Brent Staples, a young African American journalist, explains the hardships of his everyday life in respect to his complexion and heritage in “Just Walk on By.” He tells of the treatment that he witnesses on a daily basis, some of which include awkward looks and the hurried movements of people trying to counter his path. Staples also renders the story of a drastic event in which his fellow journalist was mistakenly deemed a suspected murderer due to his appearance.
This article caught my attention due to the nature of the addressed topic; racial profiling and stereotyping. I can relate to Staples experiences. I, myself am an African American, but unlike Staples I am a female. Though there are some factors that are attributed solely to African American males, many of the stereotypes are linked to blacks as a whole. I cannot count the various incidents that I have faced being a young Afrcan American woman. Unlike Staples I will not, and find it totally ridiculous to go to great lengths to make myself appear harmless to those who are fearful of my presence or come up with various statics as to why it is acceptable that people unlike me treat me with disrespect.
Reading this article actually upset me in many ways, the first being the fact that it brought to mind the complete ignorance of people in the world today in association with stereotyping the other injustices. I find it really disheartening that mistreatment remains very prevalent within our society but I remain hopeful that it will lessen with time and that minorities can be treated with the same respect in the unconscious manner that represents humility.
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This is an interesting mini article, I don't think I saw it in the book - I wish I would have so I could read it. I would like to know more about the story/article with a more descriptive summary. Other than that I like your response and how you incorporated your real life experience.
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected this to the outside world. Indeed, this helps you understand the essay on a different level. However, I think that it connected with you on such a level that your analysis was overshadowed, as it appears to the reader. So probably a heavier emphasis on the analysis of the work would have been good. Otherwise, it was a good response.
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