On February 27th, the same day that I read Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples, the TSD released an email regarding a suspicious vehicle in the area of Square Lake and John R. Road. The email reported that a TSD parent had seen an older white full-sized station wagon sitting on the street for several consecutive days. A black male in his 20's was sitting in the driver's seat and wearing sunglasses even though it was dark out. He reportedly drove up to the parent's daughter as she was walking to school and demanded her to "Come here." Reading this email sparked tension and a queasiness that fluttered in my stomach, for I walk home alone after school. This incident will permanently alter the public space in that neighborhood, as parents set up higher precautions for safety. Yet this news is also enough to alter my own public space. As I walked home that day, I unconsciously "picked up my pace" (205) and "forge[d] ahead" (206) as I wished to reach the safe perimeter of my house as soon as possible. The description of the black male reminded me of Staples' observation, that the "fearsomeness mistakenly attributed to [him] in public places" (207) was because "young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence" (206). My natural "fight or flight" response is usually triggered when I perceive suspicious looking strangers on my walk home. Yet the description of the man and his white car increased my alertness as I glimpsed at the passing white cars, determined to "screen out troublesome individuals before there is any nastiness" (206). Staples' piece, though, convinced me through his misunderstood anecdotes that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet how am I to know if the strangers that I encounter are to be feared or not? There are too many if's and maybe's when meeting strangers in public spaces, since it's difficult to view their true personalities. Here, Staples' provides a solution. Body language. The "excellent tension-reducing measure" of whistling classical melodies is something "virtually everybody" relaxes too because music is a universal language (207).
It's great that Staples isn't a direct threat to the people he portrays, but it's worth noting that people like him occasionally are. For example, people like the suspicious vehicle driver exist. And as long as that is the fact, it will be difficult for people to lose their mistrust of him.
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