Black Men And Public Space

Brent Staples chose to use his own life experiences as a black man to draw a conclusion about how society accepted him and why they perceived him a certain way. It is quite evident that this author was convinced that society was against him and used what might have been a nonracial instance to often utilized their mistrust of the white race. Dark alleyway are frequently a perfect setting for muggings and rapes.

If I were in the same environment, especially at night, I would, as Brent Staple’s assumed victim, also have been frightened. I wouldn’t have scurried away because I saw a man of black color, but because I was a woman in a dark alley, and any many in the same area would have scared me away from the scene! When we are very young, we are taught to avoid dangerous alleys and particular settings where dangerous situations could most likely occur. Haven’t you ever heard a mother say, “Don’t go into a dark alley alone?

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” I can understand why Brent Staples, being a man of color could take the situation and assume that his color was the only reason that the victim ran away but I would say that if he stood unnoticed in the same alley and watched another so-called victim, as a white man approached her, he could easily see that without a doubt, the woman would run off in the same manner. Women are not taught as a child to “watch out for black men” but to be careful around any men, Page 2 especially in dark alleys!

The writer is mirroring his own theories upon society and it is quite clear that Brent Staples is firm in his belief that the world sees him as a threat and walks around on egg shells, always gathering information to support his views. (Brent Staples (1951-) I grew up in poverty, the eldest of nine children in Chester, Pennsylvania), is giving the impression that he grew up in poverty because he lived in Chester, Pennsylvania. and that his brother was a drug dealer who was murdered; he is stereotyping. He is giving the impression that if you grow up in a specific black area, that there will be crime in the connection.

(Brent Staples; My first victim was a woman-- white, well-dressed and probably in her late twenties. ) This opening sentence sets the stage for Brent Staples to assume that all white, well-dressed women who are young will most likely be frightened off by a black man and that he will probably carry this same assumption with him throughout the rest of his life. It wouldn’t be fair to judge all of societies beliefs based on his assumptions because if everyone believed that black men are a threat to them, the world would be a less attractive place to live.

Writing this book gave Brent Staples a stage to perform from. It gave his a source to express his views on the racial mistrust. Although, he has a right to his opinion, it doesn’t necessarily validate that his insight he gained through the years, be stated without offering some type of buffer. He could have added throughout his writing that on many occasions, he was helped by a white woman and that maybe he felt trusted by her in many different aspects. By only giving the account of the bad experiences he endured, it gives Page 3

the reader the idea that he never encountered a trusting white person. It would be hard to imagine that he lived a full life without ever experiencing a certain amount of trust from at least some white men. Brent Staples was a writer of his thoughts, who dedicated much of his time to writing and observing the accounts of silent judgment on the black man. If he believed that every black man would be a direct threat on a white woman, he probably wouldn’t have been such an avid fighter, expressing his concern for the of the equal acceptance of the black race.

If he suspected that his future white descendents would have been harmed or killed by a black man, he would have most likely never attempted to write about his beliefs. ( Brent Staples; I whistle melodies from Beethoven…) was a way for Brent Staples to portray innocence and to get a normal look from his fellowman in the subway. Brent Staples’s argument is well constructed given that he is confident in his observations of the racism he felt that he experienced. He was associated with the idea and belief that society would only accept him as a normal citizen if he behaved in a certain way.

In the writing by Brent Staple, “Black Men in Public Space” he wrote this piece of work to express his important opinion about the effect of racism on his personal life and how people viewed him as being different because of his color. Because he was a black man, he had to prove that he was a person with upstanding morals and that he realized that sometimes he must depend on the people that knew him, and understood that he was a good person so they in return could validate his good value as a human being. (I had no Page 4 way of proving who I was.

I could only move briskly toward the company of someone who knew me. ) Brent Staples is trying to connect to a vast audience of people who don’t understand what it is like to be a black man in society. He is explaining how he felt condemned to a life of prejudice and isolation from the mainstream of people when he escaped from his hometown and ventured into a town with a much higher population of white men and how this change then taught him that the world’s perception of him was so much different than what he had once believed when he lived in Chester, Pennsylvania.

For the black population, the author is also pointing to this audience that he, as a black man, has learned that because of his color that he is labeled a threat to the white race in regions that aren’t predominantly black. He has found a way to voice his opinion to both races that are black and white in color. By relaying his thoughts and listing the events that brought him to his conclusion, (Brent Staples; Then there were the standard unpleasantries of policemen, doormen, bouncers, cabdrivers, and others whose business it is to screen out troublesome individuals before there is any nastiness.

) (Brent Staples; I was twenty-two years old, a graduate student, newly arrived at the University of Chicago. ) The writer expresses that he was very young when he made his assumption that the white man did not either respect him or trust him, which I believe because of his young age and inexperience with mingling with a mixed population at an early age brought him to his conclusion that because he was black, people mistrusted him when in reality people are just mistrusting of everyone, in general. Reference taken from the writings of Brent Staples; Black Men and Public S

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