Prejudice In 'Just Walk On By: Black Men And Public Space'

In today’s society, prejudice acts as the driving factor of our treatment of others. Prejudice, as mentioned, is defined as the unjustified negative attitudes that people may hold against others of a certain group, impacting how people may notice and interpret situations and events. More often than not, these ideas negatively impact a specific group of people, creating injustices within their lives. In the essay, “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space,” written by Brent Staples, Staples argues that black men are often in danger of being physically harmed or victimized because of society’s perception of them and the impression of the color of their skin. This concept, that one’s color of skin can act as an indicator of their character

Because of this, they unfortunately fall short of racial and criminal justice when compared to other races. More so, they are often neglected of the benefit of the doubt and in turn, become easy targets for culpability in certain situations. For instance, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman while walking home from a local convenience store one night in Sanford, Florida. Unarmed and posing no threat, Trayvon Martin was shot by Zimmerman who claimed that he was a “suspicious” individual roaming the neighborhood and who “looked like he was on drugs.” The fact that Martin was shot purely because of his physical appearance reveals the negative outlook of black men in America and just how influencing it is to drive us to commit such an irrational act. Had Trayvon Martin been any other race or skin color however, he might not have been shot at or even spared a second glance, but because of the darkness of his skin and the feelings of endangerment and threat that prejudice invokes within us, he was shot and killed. More importantly, it is critical that we recognize how Zimmerman assumed that Trayvon Martin was committing an unlawful act, demonstrating just the effects of prejudice and the blinding aspect of it that can cloud your judgement. This can be traced back to Staples’ argument, as it poses as a perfect instance of where black men in America are targeted and how they are drastically misrepresented and assumed to be the only perpetrators of violence or