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Summary Of Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples

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Within 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. Racism is discrimination targeted toward another person of a different race because of the established belief that one’s own race is better. In the work by Staples, he describes many events where he was discriminated against because of the color of his skin and the fact that crime has an association with people of his race. People would automatically assume that he was “a mugger, a rapist, or worse (Staples 314).” This just shows how very closed minded people were during this time, and many were quick to …show more content…

When it comes down to it, officers have the great responsibility of keeping citizens safe and if there is no trust between these groups of people, then the system will not be successful and it will fail. Those in uniform have acquired a large feeling of distrust from citizens in some places because of these unfortunate shooting incidents. We need to work on building a better relationship between police and citizens because we are all in it together. The police are listening, they are there to help. It is a work in progress and every day we are moving toward a better tomorrow where we can all be seen

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