Not everyone has a special power to alter public space, but if the surroundings were different then people would probably have a very good sense about what is being said. In "Black Men and Public Space," Brent Staples claims that he is a black man who whenever in public is met with fear from his surroundings because of his racial stereotype. He points out that one can easily change physical behavior and dressing in order to alter public space in a good way or bad way. As Staples says, “Black men have a very bad reputation of being a mugger, a rapist or even worse” (336). Therefore, many people are afraid of them.
Black Men and Public Space In his essay “Black Men and Public Space,” Brent Staples asserts that black men are being deeply stereotyped as dangerous individual to the society. Because of the historical race that black men have always committed crimes and caused violence, now it look like black men is a sign of evildoer; for example muggers and rapists. Staples develops this claim by describing his own experiences which he has been considered as a dangerous people or a burglar. At the beginning, he uses his “first victim” to set the tone of the article. The “first victim” is a white woman, who is so afraid of him when Staples, a youngish black man, walked behind her that she quickly ran away.
Steinbeck introduces Crooks as a black man. We begin to learn about Crooks through gossip with Candy calling him derogatory terms like 'nigger' and 'stable buck'. The way he is openly referred to as 'nigger' exemplifies the casual racism directed towards him by the others- they don't insult him deliberately, but the use of the term shows he is constantly degraded both verbally and physically. This suggests to us that he is a social outcast. Readers at the time would have related to the situation as racism was still a common habit in the 1930s.
Violence As an author Richard Wright used his novel Black Boy to call upon citizens of the world to recognize the unjust exertions of force and power that were bestowed upon thousands of discriminated individuals. However the central focus of Wright’s novel was to show how racisms insidious nature creates an environment in which violence between people is inevitable. It was within this environment that Richard endures three stages of his life including initiation, acceptance, and the consequential chain reaction of terrible events. From the very beginning of the novel Wright is constrained into a world where violence encompasses his every move. In the very first chapter Richard is nearly beaten to death by his mother for setting the window
Journal #1 Why Blacks Get Mad- Cecil Foster 1.What exactly is Celcil Foster's thesis? Cecil Foster's thesis was to get the point that racism was still a huge problem and people weren't noticing how bad it was actually getting. He mentioned that the Rodney King verdict triggered the worst outbreak of violence since the Watts riots. The Rodney King riot began because an African-American known as Rodney King was badly beaten by the Los Angeles police officers. After this problem had occurred, Rodney became the main focus for how bad race issues were.
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.
Her belief becomes real in the next few minutes when two other black men carjack them. Another example from the movie is Cultural based theories of prejudice. The character Farhad believes that since he is Persian he is being persecuted against and cheated, because he believes that everyone who is middle-eastern is not welcome in America especially after the events of 9/11. When he was in the gun shop, and the owner of the gun shop was rude to him, he becomes angry and makes a scene, based on the listed beliefs and fears that he has. Another example is when Farhad calls for a locksmith to fix his shop door.
Black Men and Public Space In Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Space”, a black man tells his experience with particular individuals in public areas whom fear him based on his race’s stereotype. Staples suggest that people still tend to portray black men as violent and dangerous individuals from racial tendencies without rationalizing and thus causing stress to the victims (black men) because they’re seen as threats despite their true nature. In the past, black men have had reputations that associate themselves with murderers, thieves, rapist etc. thus making people around them feel anxious and/or concerned. The tone from the text appears ironic as Staples uses the words “My first victim” as his opener despite himself being the victim instead of the offender.
These cause other people from different racists to look at blacks in a bad way. It also causes society to live in fear, hate and racism. I believe that it isn’t fair how a television show can bring so many thoughts and opinions on black people. Studies state “most people in U.S. society are well aware of the many stereotypes and images surrounding black males.” Television programs should be used to educate and inform the viewers. Most African American shows portray males as violent, dead beats fathers, lazy and gangsters.