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Summary Of Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples

1110 Words5 Pages

Within the past century, America has changed greatly in regards to the aspect of racism. Even though there are still some issues with this subject today, we have come a long way from what we once were. In Brent Staples’s writing, Black Men and Public Space, he describes his life as a young black man living in a world where many people still have very negative views toward people of his race. The situations he tells about lead the reader to come to the conclusion that racism is a very real thing, especially in the time this piece was written. I think the claim Staples is trying to make is that all black men are viewed by people as dangerous and threatening, but in reality, not all black men live a life of crime. Racism is discrimination targeted toward another person of a different race because of the established belief that one’s own race is better. In the work by Staples, he describes many events where he was discriminated against because of the color of his skin and the fact that crime has an association with people of his race. People would automatically assume that he was “a mugger, a rapist, or worse (Staples 314).” This just shows how very closed minded people were during this time, and many were quick to …show more content…

When it comes down to it, officers have the great responsibility of keeping citizens safe and if there is no trust between these groups of people, then the system will not be successful and it will fail. Those in uniform have acquired a large feeling of distrust from citizens in some places because of these unfortunate shooting incidents. We need to work on building a better relationship between police and citizens because we are all in it together. The police are listening, they are there to help. It is a work in progress and every day we are moving toward a better tomorrow where we can all be seen

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Black Men In Public Places Summary

248 Words | 1 Pages

In the article, “Black Men in Public Places,” Brent Staples first grabs the reader by telling them about his first victim. This, “victim,” was not harmed by Staples at all, he only walked passed her at night, which made her incredibly uncomfortable and she was not the only person that had felt this way. Staples describes how people would lock their car doors when he would walk by, just because of his appearance, to them he looked the same as a mugger or rapist. Staples moved to New York, and faced the same racial profiling he did back in his hometown. Staples describes himself as shy and timid, while the people where he grew up were gang affiliated and were dying at young ages.

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

1033 Words | 5 Pages

Black Men in Public Page: 2 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,

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Analysis Of Just Walk On By Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples

552 Words | 3 Pages

How would one feel if he were discriminated against only because the context in which he was in makes it “reasonable” to do so? Some may say that our lives revolve around our own judgements and therefore it is necessary to take every possible precaution to ensure our own safeties. However, such action would often result in preconceived opinion and discriminations against races. For this reason, “objectively reasonable fear” is not justified.

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The Role Of Stereotyping In 'Black Men And Public Space'

621 Words | 3 Pages

In “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples shows how being a young black man has affected him. He is perceived as dangerous right away as he arrives in Chicago. This is known as stereotyping. Stereotyping is a fixed idea or image made of a person. Putting a label on someone is something done everyday.

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

1047 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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Comparison Of Just Walk On By: Black Men And Public Space

611 Words | 3 Pages

Judith Cofer and Brent Staples both express their experiences of being judged and stereotyped in the public sphere. Cofer’s essay, “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria,” explains how she was typically stereotyped as an uneducated Latina. In Staples’ essay, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space,” elaborates on how he is seen as a threat in the community due to his race. Although both essays express similar material based on judgement, each essayist presents their write up differently. Cofer has an aggrieved tone and uses experiences where she responds actively to being mistreated to express how she feels, whereas Staples’ tone is much more passive and he utilizes his experiences of mistreatment with humbleness.

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Summary Of Just Walk On By A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space

840 Words | 4 Pages

In his essay, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”, Brent Staples uses the rhetorical strategies of anecdote and diction in order to convey his message that due to racial discrimination black people (mainly men) have to change the way they naturally conduct themselves in public for they run the risk of something terrible happening to them. Staples uses anecdotes to bring in the personal side of the message to the audience. Staples creates a persona of innocence and almost alienation in his writing. Anecdotes such as his both instances in which he accidently scared women on walks and the time in which he and another reporter were mistaken for murder suspects or robbers are used to show real life proof of his message.

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Law Enforcement Stereotypes

984 Words | 4 Pages

Plain and simply put, if the community can’t trust law enforcement, then when law enforcement does something that looks even remotely out of line, the community’s perspective of them will get worse. Another thing I learned, was that many people hate all law enforcement because they had one bad encounter with an officer. From an educated perspective it seems unfair and even laughable that this would be the case, but the proof was real. One bad encounter with law enforcement and that person can correlate it to every law enforcement officer they ever encounter again. The strongest answer I found to the negative association with police officers was media manipulation for ratings.

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Police Brutality Cases

1151 Words | 5 Pages

The police have always been people you can call when in an emergency. They have always been seen as the good guys who are there to ensure your safety, which is why it is very important to trust police men as well as firefighters because if you don’t it may be hard to follow their instructions when in a dangerous situation. They are the few brave citizens who risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure their communities safety, so why do people have such a hard time trusting them? Perhaps it may be because of the recent police brutality assaults, which have become more and more recent, for example; the very popular and over publicized Eric Garner and Michael Brown brutality cases, which have become a major topic of controversy. Some other major police brutality cases are; the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, which ignited many protests within the community, as there had

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Should The Arguments Against Police Brutality

1008 Words | 5 Pages

When we see police going around shooting people they make the community distrust them more and more each day. Who is the city going to call when they see criminal acts being portrayed? If they can’t trust the police than people will be getting robbed, murdered, and raped everyday without being

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Summary Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples

756 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout his essay, Staples is able to make the audience understand what he has to deal with as a black man. Staples does this by using words and phrases such as, “...her flight made me feel like an accomplice in tyranny” and “... I was indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area…” (542). By writing and describing how he (Staples) feels, the audience is able to get an inside look into how black men are treated and better understand why society’s teachings, play a vital role in how we see each other. Staples’ powerful writing also allows the reader to take a step back and see how as a society, people make judgements on others based on appearance alone.

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Black Men And Public Space Rhetorical Analysis

621 Words | 3 Pages

“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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Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples Summary

841 Words | 4 Pages

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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Summary Of Just Walk On By Black Men And Public Space

1166 Words | 5 Pages

Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples discusses the relevant issues of racial bias and how prejudice against people of color has embedded minds, as it demonstrates the importance of being aware of how we conceive others. Staples uses a contrasting element of race by introducing a white female and a black male. He uses his experiences and other people of colour to display the struggles of racism they face everyday. Staples reveals how people are prejudice against appearance, despite the importance of individuality of people and being impartial regardless of someone 's skin or looks. The story begins with Staples describing his first experience frightening a white women due to the colour of his skin.

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Black Men In Public Spaces Analysis

456 Words | 2 Pages

Americans Stereotypes: Loosening stereotypes Americans are always scared when they see a black man and think about them trying to harm them. Actually, that isn’t always the case and isn’t the case a lot of the time. Brent Staples in his writing Black Men in Public Spaces shows some of the societies stereotype issues. Americans should stop stereotyping blacks, not purposely go around them at night, and he shouldn’t have to whistle to make people comfortable around him. Americans put stereotypes on different ethnicities.

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