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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