Black Men and Public Space

    In Brent Staples Black Men and Public Space (1996), Staples claims that because he was a black man, strangers  felt intimidated whenever he was near them.  The author recounts a few incidents in which people were frightened by his presence.  The author wrote this article in order to inform his readers that in judging others, we often forget that the ones we misjudge are human and have feelings too.  The author's audience is anyone who may have judged someone else because of the way they look.

     As a woman, I can honestly say that whenever I go to  downtown Atlanta, a different country, or even in a store parking lot, I like to be aware of my surroundings.  I try to avoid any person, male or female, no matter what race, that may be acting strangely.  Realistically, we all know that this world can be a dangerous place and we all need to be cautious.  People get robbed, raped, and even murdered everyday.  Unfortunatly, it is the bad seeds in every race that gives everyone else of their race a bad name. I have been fortunate enough to have friends from  different countries, and I know that there are good and bad in every race, therefore, when I  do judge someone, it's because of their actions.  I find it sad that not everyone feels the same way.   As a very sensitive person, I know that I would feel very isolated if people avoided me because of the way I looked, or because my accent was different, or even just because I was different from them.  
     This informative article shows the readers how being feared by others caused the author to realize that where fear was involved , his own saftey could be in jeopardy.  The author states that "Where fear and weapons meet,... there is always the possibility of death."