Red- Anger, embarrassment, and passion

Red-Anger, Embarrassment, and Passion

The short story, Just Walk on By, by Brent Staples reflects the possible racist views of our society and how they have affected the mannerisms of Staples. In the story, Staples reveals that people have avoided him, and accused him of criminal activity due to his race. Staples also mentions that black men are being subjected to hostile behavior, and that their representation in society is often oversimplified.

While reading this, I tried to look at the situation from multiple perspectives. On one hand, I understood how unfair it was to Staples and other black men because they were on the receiving end of some cruel acts that were both hurtful, and embarrassing. I thought that it was extremely unfair that Staples had to change his behavior. Why couldn't the community around him change their views? Why did they have to resort to stereotyping him and many other people?

I also tried to look at this from the perspectives of the bystanders and the citizens of his community. There appeared to be a lot of gang violence and other criminal acts committed by black men. While I don't agree with their treatment, I was able to understand why they might have acted that way. I also learned that in the area they were in, these acts were common, and they might not have been fueled by racism.

After I read this, I thought of red. Red often times represents anger, embarrassment, and passion. These are emotions that I believe Staples must have felt during these situations. Staples did not reveal any of these emotions except for embarrassment when people ran away from him. I chose anger, because at many times, I felt it, and during our discussions in class, I learned that many other people felt this was as well. I also think that he must be passionate about the subject, considering that fact that he wrote the story.