Analysis of Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples

It can be very impactful to a person when they are solely judged on their appearance. The story “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples is about a graduate student who lives through many experiences where he is viewed negatively because of his race, gender, and class. Most of these experiences took place during the late 1900s, where he was mostly perceived as a burglar. The central idea Staple perceives through his text is that through many social interactions, he was frustrated about how people perceived him due to his race so he learned to switch his way of living in order to be perceived as someone less feared. This central idea develops throughout his text by using onomatopoeia and reflection. 

At the beginning of the text, Staples uses onomatopoeia to develop his central idea.  In the text, Staples states, “At dark, shadowy intersections, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver--black, white, male, or female-- hammering down the door locks” (Staples 1). Onomatopoeia helps emphasize the fear that he perceives from others, it shows that they made sure that it was locked an extra two times not just trying to lock it once. This starts the central idea by showing that he was judged off of the people’s first impression of him most likely due to his appearance and the location of the event. 

In the middle of the text, Staples uses reflection to help further his central idea. In the text, Staples asserts, “As a boy, I saw countless tough guys locked away; I have since buried several, too. They were babies, really--a teenage cousin, a brother of twenty-two, a childhood friend in his mid-twenties-- all gone down in episodes of bravado played out in the streets. I came to doubt the virtues of intimidation early on. I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow-timid, but a survivor” (Staples 2). Reflection helps further his central idea by emphasizing that from a young age, he has seen many people like him be killed or hurt because of people profiling them. Therefore he has chosen to stay quiet to avoid that happening to him.  He was scared for people to make assumptions about him that were not true. 

Toward the end of the text, Staples the central idea is finalized. In the text, Staples writes, “Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It is my equivalent of the cowbell that hikers wear when they know they are in bear country.” This piece of the text shows that after he had been judged and perceived as someone he wasn’t he changed to become someone who can be seen as less freighting. This finalized the central idea by showing he had changed his way of living in order to stop the racial profiling interactions.  

Throughout the text, Staples uses many literary devices to help the reader understand the main idea he portrays. The two devices that added the most to his central idea were onomatopoeia and reflection. He portrays the idea that because of social interactions he had over the course of his life he wanted to change the way people viewed him as someone less alarming. This text really helps readers understand that the way people take on social interactions can shape/affect many others in many different ways.