Brent Staples Just Walk On By: Black Men And Public Space

In the short story “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples, he talks about how because of his race he is feared and discriminated upon. While in New York, Staples walks during the night and is mistaken for a mugger or a rapist because of his race and his large figure. People are very hesitant in the world today because there has been such a great amount of crime. Staples sharing his stories of people’s reactions shows how many assumptions can be made about a person simply based on the color of their skin. At dark shadowy intersections, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver-- black, white, male, or female--hammering down the door locks.

Institutional racism are schools, police, and government organizations treating a certain race unfairly because of their ethnicity. For example, according to the La Times it states, that “the LAPD has always had a reputation of corruption and some racist police officers on the force” (Rubin, 2015). Institutionalized racism is when people with authority use their power to domain a person or a group of people. An example of this from the movie is when the couple gets pulled over because they were black and were driving a nice vehicle. The cops were looking for two black men who stole a similar car but the officer knew this couple were not the suspects they were looking for.

There are two occasions which I have deep impression. One is at the third paragraph, when author crossed in front of cars, drivers hammering down the door locks. One is that author was mistaken for a burglar in the office of a magazine. "The youngish black man - a broad six feet two inches with a beard...seemed menacingly close." is a vivd personal description about naming and detailing.

Racism falls hand in hand with stereotyping. In “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, Brent Staples shares his own experiences of dealing with racism and stereotypes as a black man. Many years before he started writing, black men were being as a threat. His first incident involved a woman who saw him walking a distance behind her. She noticeably started to walk faster, and then ran off.

But, Staples opts to inform all members of society about the pain, and anger caused by the stereotypes that they place on others. On the other hand, Dickerson is addressing the Black males, continuing to live up to the existing stereotypes and she makes it apparent in “Who Shot Johnny?” Dickerson’s anger, fueled by the Johnny getting shot and the traumatic experiences she suffered through during her younger years, push Dickerson over the edge. As Black males or the ones “Who Shot Johnny?” were responsible for her pain, she declares that “he got my 17-year-old sister pregnant … without ever informing her that he was married” (p. 272), “he snatched my widowed mother 's purse” (p. 272); “he made my neighborhood a ghetto” (p. 273). In the light of this, it is no wonder she concludes that these people are “assholes” (p. 273) and verbally flips them the bird.1 In contrast to Dickerson, Staples decides to alter the way he carries himself when in public spaces. He concludes that whistling selections from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons will help to assure his victimizers that he is not a threat because, after all “[v]irtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections” (p. 269) from the composer mentioned above.

In this essay the author Richard Wright constitute empathy in the reader against Bigger to avail dangerous state of Black Americans. This essay goes more in depth about how author uses to produce compassion which is hate and prejudice exhibited near Thomas in the act of a black criminal. Wright paints bright images in the minds of his readers with his practical styles that shows how social conditions influence someone’s life. Also In this essay Bigger does many bad things, the criminality of his character in Mary Daltons death is questionable for all the readers. The author is trying to say that all readers feel sympathy for Bigger because he has been forced into uncomfortable positions all night.

He recalls an experience of him at his own job, “I was writing for with a deadline story in hand, I was mistaken for a burglar.” (Staples 190). He then refers to research referencing another black reporter that was put in a far worse situation than him, “Mistaking the reporter for the killer, police officers hauled him from his car at gunpoint and but for his press credentials would probably have tried to book him.” Although the overall story has a bit of a melancholy feel to it, the author ends it on bright note by mentioning one of his solutions to public situations by whistling classical pieces, “Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It is my equivalent of the cowbell that hikers wear when they know they are in bear

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

Staples comes to this conclusion from his own personal stories of people thinking he was a robber or mugger. Right from the start he sets the tone by speaking of his “first victim” and her reaction to him walking on the street. Staples explains that when people see black men like himself they quickly jump to conclusions about their character. He does not blame the people for these instances, however it makes him feel uncomfortable. Staples explains that due to the color of his skin he was once mistaken for a burglar when he went into work late one night.

In the novel of mice and men by John Steinbeck he was able to captured the voice of the American people during the depression era. He showed that people were racist people during that time. Like on page 19 well when the bus will get mad he will look for Crooks and bypass everybody else just to yell at him because he was the only black person. Another example of how he shows that there is still racism in that era Candy"even though he's not racist to crooks he still calls him the N-word even though their friends“. Which shows that even though that there was some acceptance of black people why people will still call the network even know it was the right thing to do.so with that evidence being shown shows that John Steinbeck wasn't a racist.

These examples all play a part in why someone may fear a black male. Exposure to negative media about black males can spark fear in people. Coming in contact with a black man right after hearing the news about a black man doing something horrific can make you afraid of them. Like what Staples says in his article “At dark shadowy intersections, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver – black, white, male, or female- hammering down the door locks”. (p.2) Perhaps those people have heard of black men

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.

The article “The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black” by Sharon LaFraniere and Andrew W. Lehren discusses the traffic violations from the Greensboro N.C. police department declaring racial profiling and inconsistent traffic stops and searches of African-Americans. It 's similar to the war that has been unending and that it stays persistent and that there are dependably blames with African-Americans being blamed for each easily overlooked detail. Through this paper I will examine a percentage of the imbalances that identifies with this article and why there is such a massive dangers for driving as African-Americans. The article “The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black” have many apparent and non-apparent sociological concepts