11.3.14

Discuss: "Black Men in Public Space" by Brent Staples

WU: Staples Have you ever been in a position of suspicion or being suspected of wrong-doing just because of your age, race, sex, or ethnicity? Describe the situation, and what you did about it?

Discussion Questions:


 * 1) **In paragraph 5 Staples says he understands that the danger women fear when they see him “is not a hallucination.” Do you think this means that he views himself as dangerous? Explain? **


 * 1) **Staples says “I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow--timid, but a survivor” (paragraph 7). What are the usual connotations of “survivor”? Is “timid” one of them? How can you explain this apparent discrepancy? **


 * 1) **What is the purpose of this essay? Do you think that he (or other African American males) will cease to alter public spaces in ugly ways in the near future? Does he suggest any long term solution for “the kind of alienation that comes of being ever the suspect”? (paragraph 5) **


 * 1) **What does the author accomplish by using the word victim in the essay’s first paragraph? Is the word used literally? What tone does it set for the essay? **


 * 1) **Is it the young black man's responsibility to let everyone know he is not a threat (wear a cowbell)? If so, how do we let it be known we are not a threat? If not, whose responsibility is it for ending this kind of prejudice? **


 * 1) **How relevant is Staples' essay (written/published in 1986) today? Do you think young black men have the same effect on public space in 2011 as Staples' experienced twenty-five years ago? **


 * 1) **What IS Staples' attitude about this phenomenon? Is he bitter? angry? disappointed? understanding? (Give evidence). And what IS his purpose? Explore the connection between his tone and his purpose. **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does Staples consider and appeal to his audience? Does he avoid alienating or accusing his reader? If so, how? **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Share your own experiences as they pertain to the essay--when you've instinctively judged someone as a threat, for example, or when you've been perceived as a threat yourself. **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Explore the idea introduced in par. 2 and reinforced in the analogy of the hiker's cowbell: that "being perceived as a threat is a hazard in itself". **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What, if anything, can be done to avoid or reduce these incidents? (Where do such assumptions come from? Can we ever stop making snap judgments?) **