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Hi all,

Just a reminder that your found poem and artist’s statement should be posted to our course website by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, November 6. Don’t forget to check the box “Found Poem” under “Categories.” Please also bring a hard copy of your poem to class on Monday, November 11, so we can publicly display them!

Make sure to read your classmates’ poems, leave a comment on your favorite, and come prepared to discuss the poems in class on Monday.

Instructions for the artist’s statement as well as midterm revisions can be found in the slides from last week. The midterm revisions handout is also available here.

See you all on Monday, November 11! Happy writing and revising!

       In this literary piece, Zong!, language is a subject that is brought up quite often. In school we are taught how to write and read. We must not use run ons, fragments, must have proper grammar and punctuation, but most of all, we must make sense. If we do not follow these rules, then we might appear uneducated. 

      Zong M. NourbeSe Philip challenges our ideas of language. He states that, “I deeply distrust this tool I work with— language.” (197) and goes on to explain that historical events are often changed or portrayed in a way that is not true, as with the case of Zong. The African slaves on the ship were not even written as people, but objects, chattel, property. Philip stresses the importance of grammar— how it can change a topic so drastically if used in the right way. If we were to look at the argument the captain made in his case, we can see that the murders of the slaves on Zong were discussed, but not in a way that was right. Language here has power. 

       The way that Philip talks about language makes it come alive. In the beginning of Zong! the words do not really make sense and we find out later that this was purposeful. Philip explains that he wrote the text in a way that he literally cut words up, used violence against them as was done to the slaves. They are strewn about the page, making the reader feel disoriented. To me, this was a beautiful point in this literary piece. Language is alive. It can be used in so many ways and even just a few words can represent a larger picture. The way the words were acting as the African slaves is a work of art. Sometimes it is a stronger statement to stray from formal ideals of writing. Instead of forming a poem in a typical line-by-line format, Philip manipulated the structure and therefore made his language so much more powerful. 

1. How did the way Philip set up his poem make you feel? (What thoughts went through your head as you read it?)
2. Do you feel that language can have its own mind or do we (humans) give it one?

In Zong M. NourbeSe Philip repeats a line “This is a story that can only be told by not telling.”(191). How is a story told without telling? Philip uses different techniques to tell this without actually telling it. Philip humanizes her writing “I mutilate the text…I murder the text.”(194) She is saying this because it was how the African people had been treated on the ship during the slave trade.

The fact that these people were objectified and had been listed as cargo was demoralizing. These were human beings that were put on a ship and became an object of trade. Many of the slaves on the ship were not accounted for and were categorized as if they were produce, the slaves had names that will never be remembered because they were considered objects. Philip states “They would be paid for murdering 150 Africans… Neither captain Collingwood nor those who had helped in the massacre could be charged with murder, since what was destroyed, being property, was not capable of being murdered.”(191). They had the ability to kill people without any consequences, basically killing innocent people for money. The way people were turned into objects showed how little they cared about these human beings just because the color of their skin and where they from.

The way this book is written is quite confusing, in Zong 1 the writing starts with the repeating of water and one day. Is it someone asking for water or is it describing the sea surrounding the ship? Many of the African people on the ship had died from thirst and starvation or other natural causes, but mostly they were killed for insurance money.

Questions:

1. What could the names at the bottom of the pages mean?
2. Does Philip’s technique of writing have a different effect when reading? Why or why not.

In the book, Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine, the reader is given several examples of injustices against African Americans. These examples include Serena Williams, Trayvon Martin, Rodney King, Mark Duggan, and more. All of these individuals faced injustices due to their skin tone in multiple ways, showing that racism can appear in a multitude of ways. Some of these injustices include poor calls made on the tennis court, and injustices faced from white police officers. The injustices faced by Serena Williams are a bit tougher to realize, as they are microaggressions and meant to be hidden. Unlike Rodney King and Mark Duggan, Serena’s hardships did not include violence, so it was not heavily covered and their was minimal efforts to make any improvements. Microaggressions have hindered African Americans for many years, and they are not going anywhere as their will always be some form of racism in the world (as long as their are different races). These microaggressions will stay apparent, and be attempted to try and limit the full potential of African Americans.

Microaggressions towards Serena Williams can be seen all throughout Rankine’s text. One example is when Rankine states, “Subsequently, a ball that Stosur seemingly would not have been able to return becomes Stosur’s point. Serena’s reply is to ask the umpire if she is trying to screw her again” (Rankine, online book page 41). The previous quotation exemplifies just one microaggression that Serena Williams faces throughout her career. Although she encounters multiple microaggressions, Serena Williams never gives up and keeps attempting to play through the hardships thrown at her. Serena never wants to quit a match no matter how poor the calls against her are, she just wants to keep trying harder to get past the obstacles thrown in her direction. Serena is well aware that the calls are being made to favor her white opponent, as tennis is an extremely white sport and it is being gauged to have a white winner. Rigging in sports mainly occurs with gambling, but in Serena William’s case it is done to create a favorable winner in the match (the white opponent). She is in a practically all white scene and is attempted to be pushed out with poor calls due to her skin pigment. For Serena this proves true when a picture states, ” I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background” (online book page 62). As Serena Williams is playing in a white dominated sport, she is often cast into an all white background. The microaggressions of unjust calls put her into an extremely uncomfortable position. However, she makes the best choice and pushes along, knowing that she is talented enough to be playing amongst white people in the crowd who want her to lose and knowing her presence and good performances bring them sorrow. For racists that would find pleasure with the downfall of Williams, they would prefer for her to act out when microaggressions are displayed to her. This is because a negative reaction will come with a hefty fine and a ban as well (this was seen the only time Williams displayed a negative reaction following a microaggression). By not acting out, Serena Williams is properly combatting these injustices, as by acting out she would be providing people with the reaction they want to see and she would also face negative consequences. Perhaps Serena evolves into a much more calm player is because she realizes that she cannot prevent microaggressions, on or off the court, so all she can do is ignore them. When facing microaggressions & injustices the proper response is to strive through, and Serena Williams exemplifies that. Yet in sports, others have also faced microaggressions, and responses and actions heavily affect the outcome.

Microaggressions are extremely common to a racial degree in sports, and it has been seen with athletes other than Serena Williams. For example, one major microaggression has been keeping Colin Kaepernick out of the NFL, and to make sure he isn’t signed by any team. Colin Kaepernick is an ex-NFL Quarterback and he was the first one to kneel during the National Anthem. Many view Kaepernick’s actions as hatred towards America, but Kaepernick’s reasonings are known once he states, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Wyche, Kaepernick Explains). Kaepernick’s true reasons for kneeling are completely viable, as he is showing regard and concern for others who face injustices. Even with him explaining this, people still ran with the interpretation that Kaepernick hates America and the troops, as that gains more attention than pointing out racism. However, in a sport that is regarded as “America’s Sport,” Kaepernick’s actions that were interpreted for the worst created a virtual blacklist for him so he wouldn’t get any football jobs. Once Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers he found it impossible to find another job in the NFL, as the white owners did not want a player who disliked America (even though this was not the case). Although several other NFL players also followed suit with Kaepernick and also kneeled, he faced most of the backlash as he was the first one to do it, so the media and everyone else began to villainize him. For African Americans playing sports, they face microaggressions all the time whether it be on or off the court. Their reactions to these microaggressions can determine an African Americans athlete more so than talent or skill sometimes. For Serena Williams she handled these microaggressions gracefully for the most part, ignoring them. However, for Kaepernick his actions blew up too much and he found himself blacklisted from the NFL.

Discussion Questions:

1. If you were in Serena Williams shoes, would you have handled any of the microaggressions differently from how she did?
2. Name one other scenario in sports where you recognized a racial injustice towards an athlete, also note that athletes response.

Works Cited:

• Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: an American Lyric. Penguin Books, 2015.
• Wyche, Steve. “Colin Kaepernick Explains Why He Sat During National Anthem.” NFL.com, 27 Aug. 2016, http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem.

By: Marissa Dauber

In the thought provoking and deeply disturbing Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine, we are given countless examples of daily microaggressions that black people face. We are shown situations that may go unnoticed if Rankine hadn’t brilliantly recorded them, and we are made to think differently about how we interact with each other on a daily basis. Rankine reminds us, through real life examples, that our words can hurt and leave lasting effects. However, Rankine also makes mention of some terrible, race-related tragedies that took place, that weren’t so subtle. To name a few, Rankine touches on the murders of Trayvon Martin, James Craig Anderson, and Mark Duggan. She then dedicates an entire page in memoriam to the many black bodies who have died because of their race. She fades the page out while the list is still going to remind the reader that this is a never-ending cycle, and these people frequently end up forgotten about. Perhaps one of the most devastating events Rankine mentions is the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was the most unfair display of blatant racism by police, National guard, and the nation as a whole. Rankine builds her many examples of racism up to this moment: to show that if we ignore racism, continue ignoring microaggressions, and disregard black lives, we will incite a national tragedy. All of our actions and words that may seem small all add up to explode in a nightmare of racially motivated tragedy.

            I remember talking about the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and it’s disturbing racial ties in a class I took on racism about a year ago. The professor for the class asked us if we considered Katrina to be a natural disaster, or a man-made one. The majority of people, including myself, stated that we thought it was a natural disaster. That was the day I learned the true meaning behind the events that took place during that hurricane. We watched a documentary called Trouble the Water, a film created by Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband, Scott Michael Roberts, who experienced life before, during, and after the storm. In the film, Kimberly states “These houses have not been inspected yet. There could be dead people right now, as we speak, because the National Guard, they have not been here, and it’s two weeks after the hurricane” (Democracy Now, 2008). They were stuck in the attic of their home, hiding from the water that destroyed the rest of their house. They started walking around what used to be their neighborhood and going into damaged homes, and they found their neighbor, dead in his house. The majority of people were too poor to afford to leave, so they were forced to stay there and die. Later on in the film, Scott states “This is one of the Navy bases that Bush had planned to close down. Why can’t we stay overnight? What about the women and children? They said, “Get off our property, or we’re going to start shooting” “ (Democracy Now, 2008). This scene was so disturbing, because there were safe and dry places that the people could be staying in, but they were not allowed to. When they begged to go inside, they were threated to leave or be shot, by the very people that were hired to “keep them safe”. I was very glad I had this knowledge of Katrina before reading Rankine’s book. It gave me a different perspective, as I was able to appreciate Rankine’s artistic and poetic touch to the tragedy, while understanding the back story behind her words. I feel that this film and the book couple together so nicely and give such strong background to the pain these people experienced unnecessarily.

            In Rankine’s description of the tragedy, she states “…each house was a mumbling structure, all that water, buildings peeling apart, the yellow foam, the contaminated drawl of mildew, mold…the bodies lodged in piles of rubble, dangling from rafters, lying facedown, arms outstretched on parlor floors. And someone said, where were the buses? And simultaneously someone else said, FEMA said it wasn’t safe to be there” (Rankine, 84). This imagery says all too well what Katrina was like for black people. The very people that are hired and paid to protect them wouldn’t come to their rescue because “it wasn’t safe”, but they left all the people there to die, knowing it wasn’t safe. Rankine keeps repeating “Have you seen their faces?” (Rankine 83, 85-86) which emphasizes the point she previously made with the list of names fading off the page: these people will be forgotten about. They already are.

            Rankine’s telling of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, coupled with the documentary Trouble the Water, really gave me a new perspective to this disaster, and taught me a lesson I will never forget: Hurricane Katrina was a man-made disaster. Humankind must change. Our daily acts of racism in the form of microaggressions add up until they explode, just as what happened in the man-made disaster of Hurricane Katrina. How many black bodies must fall until we change our ways?

Discussion Questions

1. How did reading Citizen: An American Lyric give you a new perspective on Hurricane Katrina?
2. What example of racism affected you/stood out to you most from this book?

Works Cited

Rankine, Claudia, 1963- author. Citizen: An American Lyric. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2014.

 “‘Trouble the Water’–New Film Provides Firsthand Account of Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath.” Democracy Now!, 22 Aug. 2008, https://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/22/trouble_the_water_new_film_provides.

To me, Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, is an amazing piece because it has the ability to make anyone either feel empathy or sympathy after hearing the devastating stories of discrimination against African American’s . It invites anger, sadness and even outrage. Section VI is the longest section of the book; it comes out to a total of sixty pages. These sections move out of the conceptual world of the previous sections and into the precise details of the events mentioned in this one. Rankine mentions multiple example of unfair moments that has occurred in African American life. These tragedies show how clearly biasness is predominant in profiling African Americans. Rankin uses second person in the following sections as a way of “pointing fingers” to show the injustice of Africans Americans all over the world.

The main theme of chapter six was to show that prejudice against African Americans is still very much alive today. The first section called “August 29, 2005/ Hurricane Katrina”, illustrations how hard life for African Americans was following the hurricane disaster. The speaker says, “some said where were the buses? And simultaneously someone else said, FEMA said it wasn’t safe to be there” (page 84). By using the word FEMA, Rankin shows how unrepresented black people were in the eyes of the government, and in the eyes of the world. This section ends with a painting of a black man made out of hectic gold and blue dots. In the photograph, it appears that the gold and blue dots are “taking over his body”. It seems as though it is suffocating him, making him lack control. This is probably how the African Americans in New Orleans felt after the hurricane.

Clear examples of injustice towards African Americans is also shown in the section called “June 26,2011 / In Memory of James Craig Anderson,”. This passage mentions the death of an African American man, who was killed by white teenagers. The young white teens beat James Craig Anderson and ran him over with their pick-up truck, JUST because he was African American. This is a clear representation of ignorance because James Craig Anderson was killed because he wore the skin that he was born with. The murderers sound disgustingly proud of the fact that they committed such acts, “I ran that nigger over, itself a record-breaking hot June day in twenty-first century” (Pg. 94). The previous quote shows how repression of African Americans is still in effect. The white young men are not looked at as gang members, or gangsters, but they are described as “just a teen, with straggly blond hair” (94).

The section called “Stop and Frisk” has one of the few titles with no date in it. Rankin wanted to draw attention to the daily struggles that African Americans face during everyday life. In this section, a black man got detained JUST because he was African American. A police vehicle comes to a halt and the narrator has no choice but to get on the ground despite the fact that he is not even a criminal and committed no criminal acts. He was humiliated, his clothes taken away and he was beaten just for fitting the description of an African American criminal. The narrator was given instructions to stand naked after the charge of a simple offense such a speeding is decided on. “The charge the officer decided on was exhibition of speed. I was told after the fingerprinting, to stand naked. I stood naked. It was only then I was instructed to dress, to leave, to walk all those miles back home”. Although it is hard to imagine and believe, traumatizing moments like these happen to black young men way too often from being racially profiled.  Why is it easier for an African American to go to prison than a white American? The section ends with an unclear, slightly burned black and white photo of a crowd of African Americans.  

This book of events makes one think of all of the moments that they have either hurt someone’s feeling or have had their feelings hurt. After reading the stories told, you cannot help but to be more aware of the things you say towards people. Rankin uses all of these true events to show that microaggression and discrimination is still an issue we battle with in society. I believe that this book is so important because she gives African American’s a chance to have their stories HEARD instead of silences. It is political in a sense because Rankin brought exposure to a problem that we need to work on together in order to fix.

Discussion Questions:

1. Which section in Chapter six did you relate the most to? Were you the victim in the situation, or were you the person victimizing
2. Have you ever had a moment in life where you felt unnoticed or important? How did you combat with it?

Works Cited

Rankine, Claudia, 1963- author. Citizen: An American Lyric. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2014.

By Emma Igoe 

Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, is a very unique piece of literature not only because of the way it was written, but also because of the given effect this story has upon the reader. This book encourages the reader to think critically about racism and the subtle racial comments that occur every single day, which go unnoticed at times. By Rankine writing about these different stories, she is bringing situations to light that are very relevant and should be more widely known. She is helping those who are unaccustomed to become more familiar with the everyday struggles of others by making it easy to place yourself in someone else’s shoes. 

My main focus in this blog post is how Rankine is so effortlessly able to insert the reader into each and every story, whether it’s as the victim or as a witness. Rankine shares stories that formulate a lot of different emotions from the readers, which is what makes this book so successful and relevant. Whether you have personally been victimized because of the color of your skin, or you are just a bystander watching this negative behavior occur, reading this book makes the reader want to put a stop to these degrading comments. As a reader, I did not want to be a bystander anymore considering any small action might be the start of stopping this unnecessary language. Although comments and actions made can either be large or super small, any comment at all has the ability to affect someone. This can take an immense toll on a person’s mental and physical health in more ways than we know, especially when belittling comments are made every day.

The story Rankine shares of a couple going to see the film The House We Live In is a story that was able to develop strong feelings for me personally. Ironically, this is the first film about race to focus not on individual attitudes and behavior, but on the ways our institutions and policies advantage some groups at the expense of others. While this couple is out, they arrange a friend to pick up their child from school. They get a call from their neighbor who says there is a “menacing black guy casing both your homes”. (20) The couple proceeds to tell their neighbor this is a friend who is babysitting whom he has met before, but the neighbor says “No, it’s not him. He’s met your friend and this isn’t that nice young man. Anyway, he wants you to know, he’s called the police.” (20) When the couple calls their friend to ask if there is a man outside, he says if anyone was outside he would see because that’s where he is at that very moment. When the couple arrives home, the neighbor and friend are speaking and the four cop cars that the neighbor was responsible for have left the scene. This entire situation could have been avoided if the couple’s neighbor set his pride aside and approached the friend in a reasonable manner. The neighbor was very ignorant toward this harmless man babysitting his friend’s child which angered me because this all occurred based on a stereotypical thought.

Another example of when Rankine makes the reader feel all these certain levels of discomfort is in a very short story given to us about a man, with the intention of being kind to a woman but it does not exactly end this way. Some of the time, a person does not intentionally make a racial comment to hurt someone else, which is exactly the problem. It has become normalized to not think twice about saying something so little because you think it will have no effect on someone, but when these comments build up each and every day, they begin to weigh down the individual. In this story, a man shows a picture of his wife who is African American to another African American woman. She continues to say she is beautiful and he says, “beautiful and black, like you.” Although this comment made by this man is so small, there is such power carried behind his words. This man is marginalizing this woman and basically treating her as an object, as a color, and not as a person. 

In conclusion, this book pressures the reader to encompass all of the emotions that Rankine feels on a daily basis. As a reader, you cannot ignore such strong messages being told to you as clearly as Rankine makes them in Citizen: An American Lyric. When being told these personal stories of innocent people being belittled, it makes the reader want to do everything to stop this unnecessary behavior and to no longer be a bystander in the crowd watching things happen.

Discussion Questions:

1. During which part of the book have you felt the largest urge to want to help the victim of these microaggressions made so often? 
2.  What are some examples of a time when you have been victimized for anything at all, and how did you feel at that exact moment? 

Works Cited

Rankine, Claudia, 1963- author. Citizen: An American Lyric. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2014.

Excerpt From: Claudia Rankine. “Citizen.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/citizen/id908342605

Adelman, Larry. “RACE- The Power of an Illusion.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-about-03.htm.

In Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, The reader is very personally involved due to the secondary point of view. This kind of narrative forces the reader to be as involved as possible. It gives the illusion that you are actually there experiencing what the writer is experiencing. Rankine shows multiple examples of every day acts of racism and micro aggressions that could weigh down on a persons conscience. In this blog post I will be specifically talking about the concept of identity. Who you are you to someone? who are you to someone different? what do you think about yourself?

The pygmalion effect is the phenomenon that higher expectations would usually lead to higher performance . In other words, our beliefs of another persons abilities influence our actions towards that person. This action has an impact on the other persons belief about themselves. When that person thinks less about themselves they treat people as if they’re better than them. This is what I like to call the Pygmalion-self. The pygmalion-self is shown beautifully in the most horrific way when Rankine talks about a man showing up for his therapy session, specializing in trauma. “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs , Get away from my house! what are you doing in my yard?” (18) The man is there for treatment of trauma so its safe to assume he’s been kicked down before, and needs help getting back up. Now, he has been kicked while laying. The person he had gone to for help had snapped him mentally. The following page shows an image of what appears to be some kind of animal with a human face stitched on top. A visual representation of a man thinking of himself as less than human

It is easy to judge people quick, with out any knowledge of the situation. People are guilty of coming into a conversation 10 minutes late and responding to the last thing that was said as if they know anything about anything going on in the conversation. The media is maybe the most guilty of this. In a critical tennis match between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters Serena was called for a foot violation for stepping on the line. When asked for a replay is was said that cameras don’t cover the feet, only the ball. The situation was bonkers and any self respecting competitor would react passionately. Rankine quotes Williams “I swear to god I’m fucking going to take this fucking Ball and shove it down your fucking throat, you hear that? I swear to god!” (29) The media said that her actions and words were insane, and that she should act more like an mature woman. This is what I like to call the pygmalion-them. They (them) don’t know whats happening. They turn on ESPN to see Serena yelling at an official and make their judgements. They came into the conversation 10 minutes late and they want to put in their 2 cents. At this point, this is how they see Serena Williams.

Not every one is arrogant, there are people out there who try to be a fair person day in and day out. Anyone who is a fan of professional sports knows how intense a playoff game can be. The pressure, the preparation, everything builds up until finally its time to perform. When its game time thats what it is, and thats all it is, game time. Micheal Jordan dominated the NBA, Wayne Gretzky changed the NHL forever. Serena Williams is currently the best woman ever to play tennis, and arguably the best woman athlete of all time. She got to where she is now the same way Jordan did it, and the same way Wayne did it. She wanted it more than anyone else and went and got it. With that kind of effort comes great passion. No one works their whole life for something just to have that something ripped away from them, and reacts well. Rankine realises that, “As offensive as her outburst is, it is difficult not to applaud her for reacting immediately to be thrown against a sharp white background.” (29) Rankine Is an example of something I like to call the pygmalion-you. This person knows whats happening, and wonders what it would be like to be you, instead of seeing you as something different.

In conclusion, how someone sees you can be completely different then how you see yourself in both a negative and a positive way. Identity isn’t just who you are but who you are to me, and who you are to someone else. on a side note, staying positive to who you truly are will prevent your pygmalion self from taking you over.

Questions: Judging from what I said regarding the pygmalion-self, what are some pros and cons about about seeing people differently because of how they treat you.

How many situations can you think of where a pro athlete acted out with passion and was barely ridiculed for their actions

Work cited:

Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: an American Lyric. Graywolf Press, 2014.

curry, Sarah c. “The Pygmalion Effect.” Duquesne University, www.duq.edu/about/centers-and-institutes/center-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-and-learning/pygmalion.

By Samantha Brigandi

In Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, the reader takes the personal perspective of second person point of view through varying examples of racism. Rankine uses this unique style and couples it with modern day examples to really invite readers to experience the text more personally. Specifically, in this blog I will be focusing on how she uses the example of Serena Williams and catalogs some of the injustices over her career. By using the second person point of view she makes it feel as if we really are watching Serena and that emphasizes our ability to sympathize. More than that, it helps us turn that sympathy into empathy.

Serena Williams and her sister Venus are household names, world champions and record breakers, however, the events Rankine writes about are not common knowledge. Serena is also a great example, if not the best, because she’s a strong black woman playing on a stage considered “the most lily-white place in the world.” (Rankine, 32) This is to emphasize how, despite her unquestionable talent and superiority in the sport, she is still discriminated against and discredited. The world of tennis has been a white bourgeois sport since the dawn of the game, and for a girl from Compton to be the best there’s ever been it reveals the ugly side of the system. As Rankine quotes Zora Neale Hurston, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” (Rankine, 25) It becomes very clear how Serena stands against this sharp white background. She is too often portrayed by the media as an angry black woman and her outbursts have been over dramatized and punished harshly.

Rankine uses multiple examples to catalog the almost endless list of gross injustices faced by Serena. Specifically, it is her example of the match against Kim Clijsters that stood out most to me. It is the way that Serena reacts which is rooted in justified anger and by result she is penalized to an excessive degree. As Rankine writes following the outburst to the umpire, “now Serena’s reaction is read as insane. And her punishment for this moment of manumission is the threatened point penalty resulting in the loss of the match, an $82,500 fine, plus a two-year probationary period by the Grand Slam Committee.” (Rankine, 30) The punishment is more like a persecution, the excuse the Committee had been waiting for in an attempt to discredit and degrade Williams. Her outburst and rage were justly founded in the face of unfairness of the calls against her. An unfairness we can all understand and relate to, the feeling of anger at the person perpetuating this injustice. In Rankine’s words, “perhaps this is how racism feels no matter the context-randomly the rules everyone else gets to play by no longer apply to you,” (Rankine, 30) really strikes true and draws an emotional response. This is a really powerful example because it sheds light on a moment that was contextualized by the “sharp white background.” This kind of punishment should really be reserved for serious offenses, but a black woman’s anger is seen as seriously offensive to the Grand Slam Comittee. As Audre Lorde in her essay “The Uses of Anger” points out, “women responding to racism means women responding to anger, the anger of exclusion, of unquestioned privilege, of racial distortions, of silence, ill-use, stereotyping, defensiveness, misnaming, betrayal, and coopting.” (Lorde, 278) Serena Williams is exceptional, in her abilities and her victories, but we are reminded that in the face of racism there are no exceptions for her. The racism and sexism she faces are not exclusive to her but they are universal to black women everywhere.

 In conclusion, Rankine does something very unique by inviting us to personally experience the story and the effect is very powerful. By stepping into the shoes of women of color we can better understand the way these experiences cut so deeply. Following the story of Serena, we can understand and empathize with her anger, her anger at the game and the system and feeling rightfully angered by it ourselves. Overall, her ability to personally invite us into the story really allows us to step into someone else’s shoes and open our eyes.

Questions:

How did Second Person Point of view effect your experience reading the book?

Did the Serena Williams example remind you of any racial injustices you have seen in the sports world in recent years?

Works Cited

Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: an American Lyric. Graywolf Press, 2014.

Lorde, Audre. “The Uses of Anger.” Women’s Studies Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 1/2, 1981, pp. 278–285.

In Claudia Rankine’s Citizen An American Lyric, the first section works to put the readers in an uncomfortable situation while reading, in order to help them better understand the ways in which everyday racism is perpetuated in a multitude of forms against Black Americans. She does this by highlighting instances of microaggressions. Small moments of racism that may go over someone’s head if they are not paying close attention. Rankine shows us that although small, these moments of everyday racism can be severely degrading for marginalized groups of people. Rankine seeks to make the white reader more aware of this mundane racism, so that they will be less likely to perpetuate it onto marginalized people.   

   Rankine shares a memory from her childhood where she experienced an act of microaggression from another child, in hopes to portray how the impact of another child’s seemingly innocent words can leave a damaging effect on one’s view of themselves. After she lets the student cheat off of her, Rankine recalls the girls usual response “You never really speak except for the time she makes her request and later when she tells you you smell good and have features like a white person” (5). The classmate of Rankine’s was not purposefully attempting to be malicious towards her, however, it is quite clear that the comment is very much so offensive and hurtful, as it implies that Rankine having features like a white person is somehow inherently better than having more traditionally African American features. The comment, although subtle, stuck with Rankine from childhood into adulthood, showing it has carried with her in a damaging way.

 Another example of a microaggression experienced by Rankine was when a friend kept getting mixed up with her name “After it happened I was at a loss for words. Haven’t you said this to a close friend who early in your friendship, when distracted, would call you by the name of her black housekeeper? (7). A lot of people claim that they are bad with names, so what makes this girl mixing up Rankine’s name any different? Rankine’s friend not being able to get her name straight becomes a problem when she is getting it confused with possibly the only other black woman in her life. Whether the friend actually realizes it or not, she is reinforcing a stereotype. The stereotype that most people of color look alike is widely reinforced by white people who do not bother or take the time to match a face to a name, and Rankine’s friend is clearly a culprit of that. 

Not only does Rankine point of the microaggressions she has faced in her own life, but she also brings to light those that have been hurled toward black sportswomen, such as Serina and Venus Williams. An example of that may be tennis officials abusing their powers and affirming their bias for other competitors over the Williams sisters, and they ways in which people react to Serina’s justified frustration. After Serina is subjected to unfairness by officials she stands up for herself and unleashes her anger. While Rankine sees this as an applaudable moment, the officials do not “Now Serina’s reaction is read as insane” (Rankine 30). If Serina had not been an African American woman, would she still have been read as being insane for her reaction? The commentators were able to side with Serina’s frustrating as with their tennis knowledge, they could tell something was off, however, her reaction to the unfairness was still looked down upon. The officials, the umpires, and many fans forced her into the angry black woman stereotype, furthering the notion that Serina’s anger was unjustifiable.

By pointing out the microaggressions she has faced in her life, and the ones faced by women of a high celebrity status, Rankine points out to the white audience that it is easier than originally thought to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contribute to the oppression of marginalized groups.

Discussion Questions:

1. In what ways so far has the book either changed the way, or reinforce the way you think about what it means to be a culprit or an accomplice to racism?
2.  What are some other examples of microaggressions scattered throughout the book?

Work Cited

Rankine, Claudia, 1963- author. Citizen : An American Lyric. Minneapolis, Minnesota :Graywolf Press, 2014.