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Black Men And Public Space By Maya Angelou Analysis

694 Words3 Pages

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.
In “Champion of the World” Angelou describes play by plays of the fight and the confidence among the crowd of listeners. “I ain’t worried bout this fight. Joe’s gonna whip that cracker like it’s open season.” Joe Louis represents every African American at the time and Angelou compares his victory to their race overcoming all the horrible things that have happened to them, but then the fight changes and Louis is pinned against the ropes. The confidence of the crowd disappears. It seems as though Louis is going to lose the …show more content…

He wrote this piece to express his important opinion about the effect of racism and how he’s viewed as a man of color. He talks about his first encounter of racism when he was young man in college and was assumed to be a mugger or killer just because of skin. “It was in 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.” I feel that the author is trying to connect to his vast audience of people who don’t understand what it is like to a black man in society. Later he contemplated that he rejected or shunned by the white race collectively as a dangerous man. “After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in

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Biographical Analysis of “Champion of the World” In “Champion of the World”, Maya Angelou tells a story of her childhood where the success of one man changed the future of her entire race. Maya Angelou, an African American woman, took a stand against racial segregation in form of her writing and words. She experienced many of the hardships that the people of her race were going through, and she knew it needed to stop.

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Every individual is born with a specific culture and color. Respecting each and every person is society’s duty. Society fails in doing so by treating each individual based on their color. Society has two ways to see a person and that is black and white. Whites are given the higher position and well treatment whereas blacks are treated in an opposite way than whites.

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It is was known that Barrow’s achievements and reigns were a strong symbol that stood out to represent an African American boxer who worked out his professional career and fought for African American’s equal rights. “Joe Louis, during his reign as heavyweight champion of the world

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The major thesis in this book, are broken down into two components. The first is how we define racism, and the impact that definition has on how we see and understand racism. Dr. Beverly Tatum chooses to use the definition given by “David Wellman that defines racism as a system of advantages based on race” (1470). This definition of racism helps to establish Dr. Tatum’s theories of racial injustice and the advantages either willingly or unwillingly that white privilege plays in our society today. The second major thesis in this book is the significant role that a racial identity has in our society.

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Battle Royale Battle Royale is a short story about the life of young African American boy with outstanding academic capabilities that saw him excel in his studies in harsh colonial times. The story brings to the fore the significance of power and wealth in the society and the advantage that those with wealth and power possess over those that lack the same. From the story, it is evident that the wealthy and powerful White men had the power control the fate of the Black people in the society and did what they pleased to them even orchestrating a fight among the black men just for the sake of entertainment. Their wealth allowed them to demand savage fighting among the blacks and the one young man in the story was only able to access his scholarship

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I have heard countless information on racism, but it is always appalling to read it from a first person experience since I have not dealt with it on a personal level before. By providing his own personal stories, it allows the reader to be brought into his world. He leaves details that allowed me to picture him walking down a busy street with an uneasy feeling. He shares “over the years, I learned to smother the rage I felt at so often being taken for a criminal” (397) which illustrates the emotion behind racism. It must have taken a tremendous amount of will to not give into his rage.

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The time period the essay was written in was 1986; so while looking back at the history during the late 70’s & early 80’s when many of his unjust treatments were bestowed upon him. Around this time period the black people community fought through barriers in many areas to achieve the equality they rightfully deserved. Likewise with civil rights activist groups like the black panthers protesting and rallying many people thought of the black community as violent or disrespectful which would have led to the maltreatment and inequality that many black men and women faced like

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Racism is a topic that has been relevant for many years though our time. Brent Staples wrote "Black Men and Public Space," published in Ms. Magazine in 1986, where he discusses how he became "familiar with the language of fear" (614). Throughout his essay, Staples uses logos, ethos, and pathos to give a reader an insight into the life of a black man in society, which effectively reaches his intended audience, but not his current day audience. Brent Staples starts talking about his "first victim" (613) picking up her pace until she was no longer able to be seen.

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Literary Devices and How They Affect the Reader “Black Men and Public Space” is an essay written by Brent Staples in which he describes his struggles in the public as a black male. Throughout this work, he uses many literary devices to make the reader sympathize with his experiences. For some, they may empathize and feel themselves in his shoes. In “Black Men and Public Space”, Staples is very descriptive and remains on subject with the issue at hand throughout the essay.

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Once again, Maya Angelou manages to touch our hearts again with her poetic skills in Chapter 19 titled The Champion of the World in her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She recalls a time in her life where the African American community gathered at her grandmother's and uncle's store to hear a boxing match via radio. The boxing match was between the former champion Joe Louis and a white boxer. Maya Angelou takes the meaning of a simple boxing match into something more complex; she demonstrates the suffrage of her people fighting against oppression during that time period.

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“Black Men and Public Spaces” Diagnostic Essay 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. Although Staples describes himself as a college graduate, a journalist, and a softy in the face of violence, he details that the overall public deems him a dangerous criminal.

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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. Staples begins his article by describing the events leading up to his life-changing realization that he has inherited “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways (183).” When he was twenty-two years old, Staples found himself one evening, walking behind a well-dressed white woman on a deserted street in a rather wealthy neighborhood.

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