Brent Staples Black Man And Public Space

During the first half of the 19th century in the United States, there were some African-Americans in the Northern states classified as “Free Blacks.” However, as these free Blacks are not slaves, they were not truly free. This group contained certain human rights such as voting, assembly, religion, school, and so on. Yet, all of previous rights mentioned had major restrictions. As well as limitations, there was most certainly discrimination against non-Whites.

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.

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.

Black people worked hard to get the rights that all Americans are supposed to have. The Civil Rights Movement Black people fought these laws from the start. For example, many people refused to use businesses that were unfair to black people. After a little more than a year, bus companies no longer forced black people to sit in the back. To do it, they had to change their rules and serve black people the same way they served white people.

Black Men and Public Spacing 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.

According to the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4,1776 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence says that all men are equal; all men are equal means that every man’s life has the same value. Police brutality has been an ongoing problem since the beginning of time. The conflict of the police versus the people has become a mass media problem as well as a personal problem. Back 1992, Rodney Glen King was the first African American to go viral for being the first victim of police brutality.

Have you ever been affected by race in your life? Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior is an outcome of racism. Racism is a big conflict in today’s society and effect many lives. In the two stories “Champion of the Word” by Maya Angelou and “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples , race was the big social view being discussed. Racist ideology can become manifest in many aspects of social life.

“Black Men and Public Space” is a short story about racism. This story is interesting because it is told by the point of view of a black male and his life experiences. ‘Black Men in Public Space” shows how racisms is a never ending drain on society. Racism is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “a belief that race is the primary of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”. There are always two sides to every story, in this case, a black boy and white people.

The reality of stereotype coming from Americans, in the perspectives of the two authors, becomes more and more popular in society in general, and in America in particular. By describing the community’s thoughts, recounting their own experience, and offering solutions to the discrimination, Staples and Cofer agree with each other on how cognitive abilities among the nation should be changed. While people all use stereotypes, all the time, without noticing it, so many people feel incompatible to live in a discriminative culture. Therefore, “Black Men And The Public Space” and “The Myth of Latina Women” are written in order to fight against the belief of categorizing a certain group of people, and to encourage individuals from ethnic groups to

My writing style has clearly developed over the past semester and I believe that the writings in his portfolio demonstrate that I have mastered the course materials presented in this English course. My writing style has changed in the fact that I have become more open minded in my conclusions in papers. I have ventured away from making all my conclusions based on textual evidence and have been more open minded and drawn conclusions based more on how I feel emotionally about the subject. This doesn’t mean that I only will draw conclusions from how I feel emotionally but it means that I can now do both effectively.