ACC430 Principles of Corporate Taxation - Section 001

Irene Lin

Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space

In “Just Walk on By” Staples discusses his ability to alter people’s feelings by his appearance. Since he is a black man, others, especially women, would be scared or terrified and not to dare make eye contact with him. They were afraid being the quarry of a mugger or rapist. However, he thought he was just a softy who dared not to take a knife to a raw chicken, not to say hold it to a person’s throat. At the very start, he was surprised and confused that he seemed to have no difference between those muggers or rapists. The only reason for them to be frightened is the race and the appearance of Staples for he is black.

As there were more and more parallel encounters, he gradually realized and understood the language of fear through reading and perceiving other’s reactions when he turned up. Those people did not have to say any words and Staples would understand that they are now feeling insecure. For example, as he crossed the car stopped in front of the traffic light, he heard thunk, thunk of the driver. It’s because the people in the car are afraid that they might be robbed and locked the door for safety.

Although people had such prejudice against blacks, he did not feel angry or outraged. On the other hand, he felt sympathetic for those people since they could not remove the prejudice or the stereotypes in favor of black men. He understood the reason why others always connected blacks with bad men or muggers is the influence of books or media, for instance, the essay, “My Negro Problem-And Ours,” of Norman Podhoretz. Instead being angry at those people, he tried to change his appearance or attitude while walking on the street in order to make people be less terrified.

To him, all he had encountered was not only the matter of racism, but also prejudice or appearance. He was first mistakenly seen as a dangerous guy for his appearance-tall, “black” and putting the hands into the pocket of a bulky military jacket. Any one who showed up like this will definitely terrify others, not to say he is a black man. Thus, he realized it and altered the way he acted while being in the public space, for instance he whistled melodies and put on jeans. All those three reasons made him always consider as a mugger or bad guy. As long as others could get rid of those prejudice in mind, they would feel much easier and relaxed when walking on the street.

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