicity. Staples and Rae share similar circumstances making it easy to understand each viewpoint. Culture settings and gender define the authors’ differences. Both essays give the readers different perceptions of African Americans’ lives.

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

Cofer’s autobiographical essay delves into the harassment of women in society, and how men perceive race as an invitation. She uses examples of times where she was publicly humiliated when white men would break out into song, attempting to be funny by using racist remarks. Staples’s essay is similar in that it describes society’s vision of black men, but it is not about harassment. Rather, he uses instances where he felt embarrassed by the way society viewed him, such as being mistaken for a rapist in the opening paragraph.

Over the years, our generations’ stereotypical views over the issue on young black males being viewed as dangerous has grown significantly. There are different reasons why these stereotypes occur in our society. People feel on edge when running into them in dark passageways, whenever it’s late at night. Also, while they’re sitting at red lights and notice someone walking towards their cars, they instantly initiate down the door locks. People think stereotyping black men this way keeps them safer because they assume the worst. However; other people disagree with instantly judging who they see around them, it hurts more people as well as themselves by viewing black men this way. Brent Staples, the author of “Black Men and Public Spaces,” claims that he’s considered a stereotypical black criminal. In his essay, Staples succeeds because he successfully appeals to people’s emotions, is an expert on human behavior, creates common ground and offers a logical solution.

Stereotypes are dangerous weapons in our society. “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” is a short essay in which the award winning poet and professor of English, Judith Ortiz Cofer, wishes to inform and persuade the audience that labels and stereotypes can be humiliating and hurtful. The author targets the general public, anyone that doesn’t understand that putting someone in a box because of a stereotype is wrong. Cofer starts out the essay by telling the reader a story with a drunk man who re-enacted “Maria” from the West Side Story, and how angry that made her feel. She continues by explaining how she grew up in the United States being a Puerto Rican girl trying to fit in, but always being labeled as an island girl. Cofer carries on by explaining why Latin people get dressed and act a certain way. Then she recalls some more stereotypical incidents.

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.

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

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.

As a target of racism and prejudice, Brent Staple wrote Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space. Throughout this essay he explains his personal experience in public spaces and the stereotypes he has faced. Since society has deeply embedded their views of “blacks,” just their presence induces fear and causes unnecessary feelings and emotions to arise. Staples presents no anger in his decision to alter his actions and his appearance to ease those around him despite his skin tone. Societal views on blacks are based on reputations as a whole and not on each individual person, Staples presents this through the uses of point of view, ethos, and pathos.

For example, in an essay written by Brent Staples Called Black Men and Public Space, Staples writes about how people viewed him as a black man in America. Staples states, “often being taken for a criminal”. (Staples 11) Explaining how typical strangers viewed him as he took walks around New York. He was feared and thought of as a criminal because of the color of his skin.

“Black Men in Public Spaces” and “Parallel Time” show how two black men have been stereotyped. Brent Staples on “Black Men in public spaces” recited that “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. As I swung onto the avenue behind her, there seemed to district, uninflammatory[aa1] between us. Not so. She cast back a worried glance. To her, the youngish black man- aboard six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pocket of bulky military jacket- seemed menacingly close. After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within second she disappeared into cross street” (132). The author clarified that the woman misjudged the black man, because he was black, and the way he looked like. The same happened with the main character of “Parallel Time”, while he was walking home. The author mentioned that “At night,

In the piece “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Spaces”, Brent Staples explores the social issues of racial prejudice and stereotypes. As an African American man, he claims to “alter public spaces in ugly ways,” as he is seen as a suspect and danger by individuals who merely make assumptions based on the color of his skin. He recounts his experience of walking down a desolate street in a poverty-stricken area of Chicago called Hyde Park. A white twenty-year old woman, who was walking on the same avenue, cast back a few worried glances, picked up her pace, and was “soon running in earnest”. Although Staples was simply an innocent bystander “stalking sleep, not defenseless wayfarers”, it is vital to remember the time period we are living in.

Brent Staples uses imagery to convey the message of the detrimental effects of stereotypes that exist within a society upon all of the members of that society. The imagery that Staples uses in his essay Black Men and Public Space allows the reader to sympathize with the main character who has been stereotyped by the society he lives in as a criminal due to his race, and also with other individuals who have been stereotyped in any society, to a much greater extent. Staples uses imagery to give the reader a visual and psychological appearance of the narrator, show the emotional changes caused by stereotyping and describe relatable examples to the reader to allow the reader to contemplate on the message of his essay.

What Extremes People Go Through to Fit in With Society. This world is full of many wonderful things. Beautiful sights and pleasant experiences. The sad thing however, is most people don’t get to experience it to the full extent. What I mean by this, is that some people based on where they are placed within society determines their quality of life and experiences.