Just Walk On By Brent Staples Summary

It’s disappointing to admit that racism continues to exist everyday all over the world. Racism stems countless conflicts and creates resentment towards others. Brent Staples writes about his experience of racism and stereotyping in his essay, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space.” Late at night, Brent took a stroll around his neighbourhood. Just ahead of him, there was a woman who was white skinned. The woman took a glance back at Brent and noticed he was a tall black male. She began to pick up the pace and started to run her fastest. This woman though this man was dangerous. From instinct, she avoided this man because she associated this black male as a dangerous person. Even though nothing major happened within those few moments, Brent felt the racism cast upon him. It’s unfair for Brent to feel like a criminal if all he was doing was mind his own business as he walked around his neighbourhood. Knowing who is friendly and who is an enemy can be impossible at times. I believe it’s okay for the woman to be afraid of Brent if she saw him as a threat. It’s absolutely fine to try to feel safe, but in this situation, it made a person feel undesired. The woman could have handled this situation more delicately. She could have paid more attention to what Brent was doing and …show more content…
I was walking home from the library and I saw suspicious looking person beside the sidewalk I was walking on. I became alert and felt ready to run out of there as fast as I could. I was under the suspicion that this man would jump up and stab me. In the end, nothing happened. All that happened was me walking past a guy who had a knife. I associated this man with danger because he held a knife. At that moment, I thought he was potentially a murderer. Now that I reflect on it, I feel bad for assuming he was dangerous. It’s good that I wasn’t blatantly showing fear to this man or else he could have felt