Claudia Rankine sat in what seems to be her living room. Her grey natural hair was a direct contrast of the mismatched patterns and red lipstick she donned. She read an excerpt from her book Just Us: An American Conversation. Her demeanor and way of speaking reminded me a bit of Toni Morrison in the interviews I watched during my research. Throughout the visit, Rankine discussed the subject of whiteness and blackness and what it’s like to have those two worlds intertwined through friendship. She equated slavery in the past to the modern day slavery of mass incarceration and economical inequalities. Eventually some students were selected to ask her their own questions. The entire time I wondered how she felt about having a white woman as a moderator, and if the questions from white students had any underlying wheels turning. But when a black man raised his hand and insinuated that her books were written for white people, she responded with: “My book is about the culture of whiteness that everyone is subject to. So, my book is for everyone, not just white people”, admitting that most of it is, though. One of the most powerful moments of her interview was uncovered by a question from another student. The student referenced Rankine’s experience in college when she saw white students burning a cross. The author described the situation that was experienced alongside her white friend and admitted that she acquired the FBI file on the incident. She then stated that one of the boys grew up to be an attorney general and the other a judge, and went on to say how “fucking scary” that is.

Claudia Rankine gave this lecture from her home and the first this I noticed was how beautifully decorated it was. I specifically noticed the painting on her wall which showed me how artists appreciate artists. She began with an excerpt from her book Just Us detailing when she went to a play written by a black woman with her white friend. At the end of the play, the playwright asked white audience members to come to the stage and Rankine’s white friend didn’t get up on the stage. The white man behind Rankine got on the stage but said this is fucked up. She then went through an inner dialogue trying to understand why her friend didn’t go onto the stage. She created so many reasons in her head as to why her friend didn’t go on stage and why she was so preoccupied with it. Afterward, she asked her friend and she replied I didn’t want to which wasn’t enough of an answer for Rankine. When Rankine wrote this essay she gave it to her friend and she was given a chance to respond. The white friend said that she didn’t wasn’t to feel shamed and chastised for being white. Rankine took that response essay and wrote an opening poem to her book. In that poem, she tries to reconcile the outer and inner monologues within herself. This whole excerpt was very interesting to me because most authors want their opinions to be the only ones represented in their work however Rankine wanted to include other people’s narratives into her book because she is interested in sparking a conversation. After she read part of Just Us she took questions from the Hunter Graduate students. The most impactful one was about how she maintains friendships with people who have vastly different opinions from her. Her answer was very powerful because she said that you need to value people in your life and as long as no one is being disrespectful you can have conversations. This is advice I think we as a society need to follow to listen to each other and respect each other’s opinions. I was very grateful to hear Rankine talk about her books and her message because it contextualizes the issues we are reading about in Citizen and gives a bigger picture of what we as a society should be striving towards. 

In the zoom webinar, “Just You” was spoken about. It was just published in September and the message of the book is to try to engage in deep conversation rather than to ignore it. The section, Ethical Loneliness of the book was read and discussed, and then there was a Q&A. I was overly impressed by the questions and the discussions that were being had by the graduate students and Claudia. We were given some insight as to how the play was written and how the dialogue was written to make the writing more believable. Claudia then started to bring more conversations into the writing and added them into her process of writing.  We also had an interesting conversation about being a black poet in a white filled subject field. I was impressed by Claudia’s response as she was honest and said that you would never know who could help you or who wouldn’t despite their race or gender in this subject field. We were also told about how Claudias “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” received negative criticism by her past publishers and white friends, and how she continued to persevere regardless because of how passionate she was about what she wrote. This to me was powerful and aspiring. We also were told a bit about Claudia’s friendship with her white friend and how she has a lot of patience with her. It was exciting and cool to hear the writer of Citizen, as I enjoyed her book very much. She seemed very passionate but also open which is also the case in her books.

In a football match during the 2006 World Cup, a player named Zinedine Zidane was put in a “situation” by another player named Marco Materazzi. This situation began when Materazzi started to verbally abuse Zidane with offensive words. Zidane’s reaction or retaliation of responding with a headbutt which threw Materazzi to the floor is what caused this “situation” in time to be an iconic moment, not only in the history of sports, but also humankind.

Zinedine Zidane was placed in a bad situation because he was in an unfortunate location where he found himself surrounded by hate, such as the hate that came from Marco Materazzi at the moment. This “situation” has a deeper meaning and is not new, as Zidane and others have found themselves surrounded by hate before. Europe, and the world in general, has had a history of racism and hate towards Muslims. This was especially relevant to Zidane as he grew up in racially hostile environment in France. The event that took place at the 2006 World Cup match might have been surprising to some, perhaps because scenes of racism were not usually seen in events on the world stage, but to others, racism may unfortunately be something they regularly have to deal with or see. What made the situation even worse was that the event took place during 2006, when the world was tense with the subject of terrorism and its unwarranted association with followers of Islam. One particular major event that had recently contributed to the world’s tenseness with the subject of terrorism at the time was September 11th, 2001 when a terrorist group had attacked the United States and caused severe damage, not only to the United States but also the world in general.

Claudia Rankine uses quotes from Frantz Fanon in her text which talks specifically about Zidane’s reaction to the situation he was placed in. Rankine also uses quotes from James Baldwin which also discuss Zidane’s situation. Fanon acknowledges the racism that Algerians and Muslims such as Zidane face in Europe, especially in France which is a primarily Caucasian country. Fanon specifically discusses Zidane’s decision to react without guilt of the possible consequences or repercussions. Baldwin follows another path where he also discusses Zidane’s reaction but almost defends it as he somewhat believes these kinds of reactions are occasionally necessary. Baldwin goes on to discuss how people must attempt to restrain themselves when faced with hate, but occasionally our feelings can take over, which we have no control over, such as displayed in Zidane’s situation. The video produced by John Lucas and Claudia Rankine about Zidane perfectly supplement Rankine’s text as it provides a visual representation for the reader of the text to see. The video is also slowed down and shown in almost a frame by frame sequence with a voice over so the narrator can better explain the context and also so that the reader can better comprehend what is taking place.

Claudia Rankine highlights the theme of hatred and prejudice present in the situation that took place between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi during a football match in the 2006 World Cup. Rankine’s collaboration with John Lucas produced a video which visually displays and explores the discussions about Zidane’s situation present in her text. The abuse received by Zidane is not new, but it is something that the world is attempting to solve with fairness and equality.

In Rankine’s, “Citizen” we are introduced to situations. These “situations” convey a message while using and altering an event. It “situates” the reader and puts them into these situations. The reader almost lives through them and can get an idea of just how traumatizing they are. When paired with the corresponding video, these situations become more realistic and dense. We see graphic depictions of discrimination that African Americans endure and we are left with different emotions.  We are put in situations where we feel anger and sadness for these events, We, the readers feel the need to make a change.

For example, In “situation 5” we see and read a “situation video”. In this case, it is about Trayvon Martin and his death. The situation is in “memory” of him and we the readers are left to question whether this is the voice of Trayvon Martin or someone else speaking after the events of his unjust death. We the readers are well aware of the backlash and rage that followed after Trayvon Martin’s death. For moments people were unified as everyone fought against discrimination, violence, and police brutality. This is how the situation begins as it says “My brothers are notorious”. We are shown how African Americans are racially profiled and sent unjustly to jail or even killed. Despite this, the beginning also shows the unification that the narrator is trying to create to fight the injustices of the past and present. 

The situation speaks about the unfair circumstances that African Americans had to endure. The narrator while speaking says “they will never forget our way through”. This further continues that unification but also promotes a sense of peacefulness while doing so. Peaceful protesting is present in our lives even today and we can see just how much of an impact that can have on society. This is what the narrator is trying to convince us to do. The video also plays jazz music and creates a calm scenery despite the violence and police brutality in the background. We, the reader see the narrator’s continuous peaceful stance on all this and even persuades the reader to fight back peacefully for justice. The reader, of course, is lead to confusion as they do not know whether or not to be peaceful or angry but the narrator attempts to guide us to peace. Despite the harsh treatments, the narrator wishes for unification and justice through peace, not through violence as that would make matters worse. We see both the anger and sadness but must not forget to fight justly or else we will be no better than our discriminators. 

 The situation attempts to educate the reader while also allowing the reader to “see” the hardships of the past and the present for African Americans. The unfair realities and the crap that they had to go through and still go through to this day. We see the narrator investigate the past and present as he speaks about the Jim Crow Laws and the racial profiling of the now. We are told to never forget about the past as history may repeat itself. We are made aware so that we could continue the fight for justice and a better tomorrow.

All these messages relate to the rest of Rankine’s texts as the reader is put into the shoes of the narrator and experiences these discriminations. Of course in this situation, the focus is mostly on police brutality and racial profiling but we are also taught more. Although we could never truly understand the brutality of these events, we are shown them and can see that the world we live in is not just at all. This is the message Rankine sets throughout her book, the message that African Americans endure racism daily and are expected to just “get over it”. She wants the readers to be aware of these discrepancies and wants society to face reality. This situation does that perfectly as we see how unjust and corrupt “America” truly is. In the video along with the text, there are many occasions where the scenery goes red and blue. This may signify police brutality as Trayvon Martin was subject to this and show just how corrupt some of our “protectors” are. This can also signify the irony of the American Flag and depict how America is filled with hatred and racism despite the flag’s meaning. The words and the picture used in the situational video bounce off each other to spread the message of racial profiling and just how it can lead to death for an African American. We are left with a desire for change.

*I posted a link to a song that speaks about police brutality and figured it would be relevant given the situation I wrote about”

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