Discrimination In Staples And Hurston

In Brent Staples “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space,” and Zora Hurston’s “How it feels to Be Colored Me,” both authors face discrimination because of their color. While each author begins to feel discrimination in their lives, they accept how they are treated in society, and they both overcome being angry at others for the way they were treated. While both authors face being discriminated against during their lives they realize that society treats them differently. Staples begins to feel this discrimination after moving to New York, he would walk the streets at night and he felt that others became nervous around him because of his color, especially white women. The author says “It was clear that she thought herself the quarry of
Staples and Hurston both feel discriminated against but they choose to accept this way of life. While staples was put into a stereotype of a black man who might be a rapist or a mugger, he decides to make an effort to make others comfortable in public space. Staples says “In that first year, my first away from my hometown, I was to become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear” (384). Staples is aware that others fear him just based on his appearance but he makes an effort to let others around him feel more comfortable by giving others space and not getting too close to the other person, he also made sure it didn’t seem as if he was following anyone, and he remained calm in every situation. By making others around him feel more comfortable, he is trying to show them that just because he is black doesn’t mean he fits into the stereotype of some black men. Hurston starts to accept discrimination and has as outlook on life to where she decides to get over feeling like a victim, slavery was in the past and they needed to move on. The author says “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of company? It’s beyond me” (Hurston 185). Hurston doesn’t understand why an individual would put someone in a stereotype; it is obvious that we are all more similar to each other than we are distant. Hurston does not want to be stuck in life because she is treated differently, she wants to move on with her life and not get stuck thinking about what has already happened in the past. Both authors feel that others shouldn’t feel sorry for them and they should now be able to focus on the future rather than what has happened in the