Staples - Unwieldy Inheritance

Staples gives examples of irony to help achieve his main purpose in the essay. He talks about an “unwieldy inheritance.” An inheritance is usually something positive, but since he uses unwieldy, the connotation of the word changes. Unwieldy is used to describe something that is hard to carry or unmanageable, so when he uses “unwieldy inheritance” he is referring to his race and appearance. There is no way for him to change the color of his skin. Since he is a colored man he is prone to being stereotyped by others. He also states that the woman in the beginning of the essay describes him walking “menacingly close” to her. This irony implies that Staples was following the lady just to do her harm, but in reality he was just taking a walk. This goes to show that people are quick to stereotype black men. At the end of the day the person who has to go through these type of situations is just trying to live their everyday life.

Staples choice of words helps define everything he is trying to showcase with stereotyping. He displays this when he says that him being somewhere can turn into a “dicey situation,” because people right away see his appearance and think the worst. Staples also uses very formal language, which would be surprising to those who are quick to stereotype. He is aware of how people see and think of him, but he says that “these truths are no solace” because people are very brutal and ignorant. He is is always pictured as the suspect rather than the victim in any type of situation. He tries to show the reader the horrible situations he has to face on a daily basis.

All in all, Staples effectively persuades his readers to believe that not all black men or colored people are harmful. He also convinces his readers to feel sympathetic towards colored people because they are like any other human being. Stereotyping has been passed down for years. These notions are wrong and colored people do not deserve this unfair treatment. Staples’ essay successfully reveals the emotions felt by minorities when they are stereotyped against and the injustice that they had and still deal with.

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