Citizen An American Lyric Analysis

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine is a unique and complex book made of lyric poems that focuses on various topics of racism, identity and prejudice. With the piece of writing being a set of various lyric poems, the content can be hard to unpack but Rankine makes certain that even if the reader misses all the subliminal messages, they will certainly be able to understand the common themes inside the writing. I will analyze this piece by interpreting the themes that I understood from the book. One of the book’s themes is also a great commonality, identity, or as Rankine labels it the “Historical self and the self self” (Rankine 14). The “self self” is something that we experience, change, and form every day, and that can range from
It wasn’t until I reached high school that I realized I was treated slightly different because of who I was perceived to be. I was never accepted into any Avid classes, I had to look for college resources on my own, and I had to get used to people being surprised when I would advance academically during my four years. Although, it felt like they expected me to fail (As cliché as it sounds) I don’t hold any contempt towards them because that’s what my “historical identity” pointed towards. I grew up with a certain crowd that dressed a certain way, acted a certain way, and performed poorly in school. Only one of my parents graduated high school and I grew up in a neighborhood that didn’t have many avenues of success through education in the past. These factors shaped what they thought my identity was, but it wasn’t something they were deliberately doing, just something most of the country has become accustomed to doing. While I was working towards going against these expectations that came from my “historical identity”, I was also having an internal struggle (I possibly still am) with finding out who I really am. I was trying to create my own, I wanted to be comfortable with myself and the best version of myself. I no longer had that mob mentality within that I previously had when I was younger where I would follow what my older cousins and neighborhood friends were doing. I started to dress how I
The use of sports helped me better understand an otherwise very hard to dissect piece of reading. The use of Serena Williams as a symbol and the tennis match as metaphor is an amazing clear-cut view of the African American experience. Rankine helps the reader understand the parallel between the treatment of African Americans in society and in sports by detailing Serena’s experience by writing, “Though no one was saying anything explicitly about Serena’s black body, you are not the only viewer who thought it was getting in the way of Alves’s sight line. One commentator said he hoped he wasn’t being unkind when he stated, “Capriati wins it with the help of the umpires and the lines judges.” A year later that match would be credited for demonstrating the need for the speedy installation of Hawk-Eye, the line-calling technology that took the seeing away from the beholder. Now the umpire’s call can be challenged by a replay; however, back then after the match Serena said, ‘I’m very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed.” (Rankine 27). Even in 2004 Serena was facing this unfair uphill battle because the official didn’t like the color of her skin. Another moment that Rankine used was Zidane’s headbutt in the World Cup Final 2006, this moment resonated more with me