Brent Staples Expectations In Society

Brent Staples is an author as well as an editorial writer for the New York Times. Staples’ work often includes American culture and how race it plays a role in it. “Black Men and Public Space” is a well-known essay written by Staples in 1986. It was first published as, “Just Walk on By” in a magazine titled Ms. Magazine. He writes about his experience in society and around others as a black man. He describes in detail his encounters with people, particularly those who seem to fear him because of his appearance; a six foot two black man with large hair and a beard. Staples’ seeks to bring about awareness of how black men are perceived. He is looking to put an end to these negative stereotypes by sympathizing with his audience as well as making them feel sympathy towards him.

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

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

Brent Staples is an African American male, who was born in 1951 in Pennsylvania. Brent Staples’ Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space is about how he, a black male is perceived in public. One night he was walking down an empty street in a poor section of Chicago and sees a young white woman in front of him. They peacefully walk for a while until the woman turns around and sees Brent, a tall, broad black male behind her. Brent then notices that “picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest”. He then wondered why the woman ran and thought they she probably assumed that he could have been a mugger, rapist, or worse. He then became embarrassed and felt as if he was a criminal. He soon became accustomed to hearing the “click” of a car

Brent Staples use of pathos though invoking a sad emotion that is invoked through me due to the situations he is put through with police, and people in general. “I could cross in front of a car stopped a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver – black, white, male, or female- hammering down the door locks” (174). This also invokes some anger at those people who are simply rude. “Then there were the standard unpleasantries with policemen, doormen, bouncers, cabdrivers, and others whose business it is to screen out troublesome individuals before there is any nastiness” (174). These instances not only show how only Staples was treated but how all of the black community was being treated in a dark era in American history. “The fearsomeness mistakenly attributed to me in public places often has a perilous flavor.”

The thoughts and/or opinions of others often have to be overlooked or else they’ll ruin every happy moment that is to come. In Maya Angelou's story, Graduation, she discusses her eighth-grade graduation. Maya describes how she feels after listening to someone else opinion on her and the rest of African Americans of her graduating class at that time. This person's opinion had a huge impact on Maya herself, and the crowd. No one ever wants to feel wretched on the most memorable day of their life but this is exactly what took place on the day of Maya’s graduation.

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.

Maya Angelou is a leading literary voice of the African-American community. She writes of the triumph of the human spirit over hardship and adversity. “Her style captures the ca-dences and aspirations of African American women whose strength she celebrates.” (Library of Chattanooga State, n. d.) Maya has paved the way for children who has had a damaged

Maya Angelou, the current poet laureate of the United States, has become for many people an exemplary role model. She read an original poem at the inauguration of President Clinton; she has also appeared on the television show "Touched by an Angel," and there read another poem of her own composition; she lectures widely, inspiring young people to aim high in life. Yet this is an unlikely beginning for a woman who, by the age of thirty, had been San Francisco's first black streetcar conductor; an unmarried mother; the madam of a San Diego brothel; a prostitute, a showgirl, and an actress (Lichtler, 861927397.html). Her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings argues persuasively

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

In Brent Staples essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, he tells the story of different issues such as, stereotyping, racism, and certain disapproval he faced as a black man in public spaces. He uses his own personal experiences and incidents to show this. He explains to us how extremely frustrating this is for him, especially in his line of work as a journalist, which is a predominantly white field. His audience is black men who have had similar problems and also people who do the stereotyping he is talking about. He uses plenty of literary elements to make his claim that racism is still very much alive today.

Brent Staples in the essay, Black Men and Public Space explains how being a black man is faced with many issues and being attributed to the many stereotypes and preconceptions many have because of previous experiences with people of the same race and what it feels like to deal with those things. Staples supports his explanation by giving examples of multiple scenarios and what it was like to be in each one such as a woman clutching her purse to her chest as she passes by horridly. The author’s purpose is to point out that just because he is different it doesn’t mean he is immune to feelings and each situation does have its own emotional effects on the author to show his humanity. The author writes in a formal and educated tone for the readers

The essay "Black Men and Public Space" written by Brent Staples displays racism and stereotyping toward black men by the way people perceive them and how they are treated in public. Staples writes how people, especially women, are scared and threatened by him by the way the act while he is around them. This essay shows how judgmental society can be and how race can affect how people treat others. I think that Staples uses his own experiences so that people can see what he goes through and to try to make people understand that everyone should be treated equally.

Staples talks about the irrational fear he saw from others towards him. He states that "On the less traveled streets after dark, I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with people crossing to the other side of the street rather than pass me." Staples gives countless examples of the discrimination he faced just by merely having a different color of skin. The first thought in the back of many white Americans minds when they see a black man is a fear that they are going to get raped, mugged, or robbed. In reality, this man is on his way home from a long day at work. I sometimes think the world will never change. Willingly, we exist through

Many immigrants came to America seeking freedom, jobs, and land while others were running from famine and war. While immigrants ran from the problems of their native land, they were running into new problems in America. Americans feared the immigrants would take their jobs or have the right to vote. This fear caused discrimination against the immigrants due to their diverse backgrounds from Germany, Ireland, and China. Immigrants that came to America faced the hardship of discrimination because they did not only stand out with their culture but also because Americans didn’t necessarily want them in America.