Just Walk On By Brent Staples Summary

Improved Essays
In Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders, Brent Staples says that black men are typically perceived as a danger to society and uses personal encounters to give his idea life. The time period Staples paper was written about was an extremely divided time in our country. Segregation had been put to an end, but black people still were not yet seen as equals to most of the white population. In his article, he tells stories of how he was treated, how some of his friends were looked at, and how they were always suspected to be dangerous when they were doing nothing wrong. He started the story by telling of an encounter he had with a white woman in Chicago on one of his many sleepless nights. He went for a stroll to clear his mind and watched as a woman sped up to get away from him. He went on to tell how the stereotype followed him to New York. He told this story to raise awareness about how unfair and upsetting it is to be treated as a convict when you have done no wrong. Staples’ paper could be directed toward many groups of people for different reasons. People from all over America, all over the world even, can relate in some way to this story because some degree of racism still exists. Most readers would tend to agree with Staples because his stance on the topic is based off of real life experience, not just numbers and statistics. Readers could also see his point because of the stereotypes he implies that engulf our nation. Stereotypes, like “all Americans care about is money,” put people into boxes and make people look bad, even if it is not true. Almost all people have been stereotyped before, so it connects the reader to the paper on a personal level. In this article, he depicts how he felt when faced with the certain situations to make it a story that played to readers’ emotions. One example of his emotional appeal is when he says, “And I soon gathered that being perceived as dangerous is a hazard in itself.” …show more content…
I think he did a great job depicting the problem he faced. He made it personal and I could connect it to my life and the life of people I know. He told multiple stories that kept me interested in his story and his introduction was a great hook. The racial problems he faced matched well with the background of the time period. He linked the problem to stereotypes that are still around today and it helped me understand what exactly he meant. I liked that he used real life stories instead of made up stories. He used other books and people to add to the effect. I think he fulfilled his purpose because he made me understand and agree with him. I understand that he used his experience, but he was very one-sided. He did not use any logic to prove his point. He did not tell stories that would have shown why the white woman would have run from him in the middle of the night. Any woman should steer clear of any potential danger while walking the streets, especially at night. If a man with a big heavy coat was walking behind me at night, I would do my best to escape the situation, whether he was white or black or any other race. He placed a stereotype on that young woman just because she took precaution when walking alone on a dark street at

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The way he elaborated his personal experiences was quite persuasive and realistic such that anyone could distinctly understand what he was describing much like they had themselves experienced that situation. The depth of detail he uses…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” argues that in order to survive and not be perceived as a threat, Staples must always consider the effect of his presence. While he knows his true identify and lack of threat to the people around him, he is aware of the subconscious stereotypes that plague the minds of others. Although people are not intentionally trying to harm African Americans due to their stereotype of violence, Staples understands that “where fear and weapons meet – and they often do in urban America – there is always the possibility of death” (Staples). This realization allows the unaware, white audience to gain a better understanding of the possibly fatal effects of their…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If Staples was another white woman walking along the streets, the “victim” would not have felt as threatened. A white woman would not be a threat because she is a familiar figure. People tend to be most comfortable around those who are similar to themselves. Brent Staples is an African American man; he is the complete opposite to the “victim”. The “victim” has minimal parallels to the author; consequently, stereotypes are then put in play.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In conclusion, the theme throughout ‘Black Men and Public Space’ revolves around appearance versus reality. Throughout the story, Staples presents himself as a harmless, African-American…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Brent Staples “Just walk on by” he uses ethos to show the reader that he is kind. Staples have been perceived as dangerous because of his color. The first instance he remembers was one night in Chicago a women misjudges staples to be a mugger leaving him with embarrassed feeling. Others think of him as being dangerous. Staples later moved to New York were more populated streets minimize these stereotypical encounters.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He wrote about the many problems in education. But one thing he did not do was provide any solutions. The first part of finding the solution is pointing out the problem. His made me reminisce about all the times that school made me get frustrated. He really appealed to me because I understand completing what he is stating in his writing.…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The book Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to WWII was written by well known journalist and writer Douglas A. Blackmon. Blackmon was born on January 16, 1964 in Stuttgart , Arkansas but was eventually raised in the small town of Leland, Mississippi where he developed his love for writing. In 1986 Blackmon would later go on to graduate from Hendrix College. Throughout his career Blackmon has accumulated various accolades such as the American Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Staples isn’t alone in this battle. Brent Staples offers the problem colored skin people face against a prejudice society. Its a struggle just to get seen as an equal to someone of lighter skin. The mistaken belief society states, African Americans are the ones targeted in causing trouble.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his essay, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”, Brent Staples uses the rhetorical strategies of anecdote and diction in order to convey his message that due to racial discrimination black people (mainly men) have to change the way they naturally conduct themselves in public for they run the risk of something terrible happening to them. Staples uses anecdotes to bring in the personal side of the message to the audience. Staples creates a persona of innocence and almost alienation in his writing. Anecdotes such as his both instances in which he accidently scared women on walks and the time in which he and another reporter were mistaken for murder suspects or robbers are used to show real life proof of his message.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brent Staples, in his article, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space,” reflects on the issues of false snap judgements, race, and gender. A victim of racial profiling, Staples asserts that first impressions as well as racial stereotypes are inaccurate. Through the usage of pathos, ethos, and logos, Staples convinces the audience that as a result of misleading snap judgments and stereotypes, black men are unfairly perceived as threats. Staples makes strong appeals to pathos by evoking sympathy through the use of emotionally-charged and ironic words and phrases.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Staples And Masculinity

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Just Walk on by and Masculinity as Homophobia, by Brent Staples and Michael Kimmel discuss 2 different perspectives of the woes of masculinity. Kimmel discusses the paradoxical lack of confidence Middle American white men face, and how it furthers segregation. Staples talks about the black male ego and its place, or lack thereof, in America. They both give insightful accounts of each perspective, which overlook each other. Staples, through mostly personal anecdotes, assesses how the fearful indictment of all black men affects their behavior.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Black Men Hardships

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Today, our society is still going through many struggles and hardships in life especially dealing with race and skin color. There are people who suffers from situation that led them through troubles. Most of the people that went through many challenges in life are black men. According to Robinson, Wolfers, and Paumgarten articles, they all have one thing in common is what black men have to endure because of what they look like, their skin color, their dress code, and what type of person they are. Black men usually do the things that they aren’t supposed to do including burglary, rape, and sell drugs because of how hard their life is.…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    How would you feel if you were walking on an open street amongst many people, being the innocent individual you are, but the whole time you get funny faces, people starts to pick up their pace, and starts to judge you simply because of your skin color? Brent Staples is an African-American male in the United States of America. Because of his race, he is often accused for being a “mugger”, “rapist”, or a “criminal”. In his essay, “Black Men and Public Space”, he describes various events where he encounters people of the opposite sex, or opposite race that are afraid of him simply because of his skin color. His purpose is to inform the audience of his experiences and point of view.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brent Staples author of " Just Walk on By" is a black journalist that has a Ph. D from the University of Chicago. The article was published in Ms. Magazine in 1987. Staples wrote the article to relate to many young black men and middle-aged white women. It 's based on a reoccurring situation that many black men have had to deal with. The author of this article gives examples of situations that he has encountered while walking the streets at night in New York.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    To support this statement, Staples states in his essay “Black Men and Public Space,” how he was treated unfairly: “To her a 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. After a few more quick glances, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds, she disappeared into a cross street” (Eschholz 346). This quote supports the accusation of discrimination towards African-Americans. The American society and others tend to judge African-Americans based on their color and outward appearance because of how the media portrays them.…

    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays