When I first started reading Brent Staples “Walk on by,” I wasn’t sure who the narrator was. It seemed to me that it was an observer looking onto someone thinking they were about to be mugged. As I kept reading it came clear to me that the narrator was the one thought to be ‘the stalker’ or ‘the mugger.’ It seems to me that just because of the narrator’s skin color there was a misconception that he was going to hurt someone, or steal their personal belongings. The same thing happens when he is in Chicago on the other side of the street from a women, he is walking the same was so she thinks he is following her. This story also shows how he goes from living in a small town in Pennsylvania to making it in New York City. He tries to become a journalist but along the way trying to turn in his drafts/final pieces people confuse him for burglar instead of a journalist for that same paper just trying to get his piece in on time.
I don’t understand why there are misconceptions. I have heard of several before and to me they are just annoying. Just because the narrator in this story was not the same race as the local paper he was working for at the time, they thought he was a burglar. I do not think that something like that should be a reason. I also do not understand how if he works for the paper, the only person who knows that is his editor. You would think that a couple of other people would have seen him before, maybe when he got the job, or came in to talk to the editor the first time. If someone works for a company there should be no reason that at least one other person knows he works there than the editor himself.
I think you are right Rachel about it being interesting that not many people realized the “mugger” worked at the journalism office, but I think there are other aspects to this story that maybe you missed…I think the main idea the author is trying to get across in this piece is the idea that negative stereotypes of black men exist in our society even if people don’t realize it or choose not to acknowledge it. Although many times people have no good reason for discriminating against someone, they often do because these are the pre set misconceptions that others have of certain members of society due to the mere fact that there is no understanding or education between the different races. For example, white people may think all black men are burglars or muggers just because this is the way they are often portrayed in movies or TV shows. Even though it of course isn’t true, people accept this belief because they have no basis for thinking critically about the situation and coming to their own conclusions about the type of personality or character black men have. I found this reading very interesting, and it was refreshing to read something by someone who was willing to take a more in-depth look into stereotypes and the way many different cultures, races, and ethnicities are portrayed negatively by them.