Staples’ “Black Men and Public Spaces” Strays Only Slightly

RuthAnn Milbert Instructor: Lynne Lerych May 4, 2010 English 101 Essay Review #2 Staples’ â€Å"Black Men and Public Spaces† Strays Only Slightly Brent Staples’ â€Å"Black Men and Public Spaces† narrative is about his realization of the fear that black men instill in persons of non color and his attempts at lessening that fear. Staples’ essay begins him recalling a time where a white woman ran from him simply because he was black. He continues to explain that his intentions weren’t to cause her harm but had just happened to be walking behind her since he couldn’t sleep. Staples refers to publications by Norman Podhoretz and Edward Hoagland who had expressed their views on the same type of fear the woman who ran from him had experienced and although the fear was factually founded it didn’t give much comfort to Staples. Staples explains how black youths, mostly men, were more likely intimidate people because of their upbringing and tells how this generalization led to times where he was judged by color alone and thought to be a threat. After Staples realizes and begins to understand the reasons behind this fear he began taking measures to make himself appear less threatening and by doing so he hoped to lessen the public fear of him. Staples’ essay definitely keeps the readers interest even if slightly straying from his thesis. Staples does a very nice job of keeping site of his main topic from the title to the conclusion only deviating slightly to give more background on the reasoning behind why black men tended to use the power of intimidation starting from birth. His was objective, gave great expert opinions, and maintained a good flow throughout the essay. His thoughts of how he could lessen the publics fear of him at the end of the essay didn’t have much evidence to prove that his ideas were effective aside from his own personal experience where some people seemed to react more kindly towards him then in the past. Factors such as time passing and civil rights seem just as likely to be the reason for the publics fear lessening as Staples’ theory on whistling. Staples Black Men and Public Spaces Strays Only Slightly Racism has been prevalent in the United States since the first European explorers arrived at our shores. Law reforms since that time have continuously changed almost all of society; however, â€Å"public schooling is the context in which desegregation has attained its most salient position as a national issue† (Foner and Garraty). America could reduce the amount of racial discrimination in our public high schools by encouraging everyone to pursue using one main dialect because it would make one less thing that fuels the racism in some people. Asking people (especially adolescents) to go out of their way to try and make things easier for others that they may not even know might seem like an enormous request at first, but the simplicity of it could show positive results much faster then society has ever thought possible. Racism is generally in reaction to someone's skin color or race so the way someone speaks isn't usually the focus of discussions on the matter. Lets say there was a man named, Bob. Bob was a white man from Missouri and had lost his sight over the years. One day a new mailman, a black man, cheerfully greeted Bob on his porch, but was instantly shouted at to leave the property. Although Bob was blind at that point, the way in which the mailman spoke had told Bob he was black. Was this fair? Honestly, yes and no. No, it was wrong for Bob to be racist in the first place and shouldn't assume every human that spoke as the mailman did was a person of colors. And yes, it is a pretty fair deduction Bob made due to the fact that the majority of people with that dialect were persons of color. If high school kids were all able to speak in the same manner as each other then the audible line that separates them would be greatly diminished. With that massive factor out of play, skin color becomes pretty much the sole focus of racism. If people only have one reason why they dislike or hate a group of people it weakens their resolve to continue the fight. In the Jena Six case there was a massive backing of the defendants because they were lead to believe that a great civil injustice had been done. Then the truth that the defendants had been lying came to light and â€Å"the fact remains that the Jena Six case climbed to its rickety position as a national symbol of racial injustice largely because a lot of people, some professional activists and many members of the press, wanted it to do so† (Allen). Benjamin Dowling-Sendor, an authority on school law, is an assistant appellate defender of North Carolina in Durham has wondered if it was â€Å"right that the Supreme Court ruled saying prohibition of a flag that the Freedom of Speech Clause of the First Amendment was supposed to cover was justified.† (SIRS) Although Dowling-Sendor's issue dealt with a visual symbol the same principal can be applied to audible issues. Would the request of students speaking in a certain way violate their freedom of speech? I strongly believe that the less diverse a nation is the more stable. The quote, â€Å"Unite We Stand, Divided We Fall† seems to apply itself quite well in this situation. We as individuals can remain unique, but unless we find more common ground, starting at young ages such as high school, we are doomed to another civil war.