Preview

Summary Of Brent Staples 'Essay' Alter Public Space

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
291 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Brent Staples 'Essay' Alter Public Space
“Alter public space” means the thinking way of human brains about the public place and changes the reality of what it meant to what is in their thoughts. In the essay “Black men and Public Space” Brent Staples shared his personal experiences and feelings about how people react and feel when they met him in public places. He explained that when people met black men in public places people (mostly women) were scared of them and looked for ways and means to escape from them. Stereotyping of black that they are not good and they can cause harm to others has no base. I feel that stereotyping of black people and categorized them as a mugger, a rapist, is not good. In all communities, there are good as well as bad people. So, one cannot make

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the essay “Black Men and Public Spaces,” written by Brent Staples, reflects the experiences, beliefs, and understandings of the reader through the use of chronological sense of organization, tone, and detail to prove how racial stereotypes force a change in one's behavior, that can end up altering society's perception of an individual.…

    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power To Alter Public Space,” Brent Staples discusses the development of standard stereotypes that can not just affect the actions of the victim, but the suspect. Throughout the essay, Staples describes himself in a sequence of events, and proceeds to tell the readers how people around him react. Brent Staples was a tall black man and always faced the same reaction when walking the streets during his late night strolls. People that were walking late as well especially white women would avoid Staples either by crossing the street to avoid him or immediately be quiet and walk faster. Staples, being a six-foot two black man, appeared to be dangerous which caused the white women to cross the street or walk faster. When he is telling this story, he states that “it was clear that she thought…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After watching both the TED talk “The Danger of the Single Story” and the film “God Grew Tired of Us” I definitely noticed the large nature of prejudice and stereotyping of African Americans in our society. Society has made massive improvements since the times of slavery and the stereotypes that have reinforced it. However, there still seems that several individuals go uninformed about the lingering stereotypes, negative positions, and subjugation to Africans and African Americans. It’s also crucial to investigate how these stereotypes are established and dismissed in order to get rid of the problem once and for all. Several people acquire expectations founded on their opinions and are persuaded to disregard or reject information that is unreliable…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Brent Staples Analysis

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The mere presence of black men contain the power to invoke awe, discomfort and intimidation. This power, however, does not justify the grossly apologetic attitude and extreme behavior modification that Brent Staples exercised for the simple purpose of alleviating the fears and suspicions aroused by the presence of a black man. Brent says he smothered the rage that surely would have turned to madness, he kept a wide distance from people on subways who appeared to be nervous especially during the wee hours, and even moreso if he had changed from professional attire into jeans. Brent, in his own words, allowed people to walk by so he didn't appear to be following them. In my opinion, this is overkill to accommodate the expectations and assuage the racially sterotypic and unrealistic suspicions of others.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although it is often ignored by those around it, discrimination is an impending problem in our towns. In the essay “Black Men and Public Space” written by Brent Staples, Staples responds to the racism he faces in various social situations. He reveals how he has “become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear” (1). As a large black man, people seem to fear Staples without a valid reason to. They do not see his character, but rather only his appearance. This reveals how people are fast to stereotype a person that they see, and not give them the opportunity to show their personalities. They are afraid of what, or who, they are afraid of, resulting in their own anxiety being created. By personifying the emotion of fear, Staples relays…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Staples and Cofer

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages

    When Americans meet someone new they are already sticking that person into some sort of category because of their appearance. If someone looks different than Americans are use to, they automatically stick some sort of stereotype to them. Stereotypes are strongly displayed in the media; stereotype can be based of someone’s color, culture, religion, or sex. In Black men in public spaces by Brent Staples, and in The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the authors talk about stereotypes based on their gender and ethnicity and the experiences they both encounter because of their ethnicity and gender which have many similarities and differences. Stereotypes can lead to hatred and discrimination against other groups. The problem with stereotyping is it is identifying an individual based on a group a person belongs to, which is not right because each individual is their own person. Stereotypes can be true, and are sometimes false that is why a person should only be judged by who he/she is, each person is unique in his/her own way. Cofer addresses the stereotypes of Latin women, while Brent Staples points out the social views of African American men by both displaying the stereotypes stuck to them, how the grew up, and encounters with strangers to reveal the similarities and differences they face concerning ethnicity.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We live in a judgmental world; believe it or not that’s just how it is. People are going to judge you before even knowing you and what your intentions are. Brent Staples, who is an African American, experiences the moment of feeling like a threat to women and people based on his color of skin and the way he is dressed. Almost all black men in today’s generation are likely to be suspects or looked at as a criminals or dangers to people. This is due to the fact that colored people are usually the race that’s being placed under arrest. It is correct that colored men have the highest criminal rate, but not all colored men should be distinguished as criminals for the actions of their race. In the essay “Black Men and Public Space,” by author Brent Staples, he uses ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade his of the prejudiced nature of our society.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have heard stories of blacks not getting jobs; regardless of how qualified they are for the position, because of the color of their skin. I have heard stories, and even witness black children getting picked on in school because of the simple fact that they are black. I watched a video in school where a black family moved into a white neighborhood, and before long all the white families had moved out because they didn’t want a black family in their neighborhood. This was confirmed by Hacker in my research in the quote, “Almost all residential areas are entirely black or white.” I have also seen videos of African American men getting beaten by white arresting officers, and have heard stories of many black men being stereotyped by policemen. This must be why Hacker states “When white people hear the cry, “the police are coming!” it almost always means, “Help is on the way.” However blacks cannot make the same assumption.” These are all reports and events that I think the average American has seen before, but yet most people,…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have seen many different examples of this but one that stood out to me was the Trayvon Martin case. Although this case had many different points of views and opinions the news portrayed him as a thug by using certain pictures and referencing and highlighting some of his teenage activities most likely because of the color of his skin, with out much information about the case when it was first released. Television shows are guilty of portraying this also. For example when Jerry Springer was airing the show would consist of a couple and a home wrecker, most of the time all African Americans, they would fight using profanity and improper English embarrassing them selves on national T.V. The African American stereotype has most likely been around the longest. This stereotype dates back to slavery and was very relevant in the fifties and sixties. One example is shown by Claude M Steele when he stated; “and I learned that we black kids could not swim at the pool at our area park, except on Wednesday Afternoons. That is just one example of how harsh it was to be an African American in that day. Even though our nation has gotten past that and taken great strides in getting rid of racism there are still certain prejudices and…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This essay written by Brent Staples tells of the first time the author experienced a negative reaction from someone just because he was black. He tells of how he noticed signs of fear when people saw him and realized that most of Chicago’s rapists and muggers were black and that his appearance could cause fear. He tells of how society tells us that we should be tough and shouldn’t back down and how some young men take this literally and get into…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    viewed as menacing and dangerous. In fact, the current stereotypes of black men as aggressive,…

    • 1926 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not everyone has a special power to alter public space, but if you were different from your surrounding, then you would probably have a very good sense about what I am talking about. In "Black … Space", Brent Staples claims that he is black man who whenever in public is meet with fear from his surrounding because of his races stereotype. He clearly points out one can easily change physical behavior and dressing in order to alter public space in a good way or bad way.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black Men in America

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Our black men are stereo-typed not only by whites but blacks too. Whites believe that every black man will steal from them or beat them. They believe our black men are thugs and belong in gangs. I believe that white men fear our black men. They know that if our men get educated enough we could take over. I'm not saying they will make them slaves or anything of that nature. I'm…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his article “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples argues that people change their behaviors due to their assumptions when a Black man is present and I agree with Brent Staples. For instance, when Brent Staples was going to work the security called on him” One day, rushing into the office of a magazine I was writing for a deadline story in hand, I was mistaken for a burglar. ”(paragraph 8) I have experienced this before, when I and my aunt went to go get some food there was an African American man walking to get some food and the people quickly rolled their windows up and seem to be really scared.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism Essay

    • 1091 Words
    • 1 Page

    inappropriate portrayals of the black life were seen by thousands of blacks before the Civil…

    • 1091 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays