Stereotyping Essay - Grade: A PDF

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Emma Brobeck Critical Writing, English 102-89 Dr. McCarren 9 January 2018 Stereotypes It has been very evident that stereotypes are a big part of people’s every day lives. In Brent Staples’ “Nightwalker,” he makes it unfortunately clear that people treat him differently based on his race. Kathryn Schulz is constantly arguing about how people have been treated recently, especially in her infamous passage “Evidence.” Stereotyping is very serious and should be put to a stop. Brent Staples is an African American man who grew up in the small town of Chester, Pennsylvania. Upon his high school graduation, he went on to attend Widener University, and then later obtained a Master’s degree in behavioral science in 1976, then then a PhD in the same area of study in 1982 from the University of Chicago. Staples is now employed by The New York Times where he is on the newspaper’s editorial board. “My first victim was a woman---white, well dressed, probably in her early 20’s. I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street in Hyde Park… She cast back a worried glance To her, the youngish black man---a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket—seemed menacingly close. She picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest.”(1) The “Nightwalker” writer states in the passage that that was almost a decade ago. A lot of stereotyping is based on inductive reasoning. By definition, inductive reasoning is a logical process in which multiple premises, all believed true or found true most of the time,

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are combined to obtain a specific conclusion. To further explain, inductive reasoning can be used to predict behavior. Perhaps the woman Staples encountered that night was fearful based on something that had happened to her in the past. Or, her assumptions could have been based off of something that she had seen. In a highly populated city like Chicago, people may often see things like gangs, fights, robberies, murders, etc. I am by no means racist, but in Pittsburgh, where I happen to be from, African Americans have made a name for themselves by just being simply disrespectful. I presume that the woman had experienced something of that nature by a man of that stature and overall look. She may have seen a news article, feature, or maybe she had seen it first hand. “In that first year, my first away from my hometown, I was to become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear. At dark, shadowy intersections, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver---black, white, male, female---hammering down the door locks.”(1) After that statement, Staples also says he had grown accustomed to people crossing the street to get away from him, but it had always made him uncomfortable. Isn’t it funny that people who are uncomfortable by someone of the opposite race go out of their way to make that person uncomfortable? It is no longer the 1800’s. An African American man should be able to walk the streets without being looked at weird or questioned on every action. I understand that some blacks have made a negative name for the entire race based off of individual actions. However, like Kathryn Schulz stated, stereotyping is based off of inductive reasoning.

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When Staples was around 28 years old, he moved to Manhattan. In New York, he remained an avid night walker. He says that he experienced the same type of stereotyping, especially from women. “After dark, on the warren like streets of Brooklyn where I live, I often see women who fear the worst from me. They seem to have set their faces on neutral, and with their purse straps strung across their chests bandolier-style, the forge ahead as though bracing themselves against being tackled.”(2) It is no doubt that with being a woman comes constant fear of being abused or mugged by men. However, this could be a man of any race. In fact, it is quite possible that a woman could get mugged by another woman. Just because I am a white female does not mean if I am to get mugged, I am only going to get mugged by a black male. I feel like that is something that a lot of people do not understand. Again, I did not grow up racist. As Brent Staples’ chapter comes to a close, he talks about his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania. He says it is full of gang warfare, street knifings, and murders. However, he grew up as one of the good boys. He was never involved in any of the criminal acts. Even so, nobody in Chicago knew that. Nobody in Manhattan knew that either. Strangers are only going to see what they see on the outside. Stereotyping and racism are both very serious assumptions this day and age. People need to stop using inductive reasoning and judging people for what they can only see, especially when they do not have any facts. No one will ever know when exactly that will happen. For now, we can only hope people will understand, and we can continue to call people out when they are wrong.

Brobeck Works Cited Schulz, Kathryn. “Evidence.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers, 10th Edition. Eds. David Bartholomae, Anthony Petrosky and Stacey Waite. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 362-379 Print. Staples, Brent. “Nightwalker.” D2L Course Posting: English 102-88/McCarren. Slippery Rock University. 2013. MS Word File.

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