Racial Stereotyping
“Black Men and Public Space” is a short narrative written by Brent Staples. Staples begins by stating his first “victim” was a white woman in Chicago. As she avoids him hastily, Staples comes to realize that she is frightened by his appearance: large, black and intimidating. As a result, she perceives him to be some sort of mugger or rapist, much to his anxiety. Since he instills fear merely by his presence, he is in an awkward and potentially dangerous situation. Other incidents, which include people mistaking him for a burglar, only made Staples more weary of the hostilities. To curb his anxiety, he uses non-threatening behavior such as whistling to soften any uneasy encounter he might have with white people, especially women. Thus, in this essay Staples wants to convey how he was profiled by white strangers, how the profiling evolved into a potentially dangerous situation, and how any uneasy situation that may arise can be avoided through docile and casual behavior. The main issue addressed in this essay is racial stereotype, and what dangerous implications it has for black males. Now what is racial stereotype? All ki
When one group creates stereotypes to manage its thoughts about others, dispassionate observers adopt the compact assumptions controlling that group's thought. A stereotype always isolates one perhaps imagined aspect of the target group and substitutes it for the whole. More unfortunate is how much it effects the target’s life in terms of his thoughts and actions, and this essay is a perfect example of how a stereotype can dominate the outlook on a single group. Black men are violent and muggers largely because people perceive them to be so. It is amazing how one can create a superficial notion and start believing in it. That is exactly what happens with Staples in this essay; because of the actions of a few black men, he is the target of racial prejudice that is not justified and he states this by saying, that there is “no solace against the kind of alienation that comes of being ever the suspect, a fearsome entity” (165). One cannot judge an entire group of people on the actions of a few people; it is unjust and immoral. As Staples encounters more racial discrimination , which include being mistaken for a burglar by his employers to being harassed by poli
Some topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 788
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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