As a society, we have both positive and negative perceptions of people with the same or different racial and gender identities. As we strive to improve America’s tolerance, it is still common for black men to be mistakenly seen as criminals. When discussing his ability to “alter public places in ugly ways”, Brent Staples considers the impact he has on others around him. Brent Staples’ goal is to draw attention to the continuous stereotypes toward black men, who are usually represented to be stereotyped as being a threat. By explaining how these unfair ideas make black men feel, the author seeks to influence others’ perceptions of them. As he describes his own experiences with discrimination , he uses powerful images to support his arguments. …show more content…
Brent is a reliable source because of the factual facts he provides from his own personal history with racism. He also successfully evokes emotion in the reader by describing the suffering he faced as an outcome of his mistreatment. The author reflects on his early years and describes how he has seen his peers succumb to temptations of power as he was growing up with his “shyness of combat”. Although he was not tempted to violence, feeling afraid on the streets made him feel alone. Moreover, Brent adds “That was more than a decade ago. I was 23 years old, a graduate student, newly arrived at the University of Chicago. It was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footballs that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into – the ability to alter public space in ugly ways.” Brent Staples uses the rhetorical technique of ethos in the second paragraph’s opening sentence to help his listeners comprehend his character as an understanding man. This demonstrates Brent’s attempt to place himself in the position of the lady who would ultimately serve as his key catalyst for