Publisher’s Note: The publisher has had no role in editing this column, which is published as the writer submitted it with the intention of publication in BEACONS.
By Daniela Raymond
Brent Staples, a writer for the New York Times editorial board, has sought to educate and modify the lies that have been distorted and fed to Americans about African American. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for his editorial that was meant to prompt Americans to realize that the dehumanization of black people driven to slavery is still alive today.
The first piece that I read from Staples was Slandering the Unborn. It exemplifies exactly what the writer was trying to accomplish in these pieces as a collective whole. The column speaks about how crack was pushed into black neighborhoods for such a cheap price. Many pregnant mothers ending up addicted and the trope “crack baby” was prompted. Due to lack of research and knowledge lies were spread throughout the media. It mentions “ The idea of a mentally impared ‘crack baby’ resonated with long-held racist views about black Americans. It captured the imaginations of reporters, politicians, school officials and others who were historically conditioned to believe just about anything about the African-American poor. The piece explains that this lack of research was simply accepted by people because the first sign of poverty in the black community is one that people will believe without taking any further action to analyze what the issue at hand is.
In Brent Staples pieces he speaks on many things that should be more widely known. Unfortunately because they are centered around the balck community many of the issues are pushed aside or not addressed. Staples piece A Fate Worse Than Slavery, Unearthed in Sugar Land he speaks on the history of the city of Sugar Land Texas. A site of 95 unmarked graves were found from the African Americans working the fields in horrible conditions. He uses accurate and detailed information given a greater insight and understanding of what happened in Sugar Land. It states “...archaeologists, who are constructing an increasingly detailed portrait of the injuries and illnesses suffered by those inmates, have opened a window onto the murderous nature of sugar cultivation. He organizes the column based on information and sources and gives a detailed timeline of the captives that left Africa and were destined to sugar colonies. He uses a good portion of relevant and accurate sources and direct quotes in order to tell the story effectively.
The next piece from Brent Staples Pulitzer Prize Review winning columns was, How the Suffrage Movement Betrayed Black Women. He discusses the complex relationship among White Supremacy and the Nineteenth Amendment. He accurately and provides details and in his examination of the racial power dynamics that were in play while in the midst of the women's suffrage movement through the years after the civil war and how it is still affecting African American Women today. He highlights the lack of Black women's freedom that was really fought for in the suffrage movement and by its leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.Anthony. A powerful quote used was a short excerpt by Frederick DOuglas stating, “ When women, because there are women, are hunted down through the cities of New York and NEw Orleans;when they are dragged from their houses and hung up on lampposts; when their children are torn from their arms… when their children are not allowed to enter school; then they will have an urgency to obtain ballot equal to our own.” This article essentially summarizes the underlying issues at hand. The freedom and equality of Black lives will never be understood nor fought for with angst until they have truly experienced the wretched memories of African American people.
The last piece in Brent Staples collection of columns was a heartbreaking story reminding us of how the memories of tortures of African Americans are still remnant and alive in the SOuth today. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice bears the names of more than a staggering 4,400 African Americans who were victims of terror lynching during this period. This piece is influential in that it highlights something that was so incredibly prominent yet overlooked due to the acceptance of it in newspapers and media at the time. Staples gives detailed accounts on some of the lives lost like Frazer Baker, who was targeted and lynched when the McKinley administration named him postmaster of the majority white community of Lake City, S.C in 1897.
Brent Staples writing clearly reflects what he is passionate about, making his pieces that much more powerful and influential. This aids in telling his stories precisely leaving out no information. During an interview in 1994 he reflected'' Being black enriches my experience;it doesn't define… I'm wrong about universal themes -- family and leaving home and developing your own identity-- which all Americans can understand.” Although these pieces are centered around the years of mistreatment that African AMerican have endured and continue to feel the effects of, he is able to make relative to each individual that reads them.
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