The Racism of Brent Staples

Bernard Goldberg takes the racism of Brent Staples and shoves it back in his face.

The op-ed was by the Times’ own Brent Staples, a black man who sees the world through a prism of race. The headline over the piece read: “Young, Black Male, And Stalked by Bias.” Here’s how it began: “The door to the subway train slides open, revealing three tall, young black men, crowding the entrance, with hooded sweatshirts pulled up over downward-turned faces; boxer shorts billowing out of over-large, low-slung jeans; and sneakers with the laces untied. “Your response to the look – and to this trio on the subway – depends in part on the context, like the time of day, but especially how you feel young, male blackness.” Actually, that’s not true. My response to the look doesn’t depend on how I feel about black teenagers. It depends on how I feel about anybody who looks like a thug.

By the way, know why some young black men (and some not so young) wear baggy panst with their underwear hanging out?

Does Staples understand that wearing your pants with your underwear showing is how black kids pay homage to black criminals? In prison you’re not allowed to wear a belt. That’s why their pants are falling down and their underwear is showing.

And, by the way, the unlaced shoes? Because the perps in prison are not allowed shoelaces; too easy to make a garrot and kill someone. Meeting a bunch of aspiring gang-bangers is not one of life's guilty pleasures.