Citizen Essay

SaNaya White

3rd Period

“Racism” can also be referred to as racial prejudice, bigotry, discrimination, racial bias, segregation, and so many other additional titles that expand on this term. Racism can be described as subjective, as it is influenced by personal feelings, opinions, and exposure. Depending on the perspective or privileges that an individual has or lacks, racism can be frequently recognized or not recognized at all. The novel, Citizen: An American Lyric, by poet, essayist, playwright, and author, Claudia Rankine, discusses the issue of racism as a recurring theme. Ms. Rankine uses personal experiences as well as those of others to portray that oppressors can present prejudice consciously or unconsciously, leaving those oppressed to question themselves, their thoughts, actions, and the oppressor. Through it all, Ms. Rankine does not focus solely on the negative aspects of racism, but rather uses it to conclude with an inspiring note about overcoming.

To begin, Ms. Rankine includes various short stories, acknowledging situations that can be recognized as unconscious actions and rather natural to the accuser as their mindset has been trained by society to think this way. For example, Ms. Rankine writes, “You tell your neighbor that your friend, whom he has met, is babysitting. He 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” (15). This passage refers to a situation in which an individual has asked their friend to babysit. The neighbor, watching from a window has called the police as he is witnessing a “menacing black guy casing both their own and their neighbors home. The guy is walking back and forth talking to himself and seems disturbed” (15). In the end, Ms. Rankine reveals that the “menacing black guy” was in fact, her friend that was babysitting. This specific anecdote not only narrates a particular event experienced by a single individual but it also indirectly illustrates frequent situations that occur toward the black community, especially black males. The story indicates that the neighbor automatically profiled the babysitter as a disturbance and character of suspect without probable cause, without a clear view of who he was, simply because he was walking back and forth and appeared in the eyes of the accuser, to be suspicious. This perspective comes with bias and prejudice as race played the largest role in the discrimination that the babysitter faced. To the neighbor (accuser) he believes that he made a simple mistake, as he just assumed because of what he saw. What he does not realize is that his assumption came from collective factors such as the fact that the individual he saw from his window was black, male, and walking back and forth in front of his lawn. The neighbor’s earlier claim that the person he saw could not have been the person he met also supports the unconscious prejudice that came from his actions. Once again, he made the assumption that the male that he saw could not have been the one he had met. His mindset immediately created this illusion that the nice young man that he met in person could not be the suspicious-looking guy that he was watching from his window. Unconsciously, the neighbor had made an assumption based on appearance, using ethnicity to defend the stereotypes.

Secondly, throughout the anecdotes that are provided, Ms. Rankine dives into the expressions and thoughts of the narrator, allowing the audience to truly understand the emotions that the narrator feels and the situation that they are in. For example, Ms. Rankine writes, “In a landscape drawn from an ocean bed, you can’t drive yourself sane—so angry you are crying. You can’t drive yourself sane. This motion wears a guy out. Our motion is wearing you out and still you are not the guy” (105). In this situation, the individual has just been stopped by the police and told to get on the ground. The individual was pulled over without reason except for the reason that they fit the description of the guy they were searching for. Ms. Rakine also writes, “And you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description” (105). This refers to the frequency in which black individuals are pulled over as they simply “fit the profile or description”. The specific description is never addressed, yet with knowledge, an idea can be formed that the ideal description included a single word. This word was “black”. The individual was pulled over because of the color of their skin, it automatically made them a target and suspect. The use of the first quote provided the audience with a sense of how the narrator feels. The anger inside of them is significant and increasing, to the point where they cannot drive themselves sane. Mentally their emotions are overcoming their defensive barriers to where they are physically in tears out of anger, from being profiled, for coming in contact with injustice directly. In the anecdote the narrator said that they just knew that they would be pulled over, this contributes to the idea that whether the oppressor is unconsciously expressing racism, the person receiving the injustice is deeply both physically and emotionally affected.

Lastly, Ms. Rankine uses the book to inspire others and uses it to explain that life does not have to be viewed negatively, but rather as a teaching moment that allows us to push on and grow stronger. For example, Ms. Rankine writes, “A woman pulled in and started to park her car facing mine. Our eyes met and what passed passed as quickly as the look away. She backed up and parked on the other side of the lot. I could have followed her to worry my question but I had to go, I was expected on court, I grabbed my racket… Did you win? He asks. It wasn’t a match I say. It was a lesson” (159). I believe this quote is essential, as it is also the last page of the novel. The narrator is telling this story about the parking situation to their friend. The friend responded with what is believed to be a question referring to the tennis match, yet, the individual does not respond about the game, they are still focused on the incident. The individual responds by telling their friend that it wasn’t a match, but rather a lesson. The lesson itself emerged from the situation that the individual shared during the story. The lesson came from the idea that the woman did not want to park in front of her after making eye contact. The reason behind this is most likely because of the color of her skin. After making eye contact, there was discomfort, so she left. The narrator did not address it, did not get angry, but instead, moved on and continued her day. The incident is a lesson, and can be perceived to be encouraging others that although people will try to bring you down, you must not lose focus, but rather stay inspired to continue your goals and passions, confidently, exactly as the person you are. 

In conclusion, Ms. Rankine uses the novel, Citizen: An American Lyric, to reflect and bring light to the injustice that occurs all around society on a day to day basis. Racism can be presented unconsciously or consciously, but it still has an effect on the individual it is directed at, whether it is a physical or a mental/emotional effect. In addition to this, Ms. Rankine acknowledges that racism, and oppressors, cannot put us down. She focuses on the aspect that together as a whole, we must encourage one another, and build the black community because, in the end, we are all citizens too.