Summary Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples

In this essay, "Just Walk on by," Brent Staples explains how throughout his life, others have discriminated against him because he is a tall, black man with a sweater on, who works as a journalist. As he explains, he first realized how much his appearance frightened others, particularly a white woman, when he used to take late night walks as a graduate student. While he understands that we live in a culture that has become increasingly violent and dangerous, he feels frustrated that most black men are still being judged and misjudged based on their appearance alone. In order to deal with the misunderstandings on others' parts, Staples says that now when he has the urge to go out for a late night walk, he whistles classical music as a way of assuring others that he is not a dangerous man. The criteria I am using is clothing, skin color, stereotype. This personal essay that Staples writes about is addressing racism, prejudice, and discrimination issues.
At the beginning of the essay, Brent’s word choice was purposely were confusing and puzzling. He started out by saying, “My first victim was a woman…” This led me to think that Staples was a criminal. But as I read on I realized that I had made the same

When prejudices expressed by the white majority are so deeply engaged for it to be depraved overnight, a more practical solution occurs. In what are the most memorable last lines from the essay, the author finds a way to not seem to be dangerous in other peoples’ eyes. The way he walks and the clothes he wears help him also not to seem hostile. He states, “I began to take precautions to make myself less threatening. I move about with care, particularly late in the evening. I give a wide berth to nervous people on subway platforms during the wee hours, particularly when I have exchanged business clothes for jeans.” (Page