Black Man and Public Space

This essay was written by Brent Staples in 1986 and he notes that black men are considered, thanks to stereotypes of society, as dangerous people. He describes us as his "first victim", where he is walking at night in a street and he meets a white woman who is walking at a distance of almost 7 feet from him. Far away from each other, the woman judges him for being a black man and this does everything possible to get away and disappear from the view of Brent. It is amazing how the author recognizes that it is a situation which he will have to deal with the rest of his life, when he says "It was in the echo of that terrified woman's footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I'd eat into - the ability to alter public space in ugly ways ".

He mentions how difficult it is to live in urban areas of the city, where there is the possibility that a person can die simply by entering the wrong street at the wrong time or a situation where the police have to intervene. He also explains how his presence was uncomfortable near people who were inside cars, where people put the lock on the doors and he could hear the noise coming from the cars. Brent completely understood the fear that people had him, especially women who were more likely to suffer some kind of violence on the street and black men were presented as criminals.

Brent describes other situations that he suffered thanks to stereotypes and racism. The first was an occasion where he was confused by a burglar and was pursued by the police until he was recognized by someone who knew him. The other situation was when Brent entered a jewelry store, because he had free time before an interview, the owner of the store excused herself for a moment and returned with a Doberman hinting that Brent had plans to steal in the store. The author kindly left the store and after that event, looked for ways to be in public places where other people and he can feel comfortable.

            It is unfortunate how societies judge people by their appearance and classify them or identify them according to absurd stereotypes. I consider it unfeasible for any human being to think that a black man walking at night is a dangerous person compared to a white man. I think the racism and prejudice of the Brent era remains the same at this time, with the only difference that people are not openly racist as in past times.