Fact Of Identity

Despite his apparent love for literature and art, Perry never attended school past the third grade. He was deprived of a chance to earn an education, which he “realized the importance of… This only added to the hatred and bitterness” (276). Perry, stolen from his right to an education, could never have made it in society, for no one allowed him to realize his full potential. Invoking a sense of pity, Perry is an individual who went wrong not because of his own nature, but rather because of the cruelty of his environment. He hated, and was bitter— common and all-too-familiar human emotion that shapes the seemingly unfeeling murderer into a lost, confused man-child that no one ever “show[ed] right from wrong” (275). Perry’s lack of moral compass comes not from himself, but because no one was there provide one for

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

Identity is a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person or a group of people and that make it possible to establish differences between them. The consciousness that people have about themselves is part of their identity as well as what makes them unique. According to psychologists, identity is a consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of role, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations. Identity tries to define who people are, what they are, where they go or what they want to be or to do. Identity could depend on self-knowledge, self-esteem, or the ability of individuals to achieve their goals. Through self-analysis people can define who they are and who the people around them

In Brent Staples’ “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space” he forces women to recognize the feeling of estrangement from the surrounding public that he has endured. He first took notice at the age of twenty two, when his own self-judgement resulted from scaring a woman when solely walking at night near his college, the University of Chicago. He maintained his dejected attitude when he wrote that a few years later, his own work mistook him for a thief instead of a journalist. Brent Staples heightened his frustration by mentioning a black male journalist who was blamed as a killer in a murder, instead of the writer reporting it. In portraying two versions of his story, he proves that this was a rather common and difficult occurrence for not only him, but others of his race. To attempt to resolve this, he decided to attempt to cross the street or sing classical songs to portray innocence. In this article, Staples’ forces his audience to encounter the hypocrisy in which all black men are dangerous. He concluded the essay with the realization that you can't change what people think, only attempt to show them who you are. Brent Staples appeals to the audience through his emotionally charged language with the use of his experiences with unconscious prejudice.

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.

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

Identity. What is identity? One will say that it is the distinct personality of an individual. Others will say that identity is the behavior of a person in response to their surrounding environment. At certain points of time, some people search for their identity in order to understand their existence in life. In regards, identity is shaped into an individual through the social trials of life that involve family and peers, the religious beliefs by the practice of certain faiths, and cultural awareness through family history and traditions. These are what shape the identity of an individual.

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.

Perry endures a rough childhood and is a product of his insurmountable struggles in life. Perry grows up in a hostile environment and home, where he indicates feeling abused, neglected, and uncared for. Perry’s childhood exemplifies a breeding ground for mental illness. The environment seems unsuitable for children and most likely causes psychological damage. When giving a brief autobiography of his life, he states, “My mother was always drunk, never in fit condition to properly provide and care for us” (Capote 275). Perry recalls feeling “frightfully scared” because he is afraid his father would abuse him like he abuses his mom (274). Perry’s upbringing facilitates his mental instability in his future. He “seems to have grown up

Brent Staples essay, “Just Walk on By,” narrates his story about discrimination against black men. As a result of this, black men are stereotyped as dangerous or frightening just because of their appearance. In his essay, “Just Walk on By,” Brent Staples does this as he builds his persona with his powerful diction and his effective implementation of ethos in order to push his message of how people shouldn’t be hasty to judge others based on society’s views.

In “Just Walk On By”, Brent Staples conveys his message by using persona and pathos. Staples talks about stereotypes and discrimination throughout his essay and the way he has been treated his whole life being that he is a tall, black man. Although, he understands the culture of this time and why people may fear he is a dangerous person he also disagrees with the fact of being judged based on personal appearance or skin color.

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

In the text “ Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”. The writer Brent Staples talks about his experience over an ugly truth of people’s thinking on black men. Staples describes the reaction of people walking on street in response to seeing an approaching black man of the author’s appearance. Staples begins by describing the first time he had noticed a negative reaction to his presence when a young woman ran away from him while he was walking casually behind her almost a block away. At this moment, Staples realizes that because of the way he dressed, his height, and long hair he appears frightening to people, particularly white people, he came across while walking along the streets.

There are millions of words across the globe that are used to describe people and uncover their identity, but what is identity? How can you begin to describe something that varies so greatly from one human being to another? Can you create a universal meaning for a word describing human concepts that people often fail to define for themselves? Of course there isn't one definition to define such a word. It is an intricate aspect of human nature, and it has a definition just as complex.

Many theorists see Identity as something that is solid and unchanging - something that is true to your inner-self. Others argue that your identity is something that is constantly changing and adapting, and something that requires commitment and action to sustain. Problems that occur with finding an identity lie in that people seek to be accepted into that new identity and be validated by others.