Reading Log 5

I would have to say as a reader, the first thing I noticed about these two essays was their difference in tone. Baldwin’s essay seemed to have a tone of remorse or anger for the way the people treated him while Staples’s essay had a more calm and innocent tone as if her were trying to explain himself.

I think Staples mainly uses ethos and some logos in his essay as a way for the audience to understand him. He points out that he has seen people like his brother, cousin, and friend killed; this shows that he has experienced the things that the people he passes fear and that he would not do them to anyone else because he knows the hurt it has caused him (296). He also points out that he would not even take a knife to a raw chicken (295). This shows that he is a gentle giant and would not hurt anyone. Next Staples uses some logos to provide reasoning to support the opposing side of his argument; he did grow up in a rough area with a lot of violence and know that white women are often the victims of black males (295-296). Staples’s supporting the other side of the argument demonstrates he is not trying to defend every black male but rather pointing out that everyone is not bad either.

On the other hand, Baldwin primarily uses logos. He tries to show that he is equal to these white Swiss people because in America black men are not that different from the white man and that they actually interact on a daily basis. He also points out that these people do not even know much about the outside world and history between blacks and whites in America. One particular example is when he talks about how these people who are so uneducated and “primitive” than him are still considered superior to him just because of their skin color when, in fact, they are actually inferior in a sense (45).

I thought these essays both had very good points. Staples pointed out how black men are stereotyped and I feel like this is completely true. One of my favorite examples of this is a portion of Dave Chapelle’s stand up where he talks about staying in after hearing on the radio that the police are looking for a black male between the height of 4’ 11” and 6’10”. Much like Staples, Chapelle makes a joke out of it to sort of downplay the reality of it. This is an effective way to get people to see not everyone belonging to one stereotype is going to be the same. However, despite their innocence I think that any girl walking alone in a rough area that sees a man who is dressed down is going to be scared whether they are white or black.

While Staples’s essay reinforced the ideas I already knew about stereotyping in America, Baldwin’s essay made me realize that what happens in one part of the world does not just affect that one part. The section I talked about earlier, where Baldwin mentions how he is seen as inferior really got my attention. I think it is terrible how someone can be as educated and productive in American society but at the same time seen as lesser to people who cannot read and write just because of their skin color. It also blows my mind how people around the world do not know that there are blacks in America that are equal to the white men. I read an essay in a religion class at JMU that talked about these islanders who could not seem to wrap their mind around the fact that there were such things as black U.S. soldier. However, I think this does show that America has at least taken sufficient steps toward becoming integrated, and we are way ahead of other parts of the country in this aspect especially since we have a black man as our president now.

I think that both authors did a sufficient job at achieving their desired effect which was essentially to make people aware of the stereotypes and how they affect the people who are subject to them. These essays should have opened the eyes to anyone reading them to make them think twice about how they judge people.