Discrimination In 'Black Men And Public Space'

Although it is often ignored by those around it, discrimination is an impending problem in our towns. In the essay “Black Men and Public Space” written by Brent Staples, Staples responds to the racism he faces in various social situations. He reveals how he has “become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear” (1). As a large black man, people seem to fear Staples without a valid reason to. They do not see his character, but rather only his appearance. This reveals how people are fast to stereotype a person that they see, and not give them the opportunity to show their personalities. They are afraid of what, or who, they are afraid of, resulting in their own anxiety being created. By personifying the emotion of fear, Staples relays
One of his earliest experiences with racism caused him to be “surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once…[as he realized that he] was indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area from the surrounding ghetto”(1). The adjectives in this excerpt make that reader experience the horror and embarrassment that Staples felt in this instant, and forces then to think about the consequences of showing any hesitation or uncertainty one might feel. The diction makes the passage feel mortifying and distressing, which gives the reader an inside look at what being alienated feels like. By revealing to the reader that he had been discriminated against personally, he establishes his ethos. In the instance where a women begins to run away from him, Staples remembers that “it was the echo of the terrified woman’s footfalls that [he] first began to know the unwieldy inheritance [he had] come to - the ability to alter public space in ugly ways” (1). By sharing this memory with the reader, Staples creates himself to the reader in a knowing and solemn