Preview

Racism And Inequality In Claudia Rankine's Citizen

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
294 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Racism And Inequality In Claudia Rankine's Citizen
In the book Citizen, written by Claudia Rankine, she shows us through her personal encounters that racism and inequality is still alive today in America. Whether it be from a stranger, or a close friend, attacks on her personal identity is a repetitive thing in her everyday life. As we progress through the book, we watch as Rankine struggles to fight the stereotypes that people place on her during her ongoing battle to be seen and not erased. We learn that this battle is bigger than Rankine herself, and that it is far from over. The first encounter that Rankine writes about is from her childhood. Rankine describes the scene as a girl on the bus requests Rankine to allow her to copy what Rankine has written on an exam. Rankine, a woman now

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    As the speaker calls attention to, all speech, yet particularly supremacist speech renders its recipient “hypervisible.” Author Claudia Rankine's use of the second person has been noted in many audits; less along these lines, her use of the present tense. Despite the fact that the occasion happened “not long ago” previously, it is examined in the present tense, as is the vast majority of whatever remains of Citizen. The impact is amazing: it makes a big deal about the book feel like live detailing, "This is occurring now," not afterward portrayal. The absence of story “tells” is unsettling. It's as though the speaker never recognizes what will occur next, and the reader possesses this…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I argue that Claudia Rankine in her book Citizen is attempting to expose the injustices African Americans suffer due to the prejudices placed on them because of their fictive kinship. Fictive kinship as defined by Melissa V. Harris-Perry in her book Sister Citizen is, “African Americans’ sense of connection to other black people” (116). She goes on to say that this connection among blacks can lead to one person’s bad actions “shaming the race” (Harris-Perry 116). This concept is most thoroughly illustrated in part six during the story Stop-and-Frisk. Rankine writes, “get on the ground now.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The struggle of equality between black and white communities has been a long and tiresome road. Since Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” is a conflicting short story, play, and film many people has analyzed Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and have come up with different views or understandings as have Lipari and Saber. While Lisbeth Lipari focuses more on a rhetorical analysis, Yomna Saber emphasizes more on the line between integration and assimilation. In the next several paragraphs the views and interpretations of Lipari and Saber will be examined.…

    • 808 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many societies have strived for equality throughout history and many authors create stories that revolve around it. The author of Anthem, Ayn Rand and Kurt Vonnegut the Author of “Harrison Bergeron” both created their own societies that strive for perfect equality through the community. During both stories a citizen doesn’t abide by the rules of the society and are punished for it. In Both works the authors use similar concepts to prove their point throughout their stories.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison uses the contrasting yet connected settings of Liberty Paints plant, the Brotherhood, and the underground sewer to communicate that becoming a self-actualizing human being, or the Emersonian “Man Thinking,” involves being proactive and contributing to society in order to break free of the stereotypes that society confines one to. However, how successful a person is in doing this is dependent upon whether he or she is part of the dominant culture (white) or subordinate (non-white) culture. Although this task may be painstaking, one must not let racism and society’s prescribed roles limit his or her individual complexity.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    We all as individuals have power in who we are. Whether wealthy politicians, middle class, or impoverished people. But with power comes the possibility of corruption and the greed for power. Which causes the theft of others power. In her short story, Mary Maya Angelou tells the story of a young middle aged maid named Margaret who serves a ugly old women named Miss Cullinan whose unable to bare children and as a result her husband left her for a colored women and as a reaction she projects her anger and ill will on her maids of color by changing their names and stripping them of their power and identity. In addition, Richard Rodriguez in his story Complexion he describes his struggles of having a dark complexion and the depravity of power…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism: although an ongoing and prevalent issue, it is a foreign topic for many who do not experience the full effects of it on a daily basis or are sheltered from it due to their race. However, through novels, films, and social media, some hope to highlight and end the occurrence of racism. In the novel Citizen by Claudia Rankine, for example, Rankine offers an insightful view of the ongoing racism towards African Americans through descriptions of recent events and personal experiences involving racism. She specifically writes in the second person, allowing readers to fully immerse themselves in the situations that African Americans face in a white-favored society and understand the frustration many African Americans…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hochschild argues that unrelenting pressure on the white working class to keep up with an economy with increased competition for good, steady jobs has led to an exacerbation of preexisting fears for non-whites and non-Christians, with a specific target of Mexicans and Muslims in the case of Donald Trump. These blue collar, white, middle-class, men felt like a part of their country was being taken away from them by immigrants and lazy young people collecting welfare. This can be thought of as a “double consciousness” experienced by the white blue collar worker, feeling like “an outcast and a stranger in [his] own house” as Dubois described the way African Americans felt about their experiences with racism. These blue-collar workers felt as though their problems were ignored by the Obama administration and believed the political elites, the establishment, the powerful banks and corporations, and the mainstream media were all against them.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why is it so hard to be a Black person living in America? It is because the White culture has never wanted to see Blacks as equal or superior to their race. To prevent such thing from happening, racist Whites set up obstacles that stand in the way of Blacks ever reaching their full potential. Therefore, Blacks must go through White supremacy and stereotypes on a daily basis in order to survive. This is evident in the novels and stories read in our African-American Literature course. First, in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger family is denied its rights of freedom when the Welcome Committee does not want them to move into their new home in the White neighborhood. Second, in The Emmett Till Murder Case, by Douglas O. Linder, Emmett Till is killed…

    • 1976 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Inequality In America

    • 1031 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Some may say that the United States is a country of opportunity. Many say this because the European migrants came to the United States in order to escape from oppression. However, opportunity is when all the citizens of a country get the chance to live equally in society and are treated fairly under the law, regardless of race or gender. However, the “Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson, and “The Myth of Latin Woman” by Judith Cofer show the sexism that has existed in the United States. “The Telltale Heart: Apology, Reparation, and Redress” by Charles Lawrence and Mari Matsuda presents the injustices that the federal government has committed towards specific groups of people. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, “The Library Card” by Richard Wright, and “We May be Brothers” by Chief Seattle show the racism that has been prevalent in American society. These issues may have started decades ago, but they still exist in today’s society. Racism, sexism, and injustices committed by the federal government prove that the United States is no longer the land of opportunity.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In addition, the author maintains that although bureaucratic policies that address racial superiority no longer exist to a certain extent on the books, the resurgence of cultural intolerance has taken a new face in America. Modern racism takes place in the form of resistance to integrate neighborhoods and equal opportunity efforts in the workplace.…

    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Beloved

    • 2047 Words
    • 9 Pages

    During the Civil War and the years following the Civil War, many people say that African Americans were looked down upon, segregated from White people, and altogether, treated unfairly. In 1865, two years after Lincoln freed all slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation, the Ku Klux Klan formed in efforts to terrorize the freed slaves. The following year, Black Codes were used in the South to limit the rights that the freed slaves had recently earned. Almost 100 years later, Rosa Parks was asked to give up her seat on a bus for a White man to sit down. Despite all of these racist incidents, however, there were Black people who resisted the racial subordination. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black man to play for a Major League Baseball team. Less than ten years later, a court case ruled that schools were not allowed to be segregated by race. Only four years ago, a Black man was voted to be President of our nation. History shows that even though racism is a problem that our country has faced since its very beginnings and even today, not all people of minority races are negatively affected by racism. The five elements of the Critical Race Theory—Critique of Liberalism, Counter-Storytelling, Permanence of Racism, Whiteness as Property, and Interest Convergence—work together to analyze how far the United States is from reaching its goal of true racial equality. When applying the Critical Race Theory to Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison ambiguously shows that not all Blacks are oppressed by racism through her characters, Sethe, Beloved, and Baby Suggs.…

    • 2047 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author blends together symbols and metaphors to create an underlying theme of the recurring racism many face in society. McKay…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminist Theory Essay

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Crenshaw’s(1991) article on intersectionality mentions how the government works to oppress women. The government works to separate and discriminate those individuals who are displayed as “outliers”. African American women, to be specific, are targeted because of their race as well as their gender. Crenshaw (1991) argues that the reason for many problems in identity politics are because it ignores many of the groups that have conflicts within each other. Crenshaw felt that the needs of many women were seen as more important than…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One needs to look in the “mirror” to really see who one is and believe in their identity to challenge injustice. In my experience, I realized that I hadn’t really appreciated the lack of confidence in my own ethnicity. I was also a Pakistani immigrant, but I didn’t display my true self as I found it to be inferior to the “western” culture. My insecurity played a part in my response to the blatant racism. The main thing I lacked in that moment was integrity. I didn’t want to do the right thing and speak up without being told. I lacked integrity because, in the past, I never took the effort to stand up and challenge unfairness because it pushed me out of my comfort zone. These points emphasize the fact that I hadn’t accepted the truth of my identity, therefore I was frozen in that moment when I witnessed injustice. In the song, Michael Jackson sings “As I turned up the collar on my favorite winter coat, This wind is blowin' my mind”. Jackson is covering himself from the apparent problems around him but the “wind” still blows on his mind. Likewise, I also was covering myself from the man’s racist comments and tried ignoring it. This example connects to both the singer and I as we became ignorant to the injustice around us, as it made us uncomfortable to acknowledge it. “I've been a victim of a selfish kinda love, It's time that I realize, There are some with no home, Not a…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays