Brent Staples A Brother's Murder

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said “Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself.” Twenty-five years after Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his Nobel Lecture, Brent Staples wrote “A Brother’s Murder” describing the circumstances of growing up in a heavily poor, heavily black neighborhood (Staples 505). The acts of violence in the small neighborhood in Chester, Pennsylvania are not related to the acts of racism around “their hood.” The narrator describes how one could get stuck in the rubble of the violent drama, like his brother Blake, and how one can avoid it completely, like the narrator did. Staples elaborates on the conditions in which these young males were being killed, their race and gender, and he explains how he avoids it entirely. THESIS?? Throughout the first paragraph, Staples elaborates on that fact that Blake and the narrator don’t have much of an opportunity growing up in a city with such harsh circumstances like theirs, constant violence. The narrator describes the ridiculous conditions in which several males in their teen years and early twenties have been killed (Staples 505). At
Blake could have followed his older brother’s footsteps and created a much better life for himself. The narrator describes Blake as being a strong willed boy. As I read through “A Brother’s Murder,” I realize Blake just didn’t have the courage the narrator had to move to a completely different state and leave his old life behind. Understandably, Blake was intimidated by the rest of the world and realized he could prove his manhood and courage by staying in Chester and proving himself. Culturally, I realized the different attitudes people have to different