Brent Staples: Just Walk On By

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In "Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space" Brent Staples discusses his ability to alter others emotions with his presence. He details numerous accounts of people mistaking him for a thief or mugger. In each of these situations though, he maintains an understanding demeanor.

After the woman hastily escaped from Staples, he didn't blame her for her actions. He looked at himself and understood how the woman might have mistaken him for something much more dangerous. A 'broad six-foot-two man with a beard a billowing hair' is not a description that immediately lends itself to a friendly 22 year old grad student. At the time, he did not feel angered or insulted, just confused, as it was the first time someone labeled him with a frightening stereotype. Now that he has dealt with so many people like her, he probably just feels sorry for the woman, as she will continue to be terrified by people whom she knows nothing about. However, he personally knows the draws for young thugs, and realizes that the woman had reason to fear such people.

Since she was the first person to label him with a frightening stereotype, Staples had not yet come up with a system to deal with other's anxiety. He was surprised to have elicited such a feeling from the woman, and in turn internalized her anxiety; feeling embarrassed that his appearance caused such an "ugly alteration of public space". Later, after he had gotten over his initial shock, he tried to change his image, hoping that people would no longer assign him such frightening stereotypes.

Before changing his behavior, Staples fit the unsavory streetwalker stereotype quite well. He walked with his hands in his pockets, averting his eyes from others. His hair was long and frizzy. His stride was strong, while he kept to himself on the street. He also wore less than casual clothing, military jackets and the like. All of these traits combined gave him the unsavory streetpers...