In the novel the Citizen an American lyric,  written by Claudia Rankine .  She targets the issues of racism on a smaller and a larger scale . Bringing forth  the  issue of   micro aggression  in the United States . Her novel is related to both the poetic and critical minds . Tackling the hypocrisy that exist in white America towards people of color. Her novel brings forth a very unique perspective. Creating a personal interaction between her readers  with the use of pronouns such as you , we, he and she etc. An example of Claudia’s use of pronouns can be seen as she narrates “what did he say?, did she really say that?, did I hear what I think I hear?(pg9).” In this text it focuses on the victim and the perpetrator. Allowing one to question themselves , their reality and what they think they know. In this society  our knowledge is often perspective passed down from one person to the next. We hold biases based on ideas that we deem as satisfactory to our beliefs. Barely making room for questions and logics. Thus creating an illusion of the truth and a lie. In order to see one’s point of view one has to experience it. People are quick to judge and dismiss what they are not familiar with. Which often is the instigator behind most discriminatory acts of racism.

This is why people are most likely offended by what is said or done at times. Placing judgment on what they think a person did or said.  Rather than just asking to gain more clarity. Moreover, judging a person based on their outward appearance, rather than their inward qualities. Forming personalities , and characters that only exist in their minds.

It is unexpected that she  targeted both the first, second and third person in this situation. By placing all individuals to questioning. Which brings forth the idea that it takes more than one person to cause a conflict. This reflects society in the sense  that it takes the law , the citizens and yourself to decipher what is acceptable or not.  Along with the fact that there is always two sides to a story. In addition , each individual Is responsible for their own actions .

Claudia’s use of pronouns creates a familiarity between the readers world and the narrative she’s projecting. Allowing them to be critically involved and appealing to their emotions. People are always more receptive when they can relate to a situation. They understand the feeling of victimization and being miss understood or mistreated. So Claudia plays on these personalizations which creates the novels strength and individuality.

As people we tend to compare ourselves to what ifs, creating a life scenario in our minds. What if the roles were reversed, what if I could just be free like the falling rain, what if we lived like trees? Different types living among each other but serving the same purpose. In a world where the narrative seems to be against them, you or me. The first thing that comes to one’s mind is why?…. why the separation and disunity Among our own.

     We create our own narrative and we don’t even realize. Our actions determines that of the next person. What happens today and tomorrow . Along with who’s accepted and who is not. Claudia’s use of pronouns points to us . We the people, the law , the government and ourselves. We and we alone can change the narrative of the stories. We can create a different mindset by moving beyond  the monopolized way of thinking. It is then and only then the you the he and she can be removed . Thus creating the we and the us.

The first image we see in the text pictures a suburban neighborhood, highlighting the boisterous street sign named after the Jim Crowe laws that allowed for segregation.

Cholly Breedlove a young black man , was married to   Pauline Breedlove. In the course of his marriage he and his wife bore children. A son by the name of Sammy and a daughter call Peacola. They were a poor family, with their own private dramas and misery. One would say one has to learn to love themselves before they can love anyone. This sentiment can be said about Cholly and Pauline. These were two broken and lost individuals who seek to understand the feeling of love through each other. Instead of truly loving themselves first. This resulted in a toxic and hateful environment both for themselves and their children.

Cholly Breedlove at four days old was  abandoned by his mother on a junk heap. He was then taken in by is Great Aunt jimmy. Who raised him until he was fourteen. She was a nice woman who rescued him. However, never hesitated to remind him. Though Cholly was grateful he despised his situation. Cholly had no real understanding of love and what it meant to be loved. All he ever knew was the feeling of neglect, rejection and self hatred. In his quest to find himself  he started to ask about his father. He later came to understand that his father abandoned his mother before he was born.

In search for a father figure Cholly found interest in a wild man by the name of Blue Jack. Blue  was a old timer with crazy stories. He told Cholly about all his adventures and “how the black people hollered , cried and song. Stories about how a white man cut his wife head and buried her in the swamp( Morison).” He later then told cholly all his lustful encounters with women in his younger age. This fascinated cholly and he found great admiration in Blue. Having Blue as the closest male figure in his llife. Cholly went on to depicting the same lustful and aggressive nature.

Cholly encountered three women in his life that he felt affection for. These women were Darlene , his wife Pauline and daughter Peacola. Based on the novel Cholly seemed to be destructive in his nature when it came to being close to women around him. His first sexual encounter with Darlene exemplifies this. As they were caught  by two white men who forced him to continue having sex with Darlene. As they watched pervertedly , causing Cholly and Darlene to feel utterly shamed. Cholly targeted his anger towards Darlene who was very helpless in the situation. Instead of hating the men who subjected him to the act.  In the end Cholly decided to abandon Darlene at the thought that she might be pregnant. This was a repetition of what he knew as a child. He was rejected and abandoned  by the people who should love him. As fear makes him a coward so he retreats.

As the novel goes on, Cholly charms his wife Pauline sweeping her off her feet. However, as his responsibilities became real . He started to rebel resulting to aggressive sex,alcohol and abusing Pauline. Which seemed to be the only pleasures of his life. Cholly, seeking to find that sense of affection , acceptance and love, takes advantage of his young daughter Peacola. Then leaves her blacked out on the floor covered under a blanket. These scenes demonstrates Cholly’s confusion and fear. It reflected how childhood traumas can haunt you throughout your life.

Abandonment, and rejection is the most traumatizing experience a toddler could ever experience. Not having the warmth of a mother’s  bosom, or her loving tenderness. In my understanding left Cholly void of basic human empathy. Which is formed in the early developmental years of a child. There is just something about a mothers nurture that an old woman such as, Aunt jimmy could not substitute. Cholly, reflecting on the fact that he should have been left for death that day. Emphasize the darkness that dwelled in his heart . He  was a young man who thought he was unlovable. And didn’t know how to truly develop a healthy relationship with anyone close to him. Instead, he left people feeling as broken as he was . His character in the novel is truly sad . In addition, bearing the cross of being a black man. Along with seeing the devil as destructive, powerful and a reflection of  darkness. Signifying the way Cholly viewed his own self. So in the end he knew nothing good was expected of him. Therefore, he lived within that darkness . Which in turn resulted in him never truly healing from his pain .

     The “Fact oF Blackness” by Frantz Fanon focuses  on racism from a Negro man’s perspective. He speaks about how the Negro man views himself and his native people. Based on the reading  the negro man has no  sense of self worth. It is for this reason he seeks to find validation and  a sense of identity. However, when placed among his own people he is still lost . This is because  they themselves are conformed to the reality of the white man. He believes that the negro contributed to the subjection by trying to fit into the white man’s world . This can be seen as he makes  reference to speaking a language as the art of colonization. With the intention of the reformation of the negro man to a more sophisticated being . He believes by doing so they would be judged not by the color of their skin but for their intellect. However, to be black and speak with perfect diction is still to be black. In addition , marked as special, unique, and surprising. He refers to this as the black skin with a white mask .
To be a negro is to be nothing. Fanon was right when he stated instead of finding the meaning to existence he realized he was just an object (para1).The negro is everything else but a man. He is seen as a toxic ,arrogant, animalistic and a problematic creature. Constantly miss understood in every way.  While on the other hand no one really even tries to understand the negro man. This is because his emotions are never regarded. It seems his sense of purpose is that of a slave and nothing more. No redemption no gratification no liberation. Instead, he is mentally imprisoned by all the hatred, pain and emotional trauma . Which he Inherited from ancestors and the present.
How can this race be liberated when they are still mentally enslaved. Being called a problem , and hated at the sight of their skin . Not seen for your worth but for a race you had no choice choosing. Who would not hate to be a negro. Why wouldn’t you try to be anything else but that. In the Last paragraph of the passage the negro tells lizzie he is guilty (pg 265). He does not know what crime he committed but he takes accountability. This is due to the fear that the negro man has existed under throughout his existence . I too would have taken the blame if I was in his place. It would seem the negro man is like a  stepchild . He constantly seeks to be loved and accepted by everyone around him. Sadly he does not seek love and acceptance in his self.
Which means for the negro man to be free, he has to find himself. The world can not define what they do not know. It is merely an opinion , nothing factual. As humans we create our own destiny. We have the power to change , build and destroy anything we put our minds to. In the famous quote of Bob Marley “emancipate yourself from mental slavery none but ourselves can free our mind.”

Hurston  was a little biracial girl from the small Negro town of Eatwonville in Florida. This was a predominately colored community . Hurston at the age of  thirteen became woke to the fact that she was colored.Living  in a mostly colored community she was seen  as the feminine beauty. Also known as the Zora , she was praised . Hurston was unaware of the impact the color of her skin would have on her.She  was sent to a school in Jacksonville where she was no longer the zora of the community. Hurston was no longer seen for her beauty,but only for the color of her skin.

This was a strange phenomenon for Hurston, yet at the same time symbolized her rebirth. As she states ” She was no longer  Zora of Orange County anymore, and it was evident in the way people treated her. As her  heart beat to the flow of Jazz and the rhythm of the drums she could only face her truth (para four).”

Hurston saw slavery as a priced to pay for civilization. She did not believed her past ancestral trauma defined her.In Hurston eyes that was the past and the present was more important. She never saw herself as the colored girl because that was only someones else interpretation of her.

Zora was who she was and what she would remain. She lived her life in the moment and saw the world as her oyster . Never to be angry or carrying  the hate of her ancestors in her heart. She made the best of being colored and white.

A similarity in Emerson’s “Nature” where he also believes in making the best of the present. The past is only a guide to the development of civilization.  Instead of creating rules to follow its more liberating to let nature take its course.  When a man is open to his surroundings he then experiences a newness in self. Emerson was detached from is ego and saw himself in a higher form. Hurston seem have had the same belief.

Too often do we see this generation of young black men and women attached to the past pains of slavery. They hold hate and grudge in their hearts for a pain they did not physically experience. Though it is good to acknowledge the sacrifice our ancestors made for  our freedom.It is also important to understand that this was done so that we can be what they weren’t able to be. Not this another colored person but a person defined by our character, hard work and passion .

We are not not the color of our skin , we are the fruits of our labour.