"Black Men and Public Space"

"Black Men and Public Space" is a story about an African American man and his experiments living in a stereotypical society. In the story he goes for a walk on a night that he can't sleep, he sees a woman walking ahead of him, suddenly her walk becomes a run after noticing him. People in the neighborhood cross the street to avoid walking next to a black man or even making eye contact. It's common that drivers lock their car doors or hold their purses closer to themselves when they see an African America walking past. The man in the story also mentions that he was once mistaken for a burglar, which also related to the color of his skin. Although I personally have not seen these sort of things happen in my area, they do happen. Being a teenager I experience stereotypes regularly, teenagers are said to be lazy and disrespectful though not all of them are. Just as African Americans are more likely to be considered criminals with bad intentions and most of them are not. Today there are many problems associated with racism, such as racial profiling, economic differences and how the media broadcasts things. Stereotypes and judgements like these still occur because people are ignorant and they don't always understand. In the society we live in its a lot easier to judge people and assume things than to actually get to know them.