Staples puts into perspective how deeply stereotypes effect people on a daily basis. The article begins with words that have violent connotations "My first victim.." and originally led me to believe this was a criminal writing this story. However, as the story continues I found out that this man is a smart and well-educated who has been judged his whole life for simply the color of his skin. This directly relates to his main message about how people base someone just from their initial thoughts. Staples than uses ethos "I was twenty-two years old, a graduate student newly arrived at the University of Chicago.", so the reader is able to see he is a good person and has a valid story. Based on just his appearance, he is looked at as a threat.
