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.

Images are a powerful medium especially in context with human struggles. Rankine employs the use of images throughout her novel, which helps enrich the plot of her lyric story. One image that Rankine brings up is the “Jim Crow Road”. This image can invoke a bunch of emotions from anger to sadness. The image leaves us wild to our own thoughts, but with the use of Rankine’s writing, it becomes something else. Rankine writes, “ You and your friend decided that “yes, and” attested to a life with no turn-off, no alternative routes: you pull yourself to standing, soon enough the blouse is rinsed, it’s another week, the blouse is beneath your sweater, against your skin, and you smell good”(15).  This seems almost like a caption to the image. To further explain, some people live on this road and they don’t see a problem with it. The people living there might not be racists, but they simply do not care enough to change the problem. Which correlates with what Rankine is talking about with her figurative speech about the dirty sweater. We still live in a racist society that exploits people of color and we are silent about it. This is the emphasis that Rankine is trying to portray with her use of photos. We can not simply watch anymore because it only promotes racist behavior. 

Another example would be the use of Wozniacki’s photography meant to humiliate Serena Williams. Honestly, I was half expecting Wozniacki to be in black face too, but it seems our society has improved a little bit. Anyways this picture should immediately decry outrage from our society but it doesn’t. I believe Rankine is not only blaming Wozniacki’s inappropriate humor but the news reporters and the tennis community as the problem. How is Wozniacki not punished for this blatant attack on Serena? We all know at this point in time Serena gets penalized for the slightest of taunts, yet Wozniacki gets off scot-free? As Rankine writes herself, “ in this real, and unreal, moment, we have Wozniacki’s image of smiling blond goodness posing as the best female tennis player of all time” (44). I believe the image, in this case, helps capture the unreal moment. It showcases the reader of these moments, so there is no doubt left in their mind. The images strongly support Rankine’s argument here and denying it is near impossible. In my opinion, the use of photos in Rankine’s lyric book reminds me of a music video. We all know that the words/sound in the music video are the most important elements, but the video helps capture our attention as human beings. We are visual creatures and we are affected by what we see. Seeing images of racism still in our modern society should hurt us. It brings compassion out of us as human beings, it lets the reading take a hold of us. Rankine is brilliant for the use of images because at times it can be more powerful than the words themselves.

The beginning story in the article by Rankie reminds me of some moments in the book we read by Toni Morrison as well as the book we read by Ralph Emmerson. Rankie Talks about a moment in school where a girl is asking her to show her tests answers so she can cheat. At this moment the author is thinking about her identity. She wonders why the teacher hasn’t noticed the cheating or that their answers were exactly the same. She thinks that maybe the teacher is oblivious to this or that she is invisible to the teacher. 

The beginning moment in the article really reminds me of The Invisible Man. she talks about how maybe the teacher didn’t even notice her at all. This is similar to how the invisible man feels. Throughout the book he is going through life feeling like he is invisible to the world. He wants to make himself known and feel recognized by others. This also reminds me of The Bluest Eye because the main characters in the book never really see representations of themselves in society. They are always surrounded by whiteness. Morrison describes a scene where one of the girls gets a white doll for Christmas but she tears it apart. She didn’t like the doll because it represented someone in society who was seen as more beautiful and the ideal person. Back in the day there was this idea that people who were born with blonde hair and blue eyes were more perfect or portrayed that way. This doll showed this representation but it didn’t represent all groups of people. 

In the book Citizen there is another moment where Rankie talks about identity and invisibility. She says “Yes, and you want it to stop, you want the child pushed to the ground to be seen, to be helped to his feet, to be brushed off by the person that did not see him, has never seen him, has perhaps never seen anyone who is not a reflection of himself” (Pg. 25). This reminds of the scene with the elderly couple in the book The Invisible Man. The couple is being kicked out of their apartment for who they are and the color of their skin. The invisible man wants this couple to be able to go back and live in their apartment. He realizes the importance of these people and what this eviction stands for. He see’s this white city officials kicking them out and leaving them on the street with no good reason. This relates to the quote because these city officials said that they didn’t want to do this and they could have stopped but they didn’t. Instead they threw these old couples possessions onto the streets like it was nothing and they didn’t care. This is part of Rankie point about being seen and wanting to be recognized and not forgotten. This old couple was being treated like they didn’t exist and their life didn’t matter. This also connects to the character Pecola in Morrison’s book. Pecola feels like she is not important or beautiful because of what society has told her and because  of what people have said or done to her. Pecola along with the invisible man and this couple feel like they’re hidden from the world. They feel this way because people treat them this way and just walk over them without a care.

Rankine uses the inclusion of images to further illustrate the text. Before even opening the book, we are greeted with the image of a dark hood, cut from a regular every day hooded sweatshirt. This image has become a relevant symbol of the inequalities and atrocities against black people, where they have been described as dangerous simply for having a hoodie on. Like in the case of Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down 2 years prior to publication, the hood on the book cover is Rankine’s way of labeling the novel “dangerous” for the white population, as it brings to light the discrimination to the black community typically disguised as microagressions. In the first chapter, we are shown the image of a suburban street. The focus of the photograph is the name of the road, Jim Crowe. The relevance of Jim Crowe and black history is of severe importance, as it legalized racial segregation.We see this image when Rankine is describing a situation with a friend who continuously and “accidentally “called the narrator by the name of her black servant. The image and the anecdote, act harmoniously in portraying the ugliness of white privilege. The author includes it to highlight, yet again, microagressions that are blatantly racist.

Rankine’s images are not always photographs, however. She also includes a small excerpt of Zora Neale Hurston’s “How it Feels to be Colored Me”.  The first page of the image repeats the line “I do not always feel colored”, while the second page patterns the words “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background”. The words are pictured in big, bold letters that bleed into the ends of the pages. These lines, by themselves are extremely powerful. However, by depicting them in this manner, Rankine is drawing exceptional attention to them, projecting a sense of urgency in hopes that its reader can understand its importance. The lines chosen for this illustration also coincide with the ideas Rankine discusses throughout the book and connects to situations described, like Serena Williams being thrown against a white background in tennis. Because the words become harder to understand throughout the pages, it can also represent the misunderstandings of them. How no matter how many times it is said or proved, the understanding is never fully grasped. Either interpretation lends itself to the work as a whole.

The text can be read as captions for these powerful images because they employ an idea and Rankine elaborates on that idea with real life occurrences. This illustrations can be interpreted as a still, or a point in time, and the text surrounding it, serving as its caption, describes its relevance. I think there is an emphasis placed on the visual aspects of the book, although labeled a lyric, due to the repetition of its claims. Lyrics to any song are typically repetitious, especially in its chorus. This allows artists to emphasize the key points of the song. The same applies here. The images work with the text to emphasize the point thank Rankine aims to make. The images provide that extra attention that drives the concept of racism home. 

I thought to include this image of a black woman, Vanessa Willoughby, reading Citizen: An American Lyric during a Trump rally in 2015. This image caused a stir. It is powerful and I believe Rankine, if she has seen this, loves it and would include it in her future work, as it works to make a statement.