Just walk on by is an article written by Brent Staples depicting his run-ins with racism. He discovers his incontrollable power to negatively affect pedestrians and other individuals around him while on one of his regular night walks in Chicago. He became used to being judged based on his race and appearance, but not content with it. Ultimately, Staples found a way to relieve the tension of other around him, causing them not to be so hasty with their assumptions. Pat Capponi’s Dispatches from the Poverty Line tells a story of how she fell victim to stereotyping, but also made some of her own.
In Staples’s essay it is viewed from the perspective of an african american who is walking the street at night and how others view him. Racism is viewed throughout both essay’s, although they are viewed from different points on interest, individuals are still effected the same In Nodas essay Growing Up Asian in American she discusses how she never truly felt or understood what it was like to be an american. She even stated that it is defined by law and customs that she will forever be an “alien.” She saw how others around her viewed her and would deny her that she was not American. Normally when individuals are rejected by other they start to focus more on things that they know such as their heritage. In Noda’s essay she was rejected by individuals because of their views on someone of her race.
Black Men and Public Space “Numerous studies over the past 30 years have found that in ambiguous situations blacks are more likely to be perceived as violent as whites performing the same actions. (q) Infotrac ethnic news watch In black men and public space the character recaps the day when he first witnessed being stereotyped. Realizing that the woman was clutching her purse changed the speed of her walk, because she was afraid of being mugged or worse. After only glancing at him, a young black man, the white lady took precautions. From then on he starts to notice that people was stereotyping every where he went, when walking at night he noticed people crossing on the other side of the street not wanting to come into contact with him.
Lydia Tawney Mrs. Swift APL 2 22 April 2013 Brent Staples argues in his essay, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space,” he argues that black men are perceived as threatening, but that’s not the only case. At night, on the street, alone, personally I would be more afraid of black guy walking down the street behind me than a black woman, but I’d be more afraid of the black woman than a white one. Race definitely has an impact on how threatening. Black people are more threatening; a sketchy looking Latina is more threatening than a Caucasian.
He also brings up about how civil right leaders have the right to bash these black celebrities that are putting down their own race. They fought so hard to be free and have the same rights as a white person so he is confused on why they would bash their own race. He should have added more statistics and maybe where he got his facts. He says the homicide is on the rise for black woman and rape is often found with black girls primarily. Where did he get those statistics?
In the essay “A Train from Hate,” Franklin and his mother were escorted off of a train because they mistakenly got on the whites only coach resulting in them having to walk home through the woods. Franklin wrote in his autobiography Mirror to America, “I endured the very strict segregation laws and practices in Tulsa, Oklahoma” (Durham). Franklin’s experience with racism and the role he played in society compelled him to write this essay. As he stated in the story, “My pilgrimage from racial apprehension— was early and brief”
At that meeting Martin Luther King gave an inspiring speech that spread the boycott further among blacks. On December 8th, Martin Luther King held a meeting with bus officials and lawyers. He and the MIA appealed for the desegregation of the service, but were denied. During the boycott, blacks walked, biked, carpooled(private black drivers transported passengers) and hitchhiked to get around. Black taxi drivers offered discounts to black passengers.
The Theme of Black Men in Public Space Theme is the central message and idea of a particular story. In “Black Men in Public Space,” written by Brent Staples, the main point revolves around appearance versus reality. The author happens to be a harmless, African-American journalist living in New York who comes across a great deal of discrimination because of the way he looks. The theme is that people are too quick to deem someone as a threat towards society because of their appearance. Brent Staples’ appearance caused him a great deal of grief.
In the movie, Crash, it displays the common stereotypes of different races and misinterpretations of race confusing one with another unknowing the differences. The movie start off as two black males whom are walking out of a café and one is complaining unequal service towards them being that their black while the other one is rational towards the events. As walking down the street he is still talking about it and sees a woman whom grabs a hold of her husband’s arm in sight of them as in a common stereo type of black men whom steal and rob. He explains that the white people shouldn’t be afraid of them and that they are the ones who should be afraid being in a predominately white location. When the couple get in the car the lady’s suspicions are correct in which they carjacked at gunpoint by the two men whom were walking down the street.
In Staple’s “Black Man and Public Spaces,” Staples describes an instance when he was walking down the street at night, minding his own business and the lady in front of him started to run away like someone was chasing her. Staples was stereotyped as somebody that was a threat to the woman’s safety, just because of the color of his skin. In Rodriguez’s essay serotypes of a Hispanic with a dark completion can be positive or negative depending on the situation and how he presented himself. He describes how if he walked through a service entrance at a hotel, people wouldn’t think much of him but if walks in with a nice suite his complexion acts as a symbol of leisure. His mother always told him to stay out of the sun, most likely because the darker you are the stereotype is that you are a manual laborer for example someone who could possibly work in the strawberry fields or as a gardener.