Black Men and Public Space - Brent Staples - CMP101 - Composition 1 - Sherf - NSCC Library at North Shore Community College

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Brent Staples and Discussions about Racism

Discussions about racism

In the article "Black Men and Public Spaces" by Brent Staples, the author describes 3 situations that demonstrate racist reactions. Each of these situations shows how people reacted to Staples based on racist assumptions. In class, you discussed how these assumptions align with the ideas of crime, education, and economics.

Crime

The woman running away at night in downtown Chicago - "It was clear that she thought herself the quarry of a mugger, a rapist, or worse. Suffering a bout of insomnia, however, I was stalking sleep, not defenseless wayfarers." The woman assumes he is dangerous and runs away. This assumption is reflected in the overrepresentation of young black men in crime statistics.

Education

The office workers chasing him down - "One day, rushing into the office of a magazine I was writing for with a deadline story in hand, I was mistaken for a burglar. The office manager called security and, with an ad hoc posse, pursued me through the labyrinthine halls, nearly to my editor's door." - The journalists in the office who chase him out cannot imagine a Black man to be a colleague because when they went to journalism school, they had no black classmates.

Economics

The jewelry clerk getting the dog - "I entered a jewelry store on the city's affluent Near North Side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash. She stood, the dog extended toward me, silent to my questions, her eyes bulging nearly out of her head." - The jewelry clerk assessing that a Black man does not have the money to purchase jewelry and is probably there to rob her.

What if these people called 911 during these encounters?

Police Response

"And I soon gathered that being perceived as dangerous is a hazard in itself. I only needed to turn a corner into a dicey situation, or crowd some frightened, armed person in a foyer somewhere, or make an errant move after being pulled over by a policeman. Where fear and weapons meet--and they often do in urban America--there is always the possibility of death." - Brent Staples

How unjust social structures help some but harm others
Take a deeper dive, here's an article on the topic - On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. At the root of the injustice that King preached about is structural inequalities. An expert explains what that means.
When police stop Black men, the effects reach into their homes and families
Take a deeper dive. Here's an article on the topic - As the country reels from a series of killings of Black men by the police, two scholars report that their research shows that stops by police of Black men can hurt their families.
What it means to be black in the American educational system
Take a deeper dive, here's an article on the topic - What are the race-related struggles that African-American students experience throughout their school years? Here's the story of Tyrone.

Identifying Keywords

In order to find your secondary sources for this topic, you will need to search in the library's databases. You will find direct links into the databases as well as suggestions for search terms to use to search for more sources below. Explore the databases and try out some of the suggested keywords when searching for your secondary sources. Be persistent and flexible! If you are not finding what you need, change your keywords. If you feed help, reach out and ask a Librarian.

Word cloud about racism

Brent Staples wrote the article, 'Black Men and Public Spaces' in 1986, yet the issues he raises are still happening today.

The issues raised in this article revolve around the effects of systemic racism on the lives of African Americans. Some search terms or keywords you could use to begin your search are listed below.

Race/Racism/Racist	Inequality	Profiling
Prejudice	Inclusion	Systemic
Bias	Injustice	Structural
Discrimination	Diversity	Implicit
Stereotypes	Equity	White Privilege
Race relations	Black Lives Matter

word cloud about black men and crime Your research for this assignment should focus on three aspects of the effects of racism on Black men, crime, education, and economics. Search for sources on each of these aspects individually. So, essentially you will do at least 3 different searches in the Library's databases for your secondary sources.

Some searches could be

1. Crime - [ Black Men AND Crime ] or [ Black Men AND Arrests ] or [ Black Men AND Police Shootings ]

2. Education - [ Black Men AND Education ] or [ Black Men AND College ] or [ Black Men AND Higher Education ]

3. Economics - [ Black Men AND Poverty ] or [ Black Men AND Income Inequality ] or [ Black Men AND Unemployment ]

Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window
Informed viewpoints support learners in developing critical-thinking skills and drawing their own conclusions. Covers current social issues through viewpoints, reference articles, infographics, news, images, video, and audio.
New York Times This link opens in a new window
Access daily regional, national, and international news stories. Good resource for primary sources (1980-Present)

SNAP! Search
Our SNAP! Search makes finding information and credible sources a breeze. Search almost all of our databases at once with this powerful search. Here, you’ll find journals, books, videos, magazines, and more all in one search.

U.S. History in Context This link opens in a new window
Find articles, statistics, images, videos, and other types of sources on the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History.
Boston Globe This link opens in a new window
Access daily local and national news stories. Good resource for primary sources (1980 - Present)

Policing the Black Man by Angela J. Davis (Editor)
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9781101871270
Publication Date: 2017
Policing the Black Man explores and critiques the many ways the criminal justice system impacts the lives of African American boys and men at every stage of the criminal process from arrest through sentencing. Essays range from an explication of the historical roots of racism in the criminal justice system to an examination of modern-day police killings of unarmed black men. The co-authors discuss and explain racial profiling, the power and discretion of police and prosecutors, the role of implicit bias, the racial impact of police and prosecutorial decisions, the disproportionate imprisonment of black men, the collateral consequences of mass incarceration, and the Supreme Court?s failure to provide meaningful remedies for the injustices in the criminal justice system. Policing the Black Man is an enlightening must-read for anyone interested in the critical issues of race and justice in America.
The Handbook of Research on Black Males by Theodore S. Ransaw; Richard Majors; C. P. Gause
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9781611862973
Publication Date: 2018
Drawing from the work of top researchers in various fields, The Handbook of Research on Black Males explores the nuanced and multifaceted phenomena known as the black male. Simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible, black males around the globe are being investigated now more than ever before; however, many of the well-meaning responses regarding media attention paid to black males are not well informed by research. Additionally, not all black males are the same, and each of them have varying strengths and challenges, making one-size-fits-all perspectives unproductive. This text, which acts as a comprehensive tool that can serve as a resource to articulate and argue for policy change, suggest educational improvements, and advocate judicial reform, fills a large void. The contributors, from multidisciplinary backgrounds, focus on history, research trends, health, education, criminal and social justice, hip-hop, and programs and initiatives. This volume has the potential to influence the field of research on black males as well as improve lives for a population that is often the most celebrated in the media and simultaneously the least socially valued.
Educating Black Males by Ronnie Hopkins
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9780791431580
Publication Date: 1997
Offers insights into the creation of more effective and empowering schools and classrooms for Black males.
Revealing Whiteness by Shannon Sullivan
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 9780253112132
Publication Date: 2006
[A] lucid discussion of race that does not sell out the black experience." --Tommy Lott, author of The Invention of Race Revealing Whiteness explores how white privilege operates as an unseen, invisible, and unquestioned norm in society today. In this personal and selfsearching book, Shannon Sullivan interrogates her own whiteness and how being white has affected her. By looking closely at the subtleties of white domination, she issues a call for other white people to own up to their unspoken privilege and confront environments that condone or perpetuate it. Sullivan's theorizing about race and privilege draws on American pragmatism, psychology, race theory, and feminist thought. As it articulates a way to live beyond the barriers that white privilege has created, this book offers readers a clear and honest confrontation with a trenchant and vexing concern.
Whitewashing Race by Michael K. Brown; Martin Carnoy; Elliott Currie; Troy Duster; David B. Oppenheimer
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 9780520938755
Publication Date: 2003
White Americans, abetted by neo-conservative writers of all hues, generally believe that racial discrimination is a thing of the past and that any racial inequalities that undeniably persist--in wages, family income, access to housing or health care--can be attributed to African Americans' cultural and individual failures. If the experience of most black Americans says otherwise, an explanation has been sorely lacking--or obscured by the passions the issue provokes. At long last offering a cool, clear, and informed perspective on the subject, this book brings together a team of highly respected sociologists, political scientists, economists, criminologists, and legal scholars to scrutinize the logic and evidence behind the widely held belief in a color-blind society--and to provide an alternative explanation for continued racial inequality in the United States. While not denying the economic advances of black Americans since the 1960s, Whitewashing Race draws on new and compelling research to demonstrate the persistence of racism and the effects of organized racial advantage across many institutions in American society--including the labor market, the welfare state, the criminal justice system, and schools and universities. Looking beyond the stalled debate over current antidiscrimination policies, the authors also put forth a fresh vision for achieving genuine racial equality of opportunity in a post-affirmative action world.
Prejudice Across America by James Waller
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 9781604730302
Publication Date: 2009
The experiences of a teacher and his white students on a nationwide trek toward racial understanding In 1998 James Waller took twenty-one white college students from Washington state on a month-long journey. Prejudice Across America is the record of their interaction with the American Indian, Asian American, African American, Hispanic, and Jewish experiences nationwide. Few books have so directly and humanly captured the moment when whites confront the realities of those living as a minority in America. Waller reports here on this innovative and award-winning trek. In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., his students hear both the official story of prejudice and the street story from people living and dealing with racism on a daily basis. Prejudice Across America is as much the journal of these travelers and what they face as it is a sweeping, up-close survey of the nation's racial landscape. The students walk the cheerless halls of a South Side housing project in Chicago, experience the agitated aftermath of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, and attend a briefing with President Clinton's Initiative on Race. All along the way, they hold wide-ranging group discussions and experience the unpredictable adventure of traveling by train, plane, and public transit. Drawing on student journals and on interviews with community leaders and activists throughout the country, Waller paints a compelling and provocative portrait of the nation's prejudice. In addition, Prejudice Across America includes analyses of the obstacles to reconciliation in each of the cities on the tour's itinerary. As they travel, students confront the thorny issues of race in America, face down stereotypical thoughts, prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviors, and uncover more tough questions than easy answers. As Waller and another group of students prepare for a similar trek in 2001, Prejudice Across America will allow readers to join them in introspection and self-discovery in the urban reality of an America where diversity isn't simply a buzzword, but a way of life.

Set up your Matrix adding the main topics to each row and put each of your secondary sources in a different column

Setting up the synthesis matrix

Begin with the Primary Text - Fill in the quotes from the primary text (The Brent Staples article in this case) in the corresponding rows.

filling in the matrix

Copy quotes from each of your secondary sources in the corresponding topic (rows) and articles (columns)

filling in the matrix

matrix screen 2

matrix screen 3

Add the MLA Style citations for each of your sources at the bottom of the form

MLA citations

How to set up a Synthesis Matrix

Synthesis Matrix for "Black Men and Public Spaces"
This is an example of a Synthesis Matrix based on the article, "Black Men and Public Spaces" by Brent Staples.
Synthesis Matrix for Black Men in Public Spaces

Synthesis Matrix Explained

A Synthesis Matrix is a great tool for organizing your research. As you read your articles, take note of quotes and ideas that support (or refute) your main concepts by entering them in the Synthesis Matrix. This will allow you to easily find evidence to support your thesis, and make citing your sources much easier.

Components of a synthesis matrix

Off Campus Access

North Shore Community College Access to many of the database links on this guide requires NSCC authentication - users must sign in with their NSCC My Northshore (formerly Pipeline) username & password.