Compare And Contrast Just Walk On By And The Myth Of The Latin Woman

Analyzing Someone Else’s Experience
In Brent Staples essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space” and in Judith Cofer’s essay “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” both authors build an argument using their own experience with being stereotyped. These two essays are very effective in proving the author’s argument with real life situations as primary evidence. In Staples essay, he uses his experience as a black male being looked at as a “thug”, “mugger”, or “rapist” and his real life problems that he went through while being stereotyped. In Cofer’s essay, she tells her story of being a Latin American girl and her issues she faced being stereotyped while growing up. People are often quick to stereotype people with

Staples expresses his argument with real life experiences that have caused him to be stereotyped as a black male. People often think black males are “thugs”, “muggers”, or “rapist”, Staples points out that not all blacks fall under this category, especially him. Staples was first stereotyped when he was out walking at night (because this is what he likes to do) and comes across a white female who perceived him as a mugger or a rapist. This is when he realizes that he was “indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area”( Pg.301 Para. 2). Staples comes to the conclusion that “being perceived as dangerous is a hazard itself” (Pg. 301 Para.), someone could be at the wrong place at the wrong time and this may lead to death. Someone shouldn’t judge someone by the color of their skin, and this is why we are facing so many racial issues in this world today. Staples faced issues with not only everyday pedestrians but with police officers, doormen, bouncers, and cabdrivers. He mentions that he has witnessed the “hunch posture” from women after dark, Staples doesn’t blame them for this because “their fear isn’t a hallucination”(pg. 302 para. 6), street violence is going on everywhere with young black males, and unfortunately other black men have to pay the consequences of their actions. Unlike others,

Cofer’s argument is that stereotyping people based off their culture or skin color isn’t the right thing to do. She said, “ Growing up in a large urban center in New Jersey during the 1960’s, I suffered from what I think of as (cultural schizophrenia.)” They did everything differently than others: they spoke Spanish, ate Puerto Rican food, and practiced strict Catholicism, just like they would if they were in Puerto Rico. As a young girl Cofer had to wear clothes just like they would in their own country. Cofer often was humiliated by the formal clothes that she was forced to wear because she stood out differently than everyone else. One incident that happened at school was on their Career Day, she felt “hopeless” and “vulgar” because of the way she dressed wasn’t the same as all the other girls in her school. She wasn’t use to looking differently than them because they wore uniforms everyday. Not only adults, but children are now stereotyping others because they “look” differently than them. Men usually are quick to stereotype a Latina girl based off their clothing, these men think the way they are dressed is a “come on” because of their tight skirts and jingly bracelets that they always wear. They also think that Latina girls mature faster than other girls, and the author says, “as if I