Brent Staples wrote the selection, "Just Walk on By." Staples introduces the piece by including an anecdote from when he was a graduate student in Chicago. "She cast back a worried glance. To her, the youngish black man- a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket- seemed menacingly close." His writing appeals to the Pathos of the reader, as you feel a sense of sympathy mixed with guilt, as you remember an instance in which you are guilty of the same actions. The purpose of this article was largely race stereotypes and equality. Staples has been discriminated against many times in his life, so many times that it has caused him to reflect on what he's done wrong. The only answer he can find: he's black.
Staples starts the third paragraph by saying, "In that first year, my first away from my hometown, I was to become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear. At dark, shadowy intersections in Chicago, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver- black, white, male or female- hammering down their door locks. On less traveled streets after dark I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with people who crossed to the other side of the street rather than pass me." The endless list of examples pulls to the heartstrings of the reader as well. Staples intends on sparking a change. He wants his readers to relate, rather relate to experiencing the discrimination or taking part in it, and making a change. Staples wants to live in a world in which he can walk on the same side of the street as a white woman and not have her cross the street in fear. He wants to be able to walk through the park, and not have people assume he's going to mug them. He wants to walk past a driver at night and not have them lock their doors. Discrimination by law is illegal, but it is still a problem today that I agree needs to be fixed.
Staples, Brent. "Just Walk on By." (1986): n. pag. Web.
Staples starts the third paragraph by saying, "In that first year, my first away from my hometown, I was to become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear. At dark, shadowy intersections in Chicago, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver- black, white, male or female- hammering down their door locks. On less traveled streets after dark I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with people who crossed to the other side of the street rather than pass me." The endless list of examples pulls to the heartstrings of the reader as well. Staples intends on sparking a change. He wants his readers to relate, rather relate to experiencing the discrimination or taking part in it, and making a change. Staples wants to live in a world in which he can walk on the same side of the street as a white woman and not have her cross the street in fear. He wants to be able to walk through the park, and not have people assume he's going to mug them. He wants to walk past a driver at night and not have them lock their doors. Discrimination by law is illegal, but it is still a problem today that I agree needs to be fixed.
Staples, Brent. "Just Walk on By." (1986): n. pag. Web.
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