Rhetorical Analysis Of Black Men And Public Space By Brent Staples

“Black Men and Public Spaces” by Brent Staples In the informative essay “Black Men and Public Spaces”, Brent Staples describes his own experience growing up black in a racist society and discusses the interaction that take place with people. “The ability to alter public space in an ugly way”(302), through racial stereotypes affected him and many others. Stereotypes affect individuals regardless of race, sex, or religion. Author Brent Staples states he has been racially profiled on several occasions and has been falsely assumed to be a threat to the safety of others around him based on race. By specific stories, Staples explains his thesis through out the essay with narratives of incidents in urban America during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Staples first victim was a white woman in an impoverished section of Chicago. In New York, women feared him because their purse straps were strung across their chest during nighttime walks. Another time in Chicago, he is mistaken as a burglar at his place of employment as a journalist with a rushed deadline story in hand. Stables talked about people fearing him, especially white females, and
He gives justification on why he should be a threat, but at the same time shows that he is a victim. Staples essay clearly states an argument and provides evidence to support the argument. Staples understands the female thoughts of being a “mugger or a rapist”, but her flight made him feel like an “accomplice in tyranny”(302). Another example is how common stereotyping occurs with “Then there were the standard unpleasantries with policemen, doormen, bouncers, cabdrivers, and others whose business it is to screen out troublesome individuals before there is any nastiness”(302). This shows that Staples had more encounters than just the ones written in the essay and people view him as a threat because he is a young black