“Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples
Read to Summarize
Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples is about how Brent realizes how people perceive him in public because of his race. He is seen as a scary man whom people often run away from or react very strongly to.
Read to Respond
I personally am a big believer in not changing yourself for the sake of others. I believe that censoring yourself and molding yourself to fit other peoples expectations or insecurities is stupid and harmful. I have been taught to do that my whole life and I'm just now starting to get out of that habit. I don't think you should change for anyone but yourself. If people dont like that then they dont need to be around you. My whole life I've been bending
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Brent learns what some tell tale signs are when people are afreaid of him. Such as woman holding their purses tight to themselves, holding onto their partners, and in some drastic measures imideatly leaving and getting something to defend themselves.
Brent starts walking differently, giving people more space when needed when walking down the streets or altogether stopping and letting people pass so they dont have to walk by him and fear for their lives. Hestarts being overlypolite and nice, and whistling clasical music to put people at ease. Brent does all of this to seem less threatening to people.
His examples of what he had gone through really helped show you that it really was about race and not somethings else. If he had kept with just the first example then it could have easily been dismised as a woman being scared of a man in the dark for abvious reasons and not because of his race. But then he game many more ecamples that are undisputablely about his race. Also I dont think that the excuse that he was a big man can be used. He was tall yes but skinny as hell. I wouldnt be as scared of a tall lanky man then I would of a brick of a
The syntactical approach the black men use is their central cause for their freedom. Although the black men are using masculinity to gain their long coming freedom, the cajun community are fighting to keep their masculinity. The father of Beau Boutan, Fix Boutan, feels that over the years his masculinity has began to diminish. Fix thinks that if the Cajun community lashes out against the black community that their masculinity can be restored. Fix also believes that if he doesn’t go against the black community he will be disrespecting his ancestors (Carmean 109).
Blacked Out Most Americans are afraid of African Americans. Why, we ask? Most of us don’t know why we do, is it their physical appearance or is it the fact that they have a different skin tone? In Chapter 5: Black Men of The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner, Glassner argues that the media exaggerates the excessive attention paid to African-Americans (Glassner 109). Throughout the chapter, Glassner exposes us to secrets and truths about how the media makes us fear African-Americans, they feed us irrelevant information that make it seem like blacks are still a lower class and therefore treating them like they are still slaves.
Stereotypes 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.
Black Men and Public Space Brent Staples has had several experiences that have made him come to a conclusion that the black male body inspires fear in public spaces. In my opinion he is right to feel that way. Unfortunately, it is something that comes naturally to some people. This is due to the media exposure with black males, the lack of diversity in their upbringing and demographics.
In the reading Just Walk on By by Brent Staples, the topic of racial stereotypes surfaces from the man who gets racially profiled quite often as he explains his personal experiences. The author bluntly tries to pass the message that racially judging people is wrong and explaining how it makes the other party ,african americans, feel. When analyzing Staples’ message his rhetorical strategies play a huge role into how his message is perceived. He uses influential diction allowing each word to give an impact unmatched by any white man who tried to convey a black man’s thought process. Staples also appeals to his credibility with the obvious observation that he is a black man talking about his real life experiences.
In his essay, "Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space" Brent Staples demonstrates the negative views and stereotypes of black men. He narrates a personal story about the path he takes to understand the effects of his appearance and how it also affects his environment around him. In the essay, Staples describes how he has always been discriminated. This was first realized as a young graduate student when he takes a walk one evening and frightens a white woman who believed he was following her.
Just 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 Spaces” Diagnostic Essay Brent Staples in “Black Men and Public Spaces,” illustrates the inescapable prejudices and stereotyping that African-American men face in America. He does this by relating to his audience through his personal experiences with stereotyping, and sharing his malcontent on how these events have made him alter his way of living. From “victimizing” woman, watching people lock themselves away, and having to whistle classical music to calm the nerves of people around him; Staples builds a picture to help people better sympathize and understand his frustration. Although Staples describes himself as a college graduate, a journalist, and a softy in the face of violence, he details that the overall public deems him a dangerous criminal.
In his essay, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”, Brent Staples uses the rhetorical strategies of anecdote and diction in order to convey his message that due to racial discrimination black people (mainly men) have to change the way they naturally conduct themselves in public for they run the risk of something terrible happening to them. Staples uses anecdotes to bring in the personal side of the message to the audience. Staples creates a persona of innocence and almost alienation in his writing. Anecdotes such as his both instances in which he accidently scared women on walks and the time in which he and another reporter were mistaken for murder suspects or robbers are used to show real life proof of his message.
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.
Will society ever view African-Americans as people and not as less than? In “Chokehold” Paul Butler will discuss this very idea depth. Butler provides history on why and how society sees African-American men as violent thugs. Butler goes on to explain in detail how the chokehold plays a part in oppressing African-American men and how to avoid the ramifications of the Chokehold, if possible.
In his essay entitled Black Men and Public Space (1987), Brent Staples talks about how people will have a common misconception on the black community by thinking that they are all mugger ,rapist or thugs. Staples supports his claim by telling the reader events/ stories that occured to him and talks about how people will assume that he is a danger to society when in reality he isnt. The authors purpose is to inform the reader that his experiences of being stereotyped is to show the reader his point of view when it comes to these types of situations. Staples writes in a formal tone for an intelligent or free minded person.
In 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.
His sympathetic persona along with his analogies actively connect the reader to his story, while the strong diction and depressing tone make a strong emotional impact. Unlike most essays, the anti discrimination message can be applied to multiple minority groups and other social issues. As a whole, Brent Staples essay succeeds on all levels as it makes an impactful argument describing how society's view on African Americans as being dangerous violent criminals is truly
If you are going to change yourself or others, you must trust yourself, and be confident in your own