The history of our universe is often synonymous with the creation of man in the bible. It doesn’t matter whether one believes in God or not, but there is something about him that amazes me. When the first man was created, he lived alone in some garden, but God saw it was necessary for this man to have company. I believe the first community was made then. Although the communities which followed were often riddled with war fueled by greed, there remained some sameness to each community that came after. No matter the grievances, people always stuck together because of a common goal. When these people live in harmony it’s always a beautiful sight. However, this wasn’t always the case for Brent Staples.
Brent Staples grew up in Pennsylvania, moved to Chicago, and then went to Brooklyn and the area around New York. As a result of this it is difficult to say that he is truly a native of Pennsylvania, or he transitioned through Chicago, or maybe he is Brooklyn through and through. However, there is one thing that is clear, Brent Staples is all these places because they shaped who he is. His community is made up of the Pennsylvania natives who took to crime and became his version of what he ought not to become, the Chicago residents from Hyde Park who showed him he wasn’t any different, and the New York people who taught him to live in fear.
From his time in Pennsylvania where he stayed clear of crime, to the suburbs of Chicago and New York, the writer had to adapt all his life to fit in. His interactions with his community are always from a point of fear. He was even willing to stay a shadow, and timid as long as he was surviving. To him it seemed like a matter of life and death especially after having seen what fear and weapons led to.
The community treated him like every other black man, not even extending him the benefit of the doubt. Women walking alone at night often assumed a hunched posture and some even fled from him. The men confronted him and kept him away or even threatened to harm him. This resulted in the author adjusting his actions countless times to accommodate these people. I believe he was the victim and because of that he could never be himself in public spaces. This sparked a desire in him to be different, to be better. However, whether he whistled sunny melodies or distanced himself from worrying passengers on a subway, he couldn’t change one aspect about himself. The stereotype of all black men being bad would hang over his head forever.
The purpose of this article was to raise awareness of the injustices some people face because of circumstances they did not choose. Like the author who was discriminated against because of his skin color and heritage, most people in communities face this type of discrimination where they feel like outcasts because of things they did not choose. As a result, it becomes hard for them to exist alongside people in the same community and often they end up being depressed or killing themselves. Overall, this defeats the whole purpose of a community, being a space with people who share interest or have something in common.