In his article, “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples describes his experiences with veiled prejudice and racism throughout his life in big cities. Staples explains how, as a black man, his appearance often causes people––including authorities––to “fear the worst from [him]” because of misjudgment of “young black males.” Women stiffen and quicken their pace, others cross to the other side of the road, and car doors are distinctively locked when Brent Staples is near because he is perceived…
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In 1986, Brent Staples wrote a nonfictional prose essay, “Black Men and Public Space” from The Norton High School Reader, about his color. To this day, Staples’s essay is still relevant towards Americans and African-Americans. Throughout the years in the United States of America, fatal shooting of unarmed people, especially blacks, have declined, but it is still a major issue today. These shootings have mostly been caused by the police. As Staples writes “Where fear and weapons meet--and they often…
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revealing clothing were to cross the street, the public would view her as a slut. Or when a white person tries to avoid a black person because of their looks or the kind of crowd they’re with. Unfortunately, the most misperception is race. Brent Staples, a journalist and author of “Black Men and Public Space”, shares his experiences as a black man in Chicago. He writes his essay based on misperception and racism for young readers and males of black ethnicity. In the start he describes the time when…
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of a certain race based on a stereotype about their race. In the selection, “Black Men and Public Space” the author, Brent Staples, uses several of his personal experiences of racial profiling he has had in his early years. In one instance, the author states that while walking behind a Caucasian woman, she started to run away from him because of his intimidating stature and race. She assumed that because he was black and walking at night that he was a mugger. A person should not have a preconceived…
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In the article Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples, the author is writing to persuade the reader that he is not a stereotype, he is a human being. He uses the ethos rhetoric to convey the central idea that he is treated unfairly because of stereotypes. What this means is that the reader relies on the writter's character and attempts to gain the audience's respect or recognition of shared values. the author is trying to gain empathy from the reader as he shares unjust events. The author…
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Brent Staples is an African American male, Born September 13, 1951.He published "Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space," in 1951. He explains that in his life, he has been discriminated against because he is a black man working as a journalist in a predominantly white field. Brent staples show in his thesis that, racism still exists in this world, even though we would like to think we are all equal. Stereotypes of race and sex can influence how people treat you. Brent…
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Utilizing rhetoric like pathos and ethos, Brent Staples’ “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” provides a clear message, black men are always stereotyped into criminals rather than having their own individual identities and personalities, to his overall audience. Brent Staples within “Just Walk On By” uses the rhetorical device of ethos to not only present his message but to also strengthen it. Staples began with “My first victim…” which in the beginning may…
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The short story “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples who is a journalist in Chicago, shows us how stupid and ignorant people can be just to judge quickly. Brent Staples shows us that no matter how hard we work or earn, many white American will always prejudge all blacks in the same manner. He starts by explain that his first victim was a white woman in Chicago who reacted to his attendance. She categorized Staples just by the way he looked and ran for the nearest place she thought was safe…
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can have is how people view others and the world around them. This is shown in the passages “By Any Other Name” and “Black Men and Public Space.” Culture can affect all kinds of different things. In “Black Men and Public Space” Brent Staples discusses his own experiences on how he is stereotyped because he is an African American and looks intimidating in “public spaces.” Staples, is an intelligent man that is a graduate student at the University Of Chicago but due to his skin complexion he is constantly…
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Racism has been a huge topic in our media lately, with the most common “white and black” racism, but it can also apply in many different forms. It can also be intraracial in which we saw in the article, “FOBs vs. Twinkies”, where members of the Asian-American community not only have to deal with racism from whites, but also within their own race. Looking at the other side, in the article “Black Men in Public Spaces” black men have to face the struggle in everyday life, of facing racism from whites. Not…
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