Category: Black Men And Public Space

Identity is the characteristics, beliefs, personalities, and experience of a person or a group. Identity is a part of us and helps us make decisions. Identity is who people are, as they think about themselves, the way they view the world, and the characteristics that define them. In “Graduation,” Angelou wrote about her 8th grade graduation where a white person tries to belittle her and her race. Orwell records his incident in “Shooting an Elephant,” when he had to live up to expectations that the Burmese people put on him based on his identity. In “Black Men and Public Space”, Staples addresses a situation where he was identified as a criminal because of his race. People aren’t born or given identities, they create who they are and their identities through their experience.

In “Graduation,” Angelou and her classmates were given an identity by white people because of their race, saying that African Americans were only good for sports and servicing white people. Angelou began to state what she loved about her community and about herself.

She was proud of her race and her identity as one of them, but once Edward Donleavy wanted to give her an identity as someone who can’t do anything. He told them that the white students at the Central School will get “a well-known artist” from Little Rock and the “newest microscopes and chemistry equipment” while they got nothing (Angelou 473). He gave them an identity where they were only good for one thing. She began to hate herself and others; she said that “it was awful to be a Negro” and that everyone else, not including white race, “were [an] abomination. All of [them],” she let the identity Donleavy gave her consume her (Angelou 474). Yet, Henry Reed was the only one that didn’t let the identity take him. He didn’t care what Donleavy said about their race. He sang the Negro national anthem with pride that showed them that they weren’t good for one thing. His words made “an impression on” them and they all realize that they do matter. Angelou said that they are “on top again” and she “was a proud member” of her race (Angelou 476). She created her identity in her race. If identity is given, people lose themselves; identity is created by themselves.

Orwell wrote about his experience in “Shooting an Elephant” when he was given an identity as a strong white man by the Burmese people. Orwell was a police officer when Britain conquered the Burmese people. They gave him an identity as a big strong white man where he has the power. So when an incident happens with an elephant during it’s must it kills a person and destroys their town. Orwell orders for a gun in the case that he needs it to kill the elephant. When the people found out, they stated to follow and cheer for him it made him “uneasy” because they were interested to see the elephant kill; “it was bit of fun to them” to see the Orwell kill the elephant (Orwell 582 583). When he saw the elephant peaceful, he didn’t want to kill the elephant and only to watch if the elephant attack again. But the crowd was not going to let him not kill the elephant they want to see the elephant to be killed by him. He let the identity to take over him and he started to say that “the people expected [him]” to do it and “[he] had got to do it” because they were demanding to kill the elephant (Orwell 584). He kills the elephant because he is” the white man with the gun” he accepts his identity given by the people. (Orwell 583). He stated himself he is “wear[ing] a mask, and his face grow[ing]” into the identity. He was melancholy when he kills the elephant and how long and painful it was for the elephant. He lets the identity that was given to him to take over and he did a worst action. When people don’t create their own identity, then it let your self do things that them don’t want to do

In “Black Men in Public Spaces,” Staples was given an identity by white people who were afraid of his skin color. Staples starts off with the first person that was freighted him by because he was walking on the sidewalk. He continues with another incident that happens to him and people that he knows. Staples knew what identity they were putting on him as “a mugger, a rapist, or worse” and he was “surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed” at all these accusations by them (Staples 394). Staples goes on to talk about the incidents where they assumed that he will do something to them. He felt heartbroken when they do that and how he scary woman. Due to the identity that white people put on him, he “grew accustomed to” it but he never felt relaxed with the fact they are afraid of him for no reason (Staples 394). He knows that he can’t change that fact that they are afraid of him, but he can lower it. He changes how he moves at night, he “give[s] wide berth” to the pedestrians on the sidewalk and subway platforms, he wears suits instead of jeans, he waits for people to leave, he looks “clam and extremely congenial” when pulled over, and “whistle[‘s] melodies” from classical music (Staples 396). He felt that they couldn’t think bad of him if he did those things. Staples made his own identity where people admire rather fear him. When people give someone an identity, they change and let it influence to become a part who they are.

People create their identities; they are not given. When they are given an identity, they lose their true selves. They need to create on for themselves. When they don’t create it for themselves, they end up doing things that they don’t like. In “Graduation,” Angelou made her own identity rather than the identity Donleavy tried to give her, in “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell didn’t make his own identity and he suffer because of his actions, and in “Black Men and Public Space,” Staples creates his identity by changing the stereotype of him.

The civil rights movement was a historical time stamp in the fight for equality for all African Americans. “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples and “Juxtaposing The Black Boy & The Bullet” by Danez Smith work together to bring a coherent image to the reader through the use of irony, personification, and juxtaposition to show that although many events in history, like the Civil Rights Act which ended segregation and employment discrimination, African Americans have yet to reach social equality. Brent Staples was born during the civil rights movement. He lived in a very segregated part of Pennsylvania, constantly surrounded by violence and gangs. In his story, he talks about the experiences he’s encountered due to the color of his skin after moving to Chicago. There were still many negative stereotypes associated with African Americans at the time. White women would run away from him because they were scared they would become a victim of assault or burglary. Much like the poem, Danez Smith talks about differences yet similarities a black boy and a bullet have. Because the poem was written at a later time, it reveals what little changes have been made in the fight for social justice for African Americans. White men might not be refusing to sit with them, but society is still segregated. America still treats African Americans poorly because of the color of their skin. The only difference now is that people use self-defense as an excuse that validates their racism.

Both the story and the poem contain much irony. The story establishes the stereotypes presented post desegregation, “I was twenty-two years old, a graduate student newly arrived at the University of Chicago” (Staples 419). In the story, a woman believed she was in danger since an `African American man was following her. She was quick to think this man was a threat to her life when he was a well-rounded person who had no intentions of hurting her. The irony in this situation helps shed light on how African Americans were treated even after desegregation attempts, such as the Civil Rights Act, were passed. The author uses irony as a way of captivating the reader’s attention. He sets up the story in a way that makes the reader think he’s going to do harm which establishes a sense of suspense and keeps the reader engaged. Modern-day for African Americans is no better. The poem states, “One is hard & the other tried to be” (Smith L-1). From the very first line of the poem, Smith never specifies when he’s referring to the boy or the bullet. The reader would never think that such a deadly item could be so similar yet so different to a child. The irony used leaves it up to the reader’s imagination to decide when the author is referring to what. Smith uses irony throughout the poem to spark the reader’s mind, leaving them to contemplate how awful modern-day society treats African Americans. The story and the poem work together to emphasize how African Americans have overcome many challenges, yet other problems have risen which leads them to be treated exactly like they were in history. By comparing both selections, the reader realizes that African Americans are being treated with the same racial discriminations they once were. The irony in both pieces shows that the negative stereotypes that were associated with African Americans have traveled through history and are still in play.

In the story, Staples uses personification to bring life to the town he was raised in. “The small, angry industrial town where I came of age in the 1960s” (Staples 420). The towns were segregated; violence, gangs, blood, and murders ruled the streets where African Americans lived. The personification in the story is used to execute a somber tone towards the towns African Americans were forced to live. By personifying the town, the author makes the morbid living conditions more relatable to the reader. The reader becomes sympathetic towards the deadly and violent environment that African Americans lived through during the 1960s. African Americans have long fought knives, guns, and bullets for their lives. The poem, which was recently written, brings life to a bullet. “One’s whole life is a flash” (Smith L-5). When the author gave life to the bullet, he also gave it value. The personification in the poem forms the idea that our guns and bullets are of more value than African Americans. The author uses personification to tell the reader that it’s unjust to value bullets over African Americans. Although the personification used in both selections was utilized differently, both tie together. In the story, we see the awful living conditions African Americans lived in. A constant battle, like that of Bloody Sunday, they fought. Now with an increase in police brutality, they fight again. Both selections support the historical context of African American struggles by bringing to life the threats African Americans face. Throughout history, what threatens African Americans has changed, but the dangers that come with those threats have always been the same and the personification in the story and poem highlights that.

The story and the poem both juxtapose items to emphasize their contrast. Staples juxtaposes his soothing techniques and a mugger. “Everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons” (Staples 420). For people not to fear Staples on late dark evenings, he resorts to whistling classic melodies to ease the people around him. Juxtaposing the bright and sunny selections to a mugger helps contrasts the good person he is against the dark bad person America sets him out to be. The author uses juxtaposition to contrast the good vs the evil. By doing so the reader can recognize the extent of what African Americans have to resort to in order to not be seen as a perpetrator. In the poem, Smith juxtaposes the life of the boy with a bullet. “One is loud & one is a song with one note and endless rest” (Smith L 3-4). By juxtaposing the boy’s life with a bullet, the author shows the reader how the loud bullet can alter the life of an African American by making it an endless rest. The author uses juxtaposition to show the reader the negative effects a bullet has on life. This makes the reader understand the magnitude of how guns and bullets have long affected the lives of African Americans throughout history. By comparing the juxtaposition used in both selections, the reader realizes the similarities between modern police brutality and historical events such as what is known as Little Rock Nine.

Staples and Smith incorporated irony, personification, and juxtaposition in their work. The irony used in both pieces makes the reader stop and think about how America treats African Americans. When the reader stops to think, he or she begins to realize that the way African Americans are treated isn’t normal. The personification used served the purpose of making African American struggles more relatable to the reader. Without feeling a personal connection with the story, the reader only feels sorrow and pity. Giving human traits to a nonliving object has the power to make strong feeling more accessible to the reader, which can make them start social justice movements for African Americans. The juxtaposition used in both pieces assists in drawing focus and contrasting the good from the bad. It provides the reader with a better deeper connection between history and modern-day events. These three literary elements work together for the reader to understand the historical events and how they’ve shaped today’s racial discrimination against African Americans.

How many racism problems occur every year? The racism problem has happened for hundred years, and we never know when it ends. It often happens to the black people. Has anyone ever imagined ourselves as black people, living a life of them, and experiencing how others treat a black person? ‘My first victim is a woman’ (Staples 502) is a quote from an essay of Brent Staples, who was treated as a criminal because of his black skin. Brent Staples was born and grew up as an American with black skin, and he was treated as a felony because of his skin color. In Brent Staples’s article, “Black Men and Public Space,” Staples boldly wrote about what he went through, and the extreme frustration of racism played such a large role in his life when others behaved and stereotyped as a dangerous person in public society. Brent Staples uses examples, imagery, comparisons, and onomatopoeia to recreate the atmosphere when others face him; readers easily understand how prejudice and racism happen to black people.

The first example of the misconceptions about Staples was a young white woman. She assumed Staples as a mugger, a rapist, or even worse (Staples 502). Although Staples walked behind her with an immense distance, the white woman seemed to worry that he might hurt her because of his appearance as a big, tall young man with a frump look, such as a beard on his face, wearing a military jacket, and hand in pocket. Plus, his skin was black, so she took off extremely fast and disappeared in just a few seconds after she saw him. In New York city, when any woman walked on the street and saw him down their way, they would cross to the other side of the road because they did not want to have eye contact or walk next to a black man. People immediately closed and locked their car’s doors every time they saw him walking on the street. When they saw him, the first sign that appeared in their head was harmful; the black man might hurt them.

Staples also described two more times when people misconceived him as a thief because of his black skin. One night, Staples worked as a journalist and was handing his paper in the magazine office. The office manager thought he was a thief and called security. The reason was just that Staples was black, and it was night; the manager assumed that the back man was a thief and might cause danger. Again, one more confusion happened when he was killing time and waiting for an interview to write papers for the local. He went to a jewelry store. The owner took her big Doberman dog standing in front of him, and both of them stared at him because she thought he might be a robber.

Staples used another example of black journalists to show his readers that the misconception did not only happen to Staples. When the other black man went to look for information about a killer to write his paper, the police thought he was the murder. They dragged the black journalist out of his car and pointed their gun at him. Staples has learned to control his anger for years when someone behaved toward him as a felon. He would go crazy if he could not manage his sensitivities. Now, he tries not to look intimidating to people by moving carefully, giving people more space on the subway. Staples also changes his outfit, avoids standing near other people, and tries to calm when the police pull him over. Significantly, he starts to whistle the melodies of Beethoven’s music and Vivaldi’s hymns to relax and make New York’s residents feel more relaxed about him.

First, in the essay, Staples uses many examples to express racial stereotypes. At the beginning of the essay, Staples mentions that the young white woman considered him a mugger or a rapist. Staples states, ‘My first victim was a woman-white, well-dressed, probably in her late twenties’ (502). This very first quote makes the reader understand that his story is set to unfold and will not be happy because he assumes the wrong person’s role. The reader can see a white woman as a victim, and Staple, a black man, as an offender. People fear the worst from him; they try to avoid eye contact, avoid walking on the same road. People also lock their cars when they see him walking on the street (Staples 503). Clearly, we see how people are really afraid of him. The black man just walks on the street and does nothing, but he never has peace in his mind.

Continuing by giving examples, Staples again describes two other times people unreasonably mistook him for a thief and a colleague of his as a killer. These examples make the reader feel they sympathize with the black men and all the prejudice they can not remove. When he worked as a journalist in Chicago, people misconceived him as a burglar because of his black skin. Staples says, ‘I was mistaken for a burglar. The office manager called the security and, with an ad hoc posse, pursued me through the labyrinthine halls’. Staples explained when he entered one of the jewelry stores for killing time before an interview, he was greeted with “an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash’ (Staples 504) standing toward him. Next to the dog, the proprietor’s eyes glared at him and almost bulging out (Staples 504). All the examples of Staples help readers quickly understand the hardship of black men’s lives. Plus, the victims of Staples will realize their mistakes when they read his essay.

The author also uses an example of one of the black journalists whom he knows to prove that racism happens to many black people, not only him. The police made a mistake that they thought the black reporter was a killer. They dragged him out of his car while pointing their gun at him (Staples 504). The police made a huge mistake, and it surely hurts black people’s feelings pretty badly. At this point, black people can say that they are afraid of other people. They have done nothing, but the cautions of people around him are too high; therefore, it causes a very big mistake.

Staples uses a lot of vivid imagery to help the readers quickly to imagine and understand all the problems that he went through. Staples says, ‘ To her, the youngish black man- a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket’; his appearance with a frump look and black skin scared his people away. Staples wrote, ‘It was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into – the ability to alter public space in ugly ways’ (Staple 502). In my opinion, at the time when he heard footsteps getting faster and faster and disappearing, he was pretty sure that the woman thought that she met a bad black guy. She tried to run away from him as fast as she could, and the proof was her footsteps. These images let the reader experience the depth of his story.

Plus, Staples again uses the image to show readers that he is genuinely a harmless person. He states, ‘ As a softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to raw chicken – let alone hold one to a person’s throat’ and ‘I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once’ (Staples 502). His quote surely shows how intends to be a good and kind person. Reader can understand that he was very shocked and sad when people thought he would hurt them, and judged him by his appearance and labeled him as a criminal. Staples also describes people who walk on the street at night in Chicago “have faces on neutral, and with their purse straps strung across their chests bandolier-style, they forge ahead as though bracing themselves against being tackled’ (Staples 503). The reader also can see the image of the proprietor’s eyes and her Doberman glaring at him and almost bulge out at the jewelry store. All the women tried to protect themselves from a black man based solely on their appearance or maybe the men’s skin color.

Moreover, Brent Staples uses comparisons to enhance the fear that people feel with the presence of him. Staples describes when he first met his victim, ‘after a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds, she disappeared into a cross street’ (Staples 502). Readers can see that because of the appearance of Staples made the woman rush getaway when she just saw him; it made him feel like ‘an accomplice in tyranny,” and he was ‘indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area from the surrounding ghetto’ (Staples 502). This experience shows the readers how the woman’s racism affected her actions and thinking. It hurts the emotions of black men; it also hurts their spirit and self-esteem.

Additionally, Staples uses onomatopoeia to recreate the street’s atmosphere at night when everyone misconceived him as a bad guy. Staples says, ‘I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver, white, male, or female-hammering down the door locks’ (503). The locking sounds made a discomfort feeling and extent of precaution that only the white women acted due to black men’s presence.

Overall, in Brent Staples’s article, ‘Black Men and Public Space,’ he powerfully uses his own stories as examples, and he powerfully uses imagery and onomatopoeia in the essay. Readers easily experience and understand how he is sad and hurt when everyone behaves toward him as a criminal and dangerous in this society.

People today make generalizations about others every day creating a reluctant change in their own behavior towards strangers. This been a big anger issue that been going on for years. Brent Staples essay ‘ Black Men and Public Spaces’ presents this topic which can be ranked as an intense reading because it shows the anger and embarrassment people feels when walking in public and being judged by people. Staples article talks about a man in his twenties being stereotyped as a rapist, burglar, and a threat because of his race and appearance, and also explains how he feels. The behavior of people when they stereotype others is really unnecessary, yet understandable. Now, it will be explained why Staples essay has a lot of intensity, and how he uses rhetorical strategies to prove the prejudged notions about race and how it forms an unwilling behavior that further alters society’s perceptions of an individual.

As mentioned above there is a lot of rage in society when people are judged based on their appearance and race. An individual can be walking down the street and people will look at that person in an abnormal way just because they have a beard, or for being black. This is shown in Brent Staples essay when it says that ‘ It was clear she thought herself the quarry of a mugger, a rapist or worse… I was stalking sleep, not defenseless wayfarers (267). In this quote the author uses irony to show the narrator’s feelings which he felt some type of intense anger because he was just walking the street minding his business and he saw how this woman was terrified of him based on his race and she thought he would be a rapist, a mugger, or like he said ‘or worse’ which was unnecessary. This is one way an intense fury from Staples article that can contribute to my point of the writing being classified with intensity, however, this is not the only way it can be shown.

All of this intense anger presented throughout this essay from Brent Staples non-fiction story is mostly caused because of racism. Racism has been going on for many years, and it is still going on in today’s society, for example when a person goes into a store they would get kicked out just because of their appearance. This happened to the narrator in the story ‘ Black Men and Public Space’ when he ‘… entered a jewelry store on the city’s affluent near north side, the proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman… She stood, the dog extended toward me, silent to my questions, her eyes bulging nearly out of her head'(268). Basically, in this quote the owner brought out his dog because that person thought the narrator in the story came in to steal and just ignored all his question, so in other words he was telling him to leave the jewelry store. This right here was another example of a stereotype which causes fury in people, nobody should be treated this way based on their race or appearance. Racial stereotypes force individuals to reluctantly change their behavior to alter how they are perceived by other if it was a white male in a suit the proprietor of the jewelry store would have never done this and this is what causes the most intense fury in the reading.

To conclude, as shown the ‘victims’ Staples describes in his reading act in fear as a reaction to his race. This reaction is what caused the narrator to be angry, ranking Staples reading as a story full of anger and intensity. Even though Staples was angry he found a way to deal with things because people make bad choices, but that’s just something you have to live with. People should be able to walk freely in public without being embarrassed or judged by people who make wrong generalizations.

For over a thousand years, Race has and still is a topic that is associated with different emotions, views and thoughts. From the beginning of time, African Americans have always been judged and harassed just because of the color of their skin or where they came from. Brent Staples himself went through the hardship of being judged because of his race, but with him being a writer he was able to fight against the stereotyping with his article “Black Men and Public Space” which he utilizes rhetorical uses that use appeals of his descriptions of experiences as a black man in public spaces. In the article, Staples uses many excellent examples of racism and how it has made progress throughout the years, but is still present today. In his essay, Brent discusses how the black men during that time were seen as monsters and discriminated just for walking at night even when they were highly qualified with job and managed to achieve their goals. He uses many examples of how the White people would profile the him and other African Americans as well as law enforcement to the White female who ran off after seeing Staples during the nighttime. All this reveals that the White American population are empty headed but also how they judged the African Americans just because of the color of their skin and where they came from.

Brent Staples was born on September 13th 1951, in Chester, Pennsylvania. While growing up he came from a poor family but managed to work through this and became a Psychologist, Journalist and an author. He taught various Psychology classes in Chicago and then moved to New York after receiving a position at the New York Time as an editor. As a black man himself, Staples had witnessed several incidents of racial discrimincation and stereotyping which led him to write “Black People in Public Spaces”. He uses many examples to show how racism is still alive till this day despite the progress that has been made over the years. The goal Staples was trying to get across with this article is to expose the discriminstion so that the public can stop this from continuing in society. He uses many rhetorical devices to get his point across. For example, in the article he was sympathizing with his victims and their feelings, which appeals to ethos. He also provides historical background about his life and metaphors to appeal to logos. Staples is able to draw the emotions of his readers with his word choice and imagery to describe the accounts he went through.

Throughout the article, Staples does a good job of stirring the emotions of the audience by using pathos. He talks about how one night he was on a late night walk and ended up behind a white woman who had noticed him and began sprinting because she thought he was a mugger, rapist or something more sinister. For instance, he says “It was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls, that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I had come into, the ability to alter public space in ugly ways”(Staples 143). This shows how Staples began to pull the emotions of the reader because he wants to show that all this is happening just because the color of his skin. He also makes the reader feel guilty to gain an emotional reaction “I grew accustomed to but never comfortable”(Staples 144). This statement is huge and important because it makes the reader feel the guilt and makes them feel like their in some sort of way in the same situation. This achieves Staples goals of making the audience see how bad the racism and discrimination was.

However, Staples uses the narratives and evidence to back up the stories he explained because he didn’t want to directly place all of the blame on the white women . With this, personally as a reader it gave reassurance and helped gain trust in Staples because it shows how he deeply feels about the situation. With this he also gives information about his childhood and how he was surrounded by gang warfare, knife fights and murders “against the backdrop of gang and warfare and street murders”(Staples 144). With having such a tough background and having to grow up in fear, Staples managed to graduate from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in Psychology. This shows that he wanted his readers to see that he was inspired to do great things and be a successful man even tho having a difficult childhood. In this case, Staples last appeal he used was ethos when he backs up his stories and experiences by incorporating other experiences of other individuals who had similar encounters to Staples. This shows the credibility that Brent Staples provided within the experiences he had gone through with the audience because this is a common phenomenon that occurs.

Throughout this article Staples was able to get the message across that being racially discriminated by random people is something that nobody should go through. He uses ethos, logos and pathos to provide the audience with a look into the life of a black man. Using these techniques, Staples is able to get the emotions out of the readers and get responses as well as trying to put the readers in his shoes. With using all of the techniques he was able to accomplish his goal of making the audience see how bad racial stereotyping and disxrimination and how it is still here till this day.

In a world where racism inevitably exists, Brent Staples is one who personally shares his firsthand experiences with issues of racial inequality and unjust treatment in his remarkable essay “Black Men and Public Space”. As an African American man with a BA from Widener University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (139), people disregard his multiple qualities of success in both his school career and work career and judge him based off stereotypes because he is seen a distinct way due to his skin color. Throughout his personal essay, he faces dreadful treatment based on assumptions which has taken a toll on his emotions.

A clear purpose is seen from beginning to end of his narrative. He attempts to shine a light on the issues him and countless others, unfortunately, face entirely because of their look. With this, he hopes for a change. A change in where black men no longer must fear for their lives or face the feeling of discomfort as others “fear” them. The purpose can be compared to situations going on in today’s times. As this took place as early as the 60s, it is not shocking that individuals are still getting sickening treatment and racial discrimination is still a common issue.

As the audience is not particularly focused on one certain group, readers may think the audience is to America as a whole. Staples wants his words and stories to get out about how badly he feels as he is viewed to have “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways” (139).

Ideas are arranged in a somewhat chronological way focusing on the beginning of the story, branching into a nonlinearly way towards the end. Readers are immediately thrown off by reading the very first sentence of the written work – “my first victim” (139). This creates the idea of thinking he is the “bad guy” and adds a negative tone, but it is quickly learned that this is just how others view him and how he is expected to be in the world. These horrendous opinions continue as he moves to New York. Nothing has changed in the way he is seen in the community. An introduction to his childhood reveals he grew up in an “angry industrial town” filled with gangs and murders (140). Because he came from this kind of environment, he is expected to mimic those actions. Soon to find out that he grew up a “good boy” and sadly had to see his community get “locked away” and “buried” (140) at a young age. Towards the conclusion of his story, Staples adds encounters of other men and the experiences they have conversated about. A harsher experience was sadly faced by another man as he was mistaken as a killer and held at gunpoint in his own vehicle (141). Adding additional experiences aside from his own show that this is a serious universal problem these young men must face. No matter who, where, or when, these issues remain prominent in these individuals’ lives and showcase the severity of these everlasting problems. Focusing on the conclusion, an important idea is made. Staples mentions he would “whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi…” (141) and some would even join. This may be viewed as a form of symbolism, which reveals this is something he believes brings him and others together, despite differences.

Formal language satisfies Staple’s essay. With no slang being used, the importance of the context is clear, and it should be taken so on a more serious note rather than a casual story. Staples brilliant word choices and elements aid in capturing the true feelings that are being felt and sensory details add to the experiences. “As a softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken…- I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed…” (139) hints at the genuine emotions he feels and the type of person he is. He would not dare hurt a thing in the world but that is the complete opposite of what society believes of him. There are many moments of Staples describing his sensory details like in the “dark, shadowy intersections” (140) or the sounds “thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk (140) he hears as he is simply crossing the street as people in their own vehicles are panicked and lock their doors.

The structure remains strong and steady throughout. A declarative approach is used within as everything is stated. Every experience and moment are based on facts. The essay is explored by two sets of facts – the way people see and react to him, and how it makes him feel as he is “an object of fear… going about business in the city” (144). A strong effect is given off to the audience as it is learned everything is stated with facts, meaning everything that is said and shared should not be looked over, and there are everlasting effects left on not only Staples but everyone who encounters the treatment given.

Dialogue and quotations are not something major in this work as these moments described are strictly his experiences which become the entire layout.

Arguably, Pathos and Logos are both rhetorical appeals exhibited. Pathos is used to signify the hardships and emotions African American men go through in their lives as an attempt for the audience to understand the seriousness of it, focusing on the effects it has mentally for the rest of their lives unless the stereotypes come to an end. Logos focuses on the reason men feel this way, justifiable due to the various judgments and treatments they undergo from a community.

Racism in our country and the world will not be disappearing before our eyes anytime soon. With all the horrific experiences Staples chose to share, or the deep emotions he revealed that came upon him as he was viewed differently, we can only hope one day individuals will not be looked down upon for simply wanting to walk the streets just because they are diverse.