Black Men and Public Space in America

While attending school John did not only get good grades, he played basketball. The people in the African American culture in the 1960’s believed that the only way for a black person to get into college was to play sports for “the white man.” With many African Americans having this mind set, it pushed John to excel on

Society, as viewed today, is not the same as it was at the end of the twentieth century, treatment of minorities was much different. Brent Staples was a writer at the time and choose to highlight this treatment in a piece titled Black Men and Public Space. Staples published this piece in Harper’s Magazine in 1986 which was an American magazine that covered politics, society, culture, and the environment. Even though the readers of the magazine were most likely aware of the culture surrounding African Americans it still was an effective piece. In Black Men and Public Space Brent Staples analysis the cultural identity of African Americans through the descriptions of personal experiences that he has had.

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

Furthermore, this essay gives a perspective on what a Black man goes through. Brent wanted to enlighten his readers about daily life as an African American man. This meant explaining his view of the public from his perspective. By bringing these issues to light, he

The black race has faced many hardships throughout American history. The harsh treatment is apparent through the brutal slavery era, the Civil Rights movement, or even now where sparks of racial separation emerge in urbanized areas of Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Black Americans must do something to defend their right as an equal American. “I Am Not Your Negro” argues that the black race will not thrive unless society stands up against the conventional racism that still appears in modern America. “The Other Wes Moore” argues an inspiring message that proves success is a product of one’s choices instead of one’s environment or expectations.

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

In his essay, “Black Men and Public Space” Brent Staples a journalist explains that unconscious prejudice and racism exists against black men in our society. Unfortunately, these preconceived notions alter the way people respond to black males, making black men feel alienated. As an African American male, Staples supports this theory, providing people with insight into his own personal experiences. Brent discusses his childhood growing up in Chester, Pennsylvania, a city ridden with gang violence watching friends and family go to prison or end up murdered. His first encounter with racial stereotyping was a decade ago when he turned the corner one evening, keeping a distinct distance from a white female because she was cautiously watching

A Broader Problem that plagues Black males are not totally the responsibility of the public schools, but are a responsibility of society as a whole (Delpit, 1995). We can say, however, that the public schools do play a major role in addressing the problems of Black male students. The educational experiences and the support services afforded Black male students could play an

Raspberry concludes the essay referring to blacks in the work force. He says, “many of the things about which blacks make this assumption are things that do not contribute to their career success-except for that handful…”(544). Raspberry explains in the essay, we have to show our kids how to make it in American mainstream, not just black subculture (544). Raspberry finishes by explaining, “we have to make our children understand that they are intelligent, competent people, capable of doing whatever…”(544). Work Cited Raspberry, William. “The Handicap of Definition.” Washington Post 1982. RPT. In The Macmillian Reader 5th ed. Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Linda McMeniman. Boston: Allen and Bacon, 1999. 542-544.

Though many white men fight with violence, all black men must fight back with acceptance and love, which poses significant physical threat to the black man. The nonviolent black man is brave enough to act on what he knows: a black man is no better or worse than a white man. By acting rationally and without violence, a person can authentically maintain his or her dignity by being respectful, courageous, and accepting. These qualities are especially admirable when they exist in all areas of a person’s life, even in the face of physical danger, violence, and fear. When a person chooses to act on what he or she knows is right, this person understands that “to act is to be committed,” but “to be committed is to be in danger” (9). A white American man takes no risk in claiming that an African American is inferior, especially since his fundamental reason for believing so, that the black

Thesis: Even with the creation of Black Studies as an academic discipline, the culture and influence of white dependency still seem to block people of color’s mental potential, and inherently their ability to progress as a group.

John is charming, sincere, and a well-educated young man, John knows what he wants and knows his commitments. Essentially, John’s merits gives him greater value in society, as a black man since very few black people achieved a higher education during his time. The black people are not given the same privileges in school because the quality of education provided to them is mediocre. Nonetheless, black people are distinguished as an un-educated lower class, whereas, white people are perceived as the most intelligent and comprising a higher class of people due to the quality of education received. John is referred to as an important person because of his many educational achievements and his work ethics.

Based on sociocultural phenomenon of cultural gender, and identity Booker T. Washington recruited Carver for his all black genius in 1896 (Harlan, L. R., 1982). Through a systematic campaign for black man training at one of the best agricultural colleges in the country. George Washington Carver during the next two terms of Washington’s self-governing rules of Tuskegee discovering that Carver’s incapable of real-world, and the long progression of repetitive farm duties for success may have not only apply in the administration, but in a classroom setting for teaching as well. Being confirmed by enemy leaders of the agricultural department. The scars I believe George Washington Carver endured demanded to repair his image based on structuring the

In this essay, Staples describes how he has always been discriminated against for being a black journalist in a white area of work. He first realizes this as a graduate student when he takes a walk late at night and frightens a white woman who believed he was following her. He agrees that the world is violent and that the woman had a right to be fearful of him, but it perturbs him that he cannot change the fact that he was the cause of the fear. He begins to understand that he has a quality to change the environment around him solely because of the color of his skin. However, he does not become angry but maintains a sense of calamity throughout the essay. His newfound understanding causes him to begin actively trying to make himself look less intimidating to others around him.