Stereotypes In Brent Staples's 'Black Men In Public Space'

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In Brent Staples’ short story “Black Men and Public Space”, he paints a picture for the readers of the early years of black men in an urban environment. He identified that people often stereotype one another because of their skin color, their race, their gender, their culture or their appearance. Furthermore, it is expressed to us, the reader, that he, the author, pays close attention to the space between himself and others in public settings, for example; women on the sidewalk. Some people may disagree that women distance themselves a certain amount when walking by a black man on the sidewalk. This often distracts from larger issues in our culture,

Most of the time people use race as a big role when viewing other people, either if were walking down the street or walking into the store. Individuals have a specific view of people from other races and even their own. For example, a black businesswoman might stereotype another woman from her own race because she may not have the same attire as her or grew up in a different area. A white businesswoman might look down on another white woman who makes less money than her like she is a no one, which is not true as all humans are equal and money does not make anybody greater. But back to Staples’, he once said that a woman cast a worried glance at Staples when she saw him walking down the street. Staples found this to be a little strange, and as he walks too close to the woman she seems to pick up her pace of speed after a few glimpses of Staples. In this part of the essay, Staples had a sense that a woman who barely knows him was probably
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