Black Men In Public Spaces Analysis
Americans Stereotypes: Loosening stereotypes Americans are always scared when they see a black man and think about them trying to harm them. Actually, that isn’t always the case and isn’t the case a lot of the time. Brent Staples in his writing Black Men in Public Spaces shows some of the societies stereotype issues. Americans should stop stereotyping blacks, not purposely go around them at night, and he shouldn’t have to whistle to make people comfortable around him. Americans put stereotypes on different ethnicities. Americans stereotype blacks to be murderers, rapists, or robbers. Brent Staples was conceived to be a robber. He was taken out of his own office because he was mistaken for a burglar (Staples 1). When Americans see black men …show more content…
He gave the example of when he was walking, a girl saw him and watched him closely. She ended up running away from him (Staples 1). He had to walk past an entrance of a building to let skittish people in so that they wouldn’t think that he was following them, “If I happen to be entering a building behind some people who appear skittish, I may walk by, letting them clear the lobby before I return, so as not to seem to be following them.” (Staples 3). When Brent was on the subway or walking late at night he would hum or whistle a common classical song. He whistled a common or recognizable tune to make people feel comfortable around him. Brent stated, “I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers” (Staples 3). When he whistled some people even would join along in the melody. Black men shouldn’t feel they have to be careful when walking not to scare anyone. They are not all bad most of them are just walking or trying to get somewhere. Americans shouldn’t stereotype different ethnicities. People should not try to go around them because they look scary, and he shouldn’t have to whistle to make people around him conformable. What makes us think this way; well it’s because of what media says. What we see is what we think we believe from one news story on a black guy, and so we think that they all are like that when they
Rhetorical Analysis Of Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples
225 Words | 1 PagesBrent Staples in his article “Black men and Public Space” used an effective amount of rhetorical devices and strategies to develop his claim. The message of the article is to vocialize how Black men are overrepresented as thugs and gangsters and when they’re in public spaces they are treated as such. In the article, Staples pulled from his own experiences and give examples of other peoples instances with this issue. However he did it in such a way using rhetorical devices that strengthen his point and gave the reader something to think about. At some points of the article the reader may have even gotten offended or maybe felt guilty about doing some of the things that he brings up.
Summary Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples
274 Words | 2 PagesIn Brent Staple’s essay, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space, he discusses how the black are stereotyped and not in a nice way. The whites’ believe black people are dangerous to their community, that the blacks commit wrong doings and create violence everywhere they go. The author goes through many struggles in his lifetime, for example, people thinking he is a mugger or even worse. Staples writes about his “first victim” to begin his essay, the victim is a white women who is so scared that he is behind her that she sprints off as far as she can. When people see Staples, they immediately assume that he is a bad man, when in reality he is a hardworking man earning everything he has.
Black Men In Public Places Summary
248 Words | 1 PagesIn the article, “Black Men in Public Places,” Brent Staples first grabs the reader by telling them about his first victim. This, “victim,” was not harmed by Staples at all, he only walked passed her at night, which made her incredibly uncomfortable and she was not the only person that had felt this way. Staples describes how people would lock their car doors when he would walk by, just because of his appearance, to them he looked the same as a mugger or rapist. Staples moved to New York, and faced the same racial profiling he did back in his hometown. Staples describes himself as shy and timid, while the people where he grew up were gang affiliated and were dying at young ages.
Summary Of Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples
1110 Words | 5 PagesWithin the past century, America has changed greatly in regards to the aspect of racism. Even though there are still some issues with this subject today, we have come a long way from what we once were. In Brent Staples’s writing, Black Men and Public Space, he describes his life as a young black man living in a world where many people still have very negative views toward people of his race. The situations he tells about lead the reader to come to the conclusion that racism is a very real thing, especially in the time this piece was written. I think the claim Staples is trying to make is that all black men are viewed by people as dangerous and threatening, but in reality, not all black men live a life of crime.
Similarities Between Black Men In Public Space And Recitatif
328 Words | 2 PagesThough Brent Staples writes “Black Men in Public Space” in essay form, and Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” is a short story, both authors explore similar ideas about race, the power of racial stereotypes, and the harmful effect of them. Staples use of irony, and Morrison’s symbolic use of metaphor shows that every situation has multiple perspectives and to not look outside of one individual experience can often induce one to accept stereotypes as full truths. As Staples discusses the stereotypes attached to black males, he writes about “the alienation that comes of being ever the suspect”(2). The word suspect literally means a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offense, but here it is used in an ironic perspective. Staples really wasn’t
Just Walk On By Ethos Pathos Logos
694 Words | 3 PagesImpoverished, Imprisoned, Ignominious A Black man on the side of the street. A poor drug-dealing teenager. An immigrant. These are just a few of the types of people that white society dreads.
Black Men In Public Places By Grace Hsiang Summary
640 Words | 3 PagesStaples includes this in his article because it it just one example of the problems he faces with society and how it treats him, all because of his
Examples Of Stereotypes In The Heat Of The Night
1564 Words | 7 PagesStereotypes rampant in today’s society. They are implanted in one’s mind from a young age and learnt from school, media, friends or family. Moreover, the unique qualities of a person which can be beneficial for society can be hidden due to stereotypes. As a result, society can undermine a person by judging that judging that person based on the general idea it has about that person’s age, race, personality and/or financial status. Consequently, stereotypes have been a common topic that many authors have used in their books, with one such book being John Ball’s
Stereotypes In Brent Staples's 'Just Walk On By'
1129 Words | 5 PagesStereotypes have the power to label someone and rob them of all their hard work or strike fear into others. One such stereotype is that of black men being more dangerous;yet, one black writer voices his opinion on such a stereotype. In the essay “Just Walk On By” by Brent Staples, Staples describes his experience of being a large black man and how it affects the people around him. From people locking their doors to pedestrians crossing the street to avoid a confrontation, people seem to be afraid of Staples just from a glance. Yet Staples does nothing to cause this fear, rather his stereotype is to blame.
Compare And Contrast Just Walk On By And The Myth Of The Latin Woman
1047 Words | 5 PagesAnalyzing Someone Else’s Experience In Brent Staples essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space” and in Judith Cofer’s essay “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” both authors build an argument using their own experience with being stereotyped. These two essays are very effective in proving the author’s argument with real life situations as primary evidence. In Staples essay, he uses his experience as a black male being looked at as a “thug”, “mugger”, or “rapist” and his real life problems that he went through while being stereotyped. In Cofer’s essay, she tells her story of being a Latin American girl and her issues she faced being stereotyped while growing up.
John Singleton's Movie: Boyz N The Hood
1265 Words | 6 PagesThis stereotype not only gets offenders into trouble but also those like Tre and Ricky who don’t commit violent crimes. For example, Ricky and Tre drive away from the party on the street, and two corrupt black and white policemen pull them over. The black policeman, Officer Coffey, has both Ricky and Tre step outside of the car, and proceeds to interrogate Tre. Tre quickly pleads, “I didn’t do nothin’!” Officer Coffey retorts, “You think you tough?”
Summary Of Just Walk On By Black Men And Public Space
1166 Words | 5 PagesJust Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples discusses the relevant issues of racial bias and how prejudice against people of color has embedded minds, as it demonstrates the importance of being aware of how we conceive others. Staples uses a contrasting element of race by introducing a white female and a black male. He uses his experiences and other people of colour to display the struggles of racism they face everyday. Staples reveals how people are prejudice against appearance, despite the importance of individuality of people and being impartial regardless of someone 's skin or looks. The story begins with Staples describing his first experience frightening a white women due to the colour of his skin.
Black Men And Public Space Rhetorical Analysis
621 Words | 3 PagesThis unfortunate stereotype is still highly prevalent today. We all read about African-American men committing crimes, we see it in the news and on social media. That goes to say, not all crimes are committed solely by black men, and black men should not be treated like criminals based off of others wrongdoings. Staples recounts the events of a night he went for a walk. On this walk, he encountered a well-dressed white woman (as he so described) who instinctively mistook him for a criminal.
Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples Summary
841 Words | 4 PagesIn his essay “Black Men and Public Spaces,” Brent Staples explains that people often find him intimidating because he is tall and black. Staples shares his account of a number of personal encounters, arguing that in each situation, he was misinterpreted as being dangerous because of his daunting physical appearance. Staples asserts that as a result of this misinterpretation, he was continually mistreated. Staples begins his article by describing the events leading up to his life-changing realization that he has inherited “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways (183).” When he was twenty-two years old, Staples found himself one evening, walking behind a well-dressed white woman on a deserted street in a rather wealthy neighborhood.
Racism In Brent Staples's Black Men And Public Space
1103 Words | 5 PagesRacism is a topic that has been relevant for many years though our time. Brent Staples wrote "Black Men and Public Space," published in Ms. Magazine in 1986, where he discusses how he became "familiar with the language of fear" (614). Throughout his essay, Staples uses logos, ethos, and pathos to give a reader an insight into the life of a black man in society, which effectively reaches his intended audience, but not his current day audience. Brent Staples starts talking about his "first victim" (613) picking up her pace until she was no longer able to be seen.
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