##yping In Brent Stapless Black Men In Public Space

In his short essay, â€Å"Black Men in Public Space†, Brent Staples captures his own experiences working as a tall black journalist in a predominantly White neighborhood. Staple’s experiences highlight how he is stereotyped and intimidated in the public due to his skin color even though he is a bright young man and a graduate student at the University of Chicago (Staples). Staples further shows that even though he is well versed and academically accomplished, the predominant and affluent White community discriminated against him which led to his changes in regards to his dressing and walking so as to be socially accepted as a member of the community and not as a dangerous black citizen. Staples explores the dangers of stereotyping and how such†¦show more content†¦In relation to stereotyping and prejudice, racism in effect is defined as the discrimination of a certain group of people as perceived by another group of people (Khan, Saera R. et al.). In Staples article, the issue surrounding stereotyping is brought forth in relation to the resulting prejudice and consequently racism as witnessed on Staples relations with the predominantly white community. â€Å"My first victim was a woman – white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties. I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street in Hyde Park, a relatively affluent neighborhood in an otherwise mean, impoverished section of Chicago† (staples). Staples statement suggests that the white woman is his victim even though we are quite sure that he is an innocent African American intellectual man. It can then, be argued that, through the constant stereotypes that Staples interacts with, p rejudice makes him believe that he is wrong to be walking on the same street as the white woman. Stereotyping characteristics are associated with our past experiences of the particular group’s characterization and thus, in essence, we would have to have a certain picture of that group’s social behaviors on our minds. Eventually, such characterization leads to the generalization of the entire group’s social and cognitive behaviors that we believe are inbound or depict the true