Brent Staples’ Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space
The second paragraph of this essay on how African Americans are affected by and viewed because of prejudices struck a chord within me. Staples writes of how he felt dismayed and changed by his experience many years ago. The last few sentences, in particular, seemed to convey a deep message about the experiences of minorities in large cities. During the end of the paragraph, Staples speaks to the reader of his realization that he had ‘inherited’ the ability to affect the streets in an “ugly way”. What he means by this is that his mere appearance would put off white people, that upon sighting a black man at night, they would assume he was just another mugger from nearby ghettos, that they would react violently and had to be avoided of all costs. Because of this understanding Staples derived from the encounter, he then states “I soon gathered that being perceived as dangerous is a hazard in itself. I only needed to turn a corner into a dicey situation, or crowd some frightened, armed person in a foyer somewhere, or make an errant move after being pulled over by a policeman.” (Staples, P.1). In this quote he explains that he is aware of himself being perceived as a dangerous individual, and he knows the reason is his skin color, so because of this he has to watch out for his own safety to avoid cornering someone, making them feel uncomfortable, or giving cops a reason to use violence. The summary of this paragraph is of his unfair treatment and how he has to metaphorically dance around people in order to preserve his health, because any bad encounter could be his last.