Black Men In Public Spaces Analysis

“Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” by author Brent Staples, was first published in an American Liberal feminist magazine called Ms. Magazine in 1986. In the article, Staples, an author and editorial writer for the New York Times, explains how he’s been discriminated throughout his life for the way he looks and the color of his skin. He first points out that at times he could tell that people were threatened, or frightened of him, particularly women, because of his appearance. He states that “It was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into-the ability to alter public space in ugly ways” (Staples 1). Staples revels that even when he walked down the street, pedestrians

Since the dawn of time, colored people have always been treated unfairly. In “Black Men and Public Spacing”, Staples discusses the ongoing problem of being considered a possible assailant due to his race and appearance. He gets into the horrendous facts that “black people” face and that, unfortunately, remains part of our world. As he starts his story he says, "My first victim was a woman—white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties.” What’s interesting is that he describes this woman as his first victim, giving the idea that this (a victim) is what people would expect to be, encountering a person like him. He says that the most frightening of these situations was in the late seventies and early eighties when he worked as a journalist in Chicago. One day, rushing into the office of a magazine he worked for to hand in a paper, he was mistaken for burglar. In another example he says, “Another time I was on assignment for a local paper and killing time before an interview. I entered a jewelry store on the city's affluent Near North Side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash. She stood; the dog extended toward me, silent to my questions, her eyes bulging nearly out of her head. I took a cursory look around, nodded, and bade her good night.”

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.

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. These examples all play a part in why someone may fear a black male.

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.

Racism isn't born, it is taught! This essay "Just walk on by Brent Staples" is written in the mid 70's when racism was at its peak. Racism is not only common today it's been a part of American history. Staples works as a journalist in a predominantly white society. This essay deals with racism, stereotypes, and prejudice. In this essay, he demonstrates to the reader using his own experiences, how stereotypes based on sex and skin color can change the mind of one person and how it can influence many other people. Staples fears about how his appearance and his color make people think of him as a harmful person. a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket- he also mentions that he possesses an indulgent

One of the biggest things the human race has created is society. How humans live, how they interact, what customs they follow, all of it becomes a part of society. But many negatives have arisen from society as well such as: hate crimes, racism, discrimination, and much more have all taken root in society. The roots run so deep that most modern day citizens are not even aware of their own preferences. One of the worse roots being stereotypes. 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. The message Staples wants to convey in his essay is that almost all people have to carry the burden of the stereotype they have, and he pushes this message through his use of ethos and pathos.

John Singleton’s film, Boyz N the Hood, displays the challenging upbringing of adolescents who have to live with harsh conditions around not only their home but also their surrounding town. The film compares the differences between the lifestyles of Tre Styles and his friends’, Darren and Ricky Baker. Darren and Ricky are half-brothers who are nothing alike. Singleton demonstrates the importance of male leadership in a home in the ghetto of Los Angeles by comparing the difference between the lifestyles of Tre and his friends. While many adolescents in the hood have close friendships, some form close relationships by assembling gangs and create a world of violence due to alcohol abuse, which together ultimately breeds discrimination.

The strong insistence by these two writer that media just look on and examine people’s looks without considering their dignities, helps readers visualize how similarly Staples and Cofer view society. For both authors, a myth of the media stating that stereotypes are developing and persisting. In “Black Men and Public Space”, Ben Staples describes how he looks like when he is enough to frighten a young white women on the street late at night. He is a man with “six feet two inches height, and a beard and billowing hair”. Black men wearing a bulky jacket, to the public, are all fatal and threatening. Therefore, people avoid walking on the same path with him as if he is a mugger who occasionally appears in the public without covering his face. Receiving such reactions from the public,

In Black Men and Public Space, Staples uses diction to create a sarcastic and almost humorous tone to get his point across. “As a softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken - let alone hold onto a person’s throat…” (347). Staple writes. Instead of taking a full on negative tone and having no sense of humor in it, Staples shows, no matter what happens to him, sarcasm and humor to lighten the mood of the article. In contrast, Staples chooses to include “ I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver…” (347). Staples 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

There are many controversial topics that we see on a daily basis through the media. Some of the topics that we are exposed to are race, stereotypes, sexism and sex. These things seem to be a key factor in how media makes its presence felt. Whether it is through T.V. shows, how stereotypes and race are still a common trend in present day movies. I believe that stereotyping is everywhere you look movies and T.V. in particular but also music. This leads to society seeing things in a black and white form, by this I mean people see things one way and that is not how it should be seen.

In many cases, objectively fear is not based on the overall situation but rather on a specific race. This can be seen In “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” by Brent staples. One of the anecdotes presented talks about the author’s experience with discrimination in a magazine company. Close to the deadline, Staples rushed through the office, only to be stopped by the security for trespassing. The workers at the office had limited knowledge of this random man walking in the building. They could have asked him personally about his intention but instead, they took him as a burglar and called the security. This happened because in the early 1980s, African Americans were presented with little to no integrity. When the workers saw Staples, they most likely associated him with a recent felony committed by another black male even though he had nothing to do with it.

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. As a result of this fear they have been opressed and uneducated for far too long. Through the usage of rhetorical devices, Freedom Writers and Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space are connected through their themes of racial prejudice, struggle, and stigma, and adress the issues opressed racial minorities have to put up with.

There are plenty of black men that have problems with the way society view and treat them. In the essay Black Men and Public Space, the author Brent Staples expressed how black men were perceived in the public’s eyes. He expressed this problem by giving examples of how a young man was perceived. Some of the solutions did not really solve the problem in general, but helped to change the mindset of those surrounding him. Rather than finding temporary solutions to this problem, there need to be more permanent solutions. The permanent solutions will help with the black man’s safety and emotions, and will help with the society’s feeling of being unsafe.