Scatter The Pigeons
Brent Staples, “Just walk on By”
First of all, this guy is a jerk. He intentionally tried to scare other people by intimidating them in a game he called “Scatter the Pigeons”, where he would stalk white female pedestrians until they ran away from him. (http://www.answers.com/topic/brent-staples). He would dress and act in an intimidating manner to create fear in other people, then blame the fear on their racial prejudice because he is black. Overall the initial question or issue seems to be, “Should people alienate others because of their race.” This is misleading because the author has baited the subjects in his story and misrepresented himself as a victim of racial stereotyping, where the reality appears to be that the first woman he describes as a …show more content…
For 1973, the military jackets weren’t the same popular culture as they are today. I can’t think of a current analogy that would apply, but in 1973 there was a different stigma associated with anyone wearing military surplus clothing. As he goes on to relate that now as the same person walking in New York late at night, he finds that people are more at ease when he’s whistling classical tunes. I’d say he hasn’t changed his racial heritage, so much as having changed his presence or how he presents himself in a group setting.
The author quotes Norman Podhoretz’s essay, “My Negro Problem – And Ours.” Do people still feel there is a negro (and minority) problem?” The author quotes a line from Podhert’z essay, written in 1963 about his experiences growing up during the depression and prior to the Second World War, that describes his fear of the negro boys in his neighborhood who often terrorized and assaulted him, his family and his neighborhood. Podhertz’s shares the several incidents where he was robbed, or assaulted by individuals or gangs of
First of all, this guy is a jerk. He intentionally tried to scare other people by intimidating them in a game he called “Scatter the Pigeons”, where he would stalk white female pedestrians until they ran away from him. (http://www.answers.com/topic/brent-staples). He would dress and act in an intimidating manner to create fear in other people, then blame the fear on their racial prejudice because he is black. Overall the initial question or issue seems to be, “Should people alienate others because of their race.” This is misleading because the author has baited the subjects in his story and misrepresented himself as a victim of racial stereotyping, where the reality appears to be that the first woman he describes as a …show more content…
For 1973, the military jackets weren’t the same popular culture as they are today. I can’t think of a current analogy that would apply, but in 1973 there was a different stigma associated with anyone wearing military surplus clothing. As he goes on to relate that now as the same person walking in New York late at night, he finds that people are more at ease when he’s whistling classical tunes. I’d say he hasn’t changed his racial heritage, so much as having changed his presence or how he presents himself in a group setting.
The author quotes Norman Podhoretz’s essay, “My Negro Problem – And Ours.” Do people still feel there is a negro (and minority) problem?” The author quotes a line from Podhert’z essay, written in 1963 about his experiences growing up during the depression and prior to the Second World War, that describes his fear of the negro boys in his neighborhood who often terrorized and assaulted him, his family and his neighborhood. Podhertz’s shares the several incidents where he was robbed, or assaulted by individuals or gangs of