This reflective essay “Black Men and Public Spaces” by Brent Staples, argues about the author’s personal struggles being a black man, in his twenties, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Brent Staples was born and raised in Chester, Pennsylvania but he finished his studies and began working as a journalist in Chicago and New York City. Staples writes about some stories that gradually led him to realize over the fear of being judged by his race. In “Black Men and Public Spaces”, Staples let us become aware of his attitude and the way he perceives the situations he presents.
To begin with his story, Staples presents a white woman whom he comes across walking in the streets. He states that just by looking at him, she started to run until he could no longer see her. That first scenario made him realize what being an African American man or what his “inheritance” (p. 336) will cause, if he was seen in a public space. This because of the stereotype black men suffer of being rapist or a thief. Later in the essay, he tells about white people’s actions in the intersections whenever he passed by a car or crossed the streets. For example, the driver will automatically put down the locks, or the pedestrians will cross in another direction.
Also, he explains how in his own work as a journalist, his own peers had accused him for being a thief and called security. In his writing, Staples describes how he understands that young black males are constantly related to violence and other crimes and that this is why he was constantly judged. Likewise, he explains how he had seen this incident, of violence where he grew up.
As it was stated, this is a narrative essay where the author reinforces his message by expressing his personal experiences. This can make the audience understand in a sensitive way his point of view. That is, his personal stories can help to not only understand what he believes or how he sees the situation, but to understand what he feels about the discrimination. For example, he states that he has “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways”, and later on: “-I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once” (p. 336). In other words, he describes that he had the ability to change or alter people’s reaction just because of his appearance. He also communicates to the audience how he feels about it.
Although his feelings are clear, the audience can also learn how he tries to build a clean background to prove that those judgments are not true. This is stated when he makes reference to his early life: “I grew up one of the best boys, had perhaps a half-dozen fistfights. In retrospect, my shyness of combat has clear sources.” (p. 337) He gives the reader a confident perspective that he is not what people think of him.
Consequently, the use of his vocabulary and form of writing can personally make me know more about who he is. Through his essay, he frequently uses words that are relevant to his fear from the judgements for being a violent black man. For instance, he repeats the words “mugger”, “tyranny”, “criminal” and “violence”. These types of vocabulary give a sense of understanding of what his stereotype is.
On the other hand, he mixes those words with ones that reflect his emotions about the situation such as: “embarrassed”, “terrified”, and “timid”. Although his choice of words reflects his professional appearance, Staplers also uses easy to read sentences to which I am able to relate to some kind of an emotional way. By this I mean, that he gives a very descriptive way to tell his story and it is easy to understand him.
Overall, Staplers states his dilemma of being a black man and the stereotypes he has to struggle. From his personal experiences, the author let me understand his attitude and the way he perceives his situations. The way he describes the stories help me become aware of the ways he was discriminated but also to realize his feelings towards it. Personally, I have the impression that he becomes his own victim that quietly and calmly faces the judgements and learns to accept why white people have those stereotypes toward his race. Later, this same victim decides to ease the situation by adopting new behaviors that will make him survive the judgements.
