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. Staples notes that he was “a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair” and his “first victim was a woman.” The deceptive description of Staples as a perfect, menacing criminal along with the word “victim” causes readers to falsely conclude that Staples assaulted the woman, a result of the predisposed notion that …show more content…
He points out facts about crime rates: “...young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of...violence.” By eliminating the statistics, Staples implies that such a statement is widely accepted—with or without the numbers. In this way, it is shown that racism and unnecessary paranoia of black men is inherently a fact. Observing that racism is too deeply ingrained for it to be eliminated promptly, Staples attempts to understand the whites’ perspective in order to find a solution to the prejudice. This logical thinking leads to a sound solution: Staples relates how he eases the concerns of nervous people; he converts tense situations into amicable ones. For instance, he employs “what has proved to be an excellent tension-reduction measure: ...[whistling] melodies from...popular classical composers,” something society believes black criminals would never do. By using logical reasoning and evidence, Staples ultimately strengthens his logos
Staples makes strong appeals to pathos by evoking sympathy through the use of emotionally-charged and ironic words and phrases. Staples notes that he was “a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair” and his “first victim was a woman.” The deceptive description of Staples as a perfect, menacing criminal along with the word “victim” causes readers to falsely conclude that Staples assaulted the woman, a result of the predisposed notion that …show more content…
He points out facts about crime rates: “...young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of...violence.” By eliminating the statistics, Staples implies that such a statement is widely accepted—with or without the numbers. In this way, it is shown that racism and unnecessary paranoia of black men is inherently a fact. Observing that racism is too deeply ingrained for it to be eliminated promptly, Staples attempts to understand the whites’ perspective in order to find a solution to the prejudice. This logical thinking leads to a sound solution: Staples relates how he eases the concerns of nervous people; he converts tense situations into amicable ones. For instance, he employs “what has proved to be an excellent tension-reduction measure: ...[whistling] melodies from...popular classical composers,” something society believes black criminals would never do. By using logical reasoning and evidence, Staples ultimately strengthens his logos