Have you ever acted like the woman in Staple's story?

Unfortunately, I have found myself acting in a similar way to the white woman in Staple's story. I never got to the point where I had to run away, but I definitely felt uneasy at times. I have quickened my pace on occasion fearing that I may have been the target of someone's attack. I grew up in Coney Island and when I was growing up, I never got nervous around anyone. I was surrounded by a very diverse crowd of people all the time.

It wasn't until I was mugged one night while walking down the street with a friend, late at night. The mugger was a young white male. He was probably about 18-20 years old and there was nothing very remarkable about him. After that incident, if I felt someone was acting in a suspicious manner or if someone was running towards me I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Once I thought a man was chasing me and I started to walk faster. I dashed into a store and peeked out to see if he was still there. What I saw was the man jumping on to a bus. He was running to catch a bus. I felt awful for thinking badly of this man. Luckily, I don't think he realized that I was feeling that way because he was to busy trying to get the bus.

I can only justify my actions based on my fear due to my experience. This in my opinion is a very lame justification. One thing I can say in my defense is that, I was never motivated by racial fear. It doesn't matter what a person's skin color, religion or gender might be. A crime can be committed by anyone.

Just like Staples, I have made some changes in the way I behave. I try not to judge someone by what they are wearing or even on how they behave. I remember that there are many reasons why someone might be walking quickly or even running that have absolutely nothing to do with me and I try not to put myself in situations where I will be out alone at night.

Wrongfully Accused

I was dating a guy for several years and we were in an on again off again relationship. I finally decided to give up on the relationship and I met someone new. My ex-boyfriend with my "permission", started to date an old friend of mine. Let's call her, Sarah. One evening, they decided to go on a double date with one of my other friends and a friend of his. My other friend, Rachel was nervous about meeting this new guy so she asked me to walk her downstairs. My ex wasn't supposed to be in the car yet but he arrived early. He got very upset seeing me and wound up getting out of the car and leaving. Sarah accused me of sabotaging her date and was very angry with me. She started to run away crying.

I did everything in my power to prove that it wasn't my idea and that I didn't know she and my ex would be there. Rachel led me to believe that they were being picked up after she was. I followed Sarah to the bus stop and paid for the three of us to get back to her house. I preceded to explain myself and tell her that I really didn't mean for this to happen. I even went as far as to "borrow" her mother's car, so we could search for my ex and explain what happened to him. It was a long night and we never actually found him, but she did eventually believe me and apologize.

I can't really compare what Staples did in his essay to my experience, except to say that I understand what he must feel like being wrongfully accused. There was an experience that I had with my fiance' that very much resembled Staple's. I owned a white 1988 Camaro and I let Him drive sometimes. While innocently sitting at a red light, a cop car drove by. The officers crossed the street and turned around. They pulled up alongside the driver's side window and demanded to see the car keys. I was extremely upset and told the officers that it was my car and I wanted to know why they need to see the keys. They just got rude and demanded to see them. My fiance' calmly took the keys out of the ignition and showed them the keys. They said have a good night and drove off. I felt so violated and offended. The only reason I could think of that we were harassed was the color of his skin.

Time to Take off the Mask

Time to Take off the Mask

Please take a moment to listen to these lyrics
lets take it back to when maltreatment was daily routined
human guile was vast and retaliation was concealed
we were lynched and beat
at the end of the day it was time to lament
but then with a myriad of supporters
liberation was near
its time to doff our masks
let us disband their antipathy
the facade is no longer needed
we can be who we want to be

Sylvia Eilenberg, Regina Branche, Boey Tan

We Wear the Mask

I think Paul Dunbar viewed life for African Americans in a very poor light. He felt as though he had to hide behind a mask because reality was too hard to deal with. The African Americans were treated very poorly and unfairly. They were forced to obey the orders of their masters and were looked down upon by the white race.

When Dunbar wrote this poem, there was a lot of discrimination against African Americans. Slavery and unequal rights were in effect. They could not attend certain schools or go into certain places due to their race.

Although there have been many changes in society since this poem was written, there is still a lot of meaning to the words of the poem. Unfortunately, people are still being judged by their appearance. Wether it be race, sex or just physical features, society still does not accept someone that is "different".

When I read this poem, it reminded me of the movie " Mask", starring Cher and Eric Stoltz. In this movie, the character known as Rocky has a facial deformity and has to use what he has on the inside in order for others to look past his "mask". It is sort of the opposite of the mask from the poem, which tries to hide the inside or the true self.