Just Walk On By Brent Staples Analysis

Register to read the introduction… In the essay “Just Walk on By”, Brent Staples uses his own experiences to elucidate how countless females distance themselves from him because they want to be safe. Staples writes, “My first victim was a woman--white, well-dressed, probably in her late twenties. I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street in Hyde Park, a relatively affluent neighborhood in an otherwise mean, impoverished section of Chicago. […] She cast back a worried glance. To her, the youngish black man--a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket--seemed menacingly close”. The white female attributed Staples to the lowly, “thug-like” stereotype for the black race because she took into account Staples’ skin color and also the fact she was not far away from the “mean, impoverished section of Chicago”, the environment in this situation. Biologically, her body’s instincts responded to Staples’ race and the accompanying stereotypes, and this urged the white female to flee. In turn, this proves that race serves a miniscule, yet pragmatic purpose from a biological perspective. Again, it must be noted that race in no way can be justified taxonomically. In another essay on race called The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker, the author Eric Liu asserts that he finds himself “now the bearer of a …show more content…
Whenever I look at a person I subconsciously classify that person into a race based mainly on appearance and other visible or tangible characteristics such as skin color, lip size, or the language I hear them speaking. I believe that this is how the human mind works. Humans classify individuals that look alike into groups to create stereotypes. The human mind then finds it easier to assign stereotypes or generalizations to this group of individuals that look the same. I then use these stereotypes and generalizations to determine how I react towards a race. A stereotype for a race tells my mind many things. It may tell me to be cautious around a certain race or to act in a certain way around a certain race. For example, if I am entering the home of an Asian, I always offer to take off my shoes. I do this because from race I can determine not only stereotypes but traditions of certain races. In this case, the majority of Asians do not wear shoes inside their homes. Therefore, race creates stereotypes which can be used beneficially by the human mind. Of course, my initial classification of an individual may be wrong because I do not know all the details of a person. For example, I may see a black person dressed in a ghetto manner and think they are unintelligent and “thug-like” because of my stereotype of an individual of this race. However, this black person may