As we work to change tolerance in America, the prejudicial response of perceiving Black men as criminals is still a regular occurrence. In his essay “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Ability to Alter Public Space” Brent Staples analyzes the effects it has on those around him and expresses his feelings about the possibility of “altering public places in ugly ways” . Staples' aim is to amplify ongoing biases against black men as they are often stereotyped as a threat. He hopes to change the views of others by describing how black men feel about these unfair opinions. He supports his position using strong imagery as he recounts his own encounters with prejudice. The author maintains a surprisingly sympathetic tone, he is also friendly and easy-going, which broadens his audience to include any reader. Black men can relate to his experiences, women receive understanding, he also addresses those who act on stereotypes. Staples uses credible evidence through his own experiences of racial profiling which makes him a reliable source. He is able to win the reader's empathy by expressing the pain felt as a result of his victimization. Staples often wrote about growing up facing poverty. He wrote this essay in 1974, just eight years after the death of Martin Luther King, when civil rights for African Americans were improving. However, discrimination continued even when segregation ended. Staples was a 23-year-old graduate student when he first experienced racial profiling, suggesting that he was not wired to expect this type of bigotry. He admits that women are more vulnerable and are victims of the streets and that they must be careful. It also recognizes the role that young black people play as a large number of perpetrators. Due to his genuine sincerity in trying to change the perspective of others, Staples is able to persuade others to think before they react and proves to be a respectable and reliable source of information. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayStaples offers several examples of how he is treated like a criminal. He begins by recalling an interaction with a young woman in which he was made to feel like a predator for the first time. The first three words written in his essay are: “My first victim” (p. 260) which introduce the idea that this encounter makes him feel like a bad guy. He makes the reader feel his agony at being the cause of her fear by stating, “It was in the echoing footsteps of that terrified woman that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I had entered into,” acknowledging the discrimination that he faced him like a boogeyman. Walking at night, he walked through the streets of Chicago where "blacks, whites, males and females" all locked their doors as he passed their cars, demonstrating that the same behaviors are exhibited by all types of people. While working as a journalist, he was mistaken for a thief at work and had to rush to his employer to establish his identity. He was threatened by a jewelry store owner and his Doberman while visiting his shop. Staples looks back on his childhood, explaining his advantageous perspective on growing up “fight shy” watching his friends give in to the seduction of power. He was not attracted to violence, instead he finds himself alone and isolated when he is feared on the street. Furthermore, Staples goes on to say, “This was over ten years ago. I was 23 years old, a graduate studentjust arrived at the University of Chicago. It was in the echoing footsteps of that terrified woman that I began to know the cumbersome inheritance I had entered into: the ability to alter public space in bad ways." By reading this sentence from the second paragraph, Staples uses the rhetorical charm of ethos, helping us as an audience to see his character; a sympathetic man. Through this, we can see that Staples tried to put himself in this woman's shoes, which would later be his main turning point for change more than him. Likewise, he states, "As a softie who can barely pick up a knife to cut raw chicken — let alone hold it to a person's throat — I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed by it all. time." once. His escape made me feel complicit in the tyranny. It also made it clear that I was indistinguishable from the robbers who occasionally infiltrated the area from the surrounding ghetto. Here, Staples builds his tone to be angry, hurtful, and hurt. It also incorporates the rhetorical strategy, Pathos. He wants us to feel exactly the way he felt. He wants us to feel the needless attack that people of color are facing in America, and he does this successfully by being direct in how he feels and using the terms “He also made it clear.” to underline how clear and evident the discrimination was in the woman's actions. Staples builds such a relationship with his audience that it's hard not to trust him. He is able to transform the vision of others by looking at them through his eyes as he walks on the cold sidewalk every night. It illustrates the sadness and loneliness he feels as he demonstrates his desire to be equal. While he understands why women have reason to fear for their safety, this fact gives him no comfort. He feels the "alienation" of always being suspected by others. In fact, he claims that feeling feared, in turn, makes him fear his own safety, stating that when people are afraid, there is “always the possibility of death. ” for him. He demonstrates his willingness to change the way he behaves in public to make those around him feel safe by whistling current songs. Thus demonstrating the idea that only he is capable of altering the ideas of those around him based on his own inactions and actions, which leads his audience to a sympathetic reaction regarding his situation. His openness to a wide range of emotions, the sympathy and understanding he gives women, as well as his willingness to make changes he shouldn't make to comfort others, shows his true character. The fact that it holds back anger when it should be overflowing affirms the ethical appeal of the author's attitude and personal characteristics. Black men are singled out and profiled by the police, they themselves are in danger because they are perceived as dangerous by the public. Its purpose is to challenge the public's opinions and actions towards black men by demonstrating how black men are made to feel when faced with these prejudicial opinions. He does it very professionally, with a fair and hopeful expectation. Staples offers many examples from his life and that of another journalist who was mistaken for a murder suspect while working. He adds that black men regularly exchange similar stories. He expands his argument using direct sources where black men have had a "fixed place" by being represented as robbers in New York literature using Norman Podhoretz's article, "My Negro Problem" and Edward Hoagland's "Heaven and Nature" as specific examples. The structure of the essay allows us to begin when first.