The Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples, The Myth Of A Latin Woman, And Shooting

In Brent Staples “Just Walk On: Black Men and Public Space”, he argues that the racial stereotypes he faced when he was younger actually happen to black men all the time. Staples gives examples of several situations in which he was seen as a criminal because of the color of his skin, one of them being a time when he was “mistaken for a burglar”(Staples 396). Throughout the essay, he lets readers know how his experiences have affected him, including how he views himself, and how he deals with it. He argues that the experiences he went through actually happen frequently among men of color; that in fact “black men trade tales like this all the time” (Staples 397). He supports his argument by describing situations in which he was treated like

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.

It is no surprise that society fear black people, or consider them as criminals. Brent Staples portrays his experiences in “Black Men and Public Spaces.” Staples explains the encounters he has, but creates the image of why people fear blacks. Consider our mindset on how some approach the image of black people, we form our opinion based off their social status, environment, and body language. We have the “ability to alter public spaces in ugly ways” (165) with our thoughts. These components create the fear some of us entail when we are around black people.

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

Staples finds that his race and his gender play an enormous role on how the public views him. Although Brent has never been in a fight, his gender makes him a threat. Individuals make it public that a Black man frightens them. They do this by locking their car doors as he walks by, or by switching direction of their walking path as he approaches. Women feel defensive about men by showing signs such things as grabbing a purse across their chest, or in a sense bracing themselves for a fight (149). Society fearing a Black man never stopped Brent from his walks after sunset. Being male and walking at night makes the community uncomfortable. Brent learned how to screen out individuals to avoid trouble. He learned to ignore the signs people show when they get uncomfortable around him. Continuous fear on public faces has grown on Brent and he has learned to smooth out his rage. He goes out of his way to make others comfortable by leaving a gracious amount of space between him and a stranger on the subway. Staples even takes precautions to make strangers not feel followed. Whistling helps him reduce the tension between himself and the people of Chicago when he goes on his night walks.

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

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.”

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.

Everyone has a place in the world, to think otherwise is naïve; this world is not owned by a specific race, class or gender. And yet, in a time where the world is seemingly at our fingertips we are still finding prejudices at every corner. Often, the differences of others are perceived negatively and this causes misconceptions and assumptions. If we could strip ourselves of this negativity and lose the impulsive perceptions, then we should be able to put forth greater efforts to understanding the lives of those from backgrounds which are different than our own, in doing so acceptance towards others would likely follow.

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

Brent Staples believed that the woman in his personal essay thought he was a rapist, mugger, or worse, he noted that there was a certain amount distance between him and women especially at night. This proves to show that when people are being stereotyped they pay close attention to gender as well as race. You’re less likely to be afraid of a black woman, or any woman, walking down the street at night. When the woman saw a black man it seemed as if she felt trapped and that the narrator closing in on her only made her more anxious and ready to run. Would the situation be the same if a black woman were walking behind her? I believe the

In American history, one of the main struggles that each race had to go through was to be treated equally without there being any pattern of discrimination. However, if historians look at the 18th century and compare it to the 21st century, and analyze what is currently happening in the 21st century, they would see no difference in the pattern. All they would notice is that the pattern of discrimination has recently been modified to be less noticeable than before. In more recent times, many people make up stereotypes that they involve with certain races, and later these stereotypes are used against them to make fun of their culture or to even make it seem as if every person that has roots from that race is truly like that. An example of this

Staples is constantly a victim of society by the way he looks he is just one of million people that are victims of racism every day. On day he was walking when he notice that a white lady well dress that was walking in front of him one evening she was trying to maintain a distance between her and Staples. After she was running in earnest. In seconds she disappeared a cross the street. When Staples was in his 22 years old was when he started to know the he had the ability to alter public spaces in ugly