Wendy's Article

Just walk on by: A black man ponders his power to alter public space

Answers to Questions for Discussion

There are really different perceptions between Staples and other people. Though Staple regards himself as soft and timid, most of the pedestrians or strangers assume him a “dangerous” person. The reason they connect him with danger is because of the truth that black males are the most perpetrators or muggers in that area. As a result, people become nervous or scared when he is around them, especially in nighttime and where there are fewer people.

Staple noticed the fear and became familiar with people’s language of fear when he was an undergraduate student in Chicago. People would suppose that he might do something bad and then alienate from him or try to have some precautional measures. Confronting these situations, in the beginning, Staple felt surprised, embarrassed and frustrated because he hadn’t been perceived as dangerous before. Realizing the reality, he had no choice but to accept the situation and try to adapt to it. Eventually Staple gets used to all of these unpleasant situations and even has his way to reduce people’s anxiety around him.

He can understand people’s fear is out of instinct of avoiding danger, the statistics of crime makes people try to take actions to protect themselves is reasonable. But this kind of suspect also brings troubles to him; moreover it might cause his death. Not only people suffer from the terror attributed to him, he also suffers from people’s terror of him and indeed more serious then others.

Just like vulnerable women in the situation of street violence, Staple is also vulnerable in the environment of being suspected. What other blacks do affects his life; even black and male are only two similar things between them. People’s quick-hunch posture arise from black male muggers cause other mistaken assumptions and unpleasant experiences combine together, at the same time, their fear is like a small snow ball rolling from a mountain and growing bigger and bigger. At the end, people can not tell which fear is reasonable or proper and which fear is created by their panic and wrong suspicions.

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