Who Are You? Summer 2017

Dear Claudia Rankine, I found your writing about Serena Williams to be particularly fascinating and it brings up a lot of questions about the current state of race in corporate America. I would be curious to hear your thoughts on a few things. I'm not sure if the officials in these games were confirmed to be racist in that sense, but if so that would affect the interpretation. If, for example, they have no known racist background, how do you tell if such an incident is inherently about race? You say that the ref didn't like seeing the black body on her court, but without evidence how can you in fact confirm such a thing? Not that I am questioning your assertions directly, but in what situations can you discern that actions are definitely a race issue? I know that there are plenty of situations in which refs have screwed over white men in sports, so I wonder as to how you can tell. Thanks, Vaughan Siker

Dear Claudia Rankine, Thank you for Citizen . Before even opening the book, the cover struck me as I examined the torn, limbless black hoodie, now a symbol for racial profiling and police brutality. I was reminded of Ta-Nehesi Coates who writes about the lack of control black people have other their bodies, their lives, that can be taken from them at any moment because of microagressions and racism- all down to a hoodie. A black hoodie stands in for a black man, its presence seems to alert and warn the white viewer to stand armed. Upon reading the book, I fell in love with the way you structure prose poetry- it flows through memories and emotions which are not organized neatly and clearly. You place the reader as the "you" as they explore everyday racism (also known as microaggressions) and its detrimental impact on the person; we are forced into the crippling, disorienting minds of an annoymous person. You powerfully portray how racism deteriorates the psyche of a black p...

Dear Ms. Rankine, I thought the piece on the cultivation of an angry black man or woman was especially interesting to me. It stood out because of the music I hear on the radio all the time. Rappers on every radio station channel this angry stereotype of what black males should be. Rage and anger are hard to channel into these rap lyrics over and over again, so I assume the rappers contrive this anger to fulfill audiences' wishes. I think it is sad that although this behavior perpetuates this idea that black men are violent and angry, it's the reason albums sell.

Dear Claudia Rankine, I love your book Citizen , from your language style to the way you described the experiences of black people. Using your own experience coupled with those of your friends and celebrities, you build images of everyday racist encounters that shocked me. "The past is a life sentence, a blunt instrument aimed at tomorrow." When reading your book, the idea that racism is still rampant in nowadays struck me so hard. Chapter two impressed me most. I am a tennis lover and I have watched a lot of Serena Williams' games. However, I never thought of the hardship she suffered as a black people in such a white dominated sport. The sufferings did not always come from punishments like probationary periods, but from "every look, every comment, every bad call blossom". She tried to fight back once, "reacting immediately to be thrown against a sharp white background", which resulting in loss, fine and probationary period. Later, she learnt t...

Dear Claudia Rankine, I was struck by the power of your words. You wrote your lyric in second persons' perspective, which bring us back to the situations you have encountered in your real life. By describing "your" action, "your conversation", "your friends", my emotion resonate with yours. By your intimate, heart-aching and powerful words, I feel like I have personally experienced your experience. I particularly like how you described the implicit racism many people of color have experienced in daily lives. The neighbor mistook a black friend as a intruder and called the police; a psychologist assumed a black person is a hooligan instead of a patient just because of her skin color. And what did they say? They said sorry, they were so sorry. And there was nothing you and I could say. Apology does not make up for the fact that racism, though not expressed explicitly under political correctness, has deeply engrained in people, especially white people...

Dear Claudia Rankine, As I was reading you book Citizen: An American Lyric , I was interested by the way you characterized the black body as historically tied and unfiltered from the outside world.   You mention that “you take in things you don’t want all the time”, and “the outside comes in” without provocation. This seems to be a defining aspect of the black experience in America as your words reminded me of a part from Theme for English B . In the poem, Hughes defines his identity by his external experiences saying, “I guess I’m what I feel and see and hear”, and for him, “It’s not easy to know what is true” about his identity, as it is constantly defined by outside forces and historical precedent. You say that “the past” is “buried in you” to the point where your body becomes a “public place”, trapped and defined by the racial imagination of others so that “ you don’t belong so much to you”. I never knew a person could be so inextricably tied to the past and their historic...

Dear Claudia Rankine, You have done a great job projecting your experiences/ the experiences of black people onto the reader, and still maintaining an authentic and powerful tone. I find it interesting that you chose to write your book in a lyrical form rather than a more conventional matter- perhaps this reflects the idea of "life as a rhythm". Especially in the context your experiences, there seems to be a series of parallels and a rather consistent cadence of how exactly racism affects you. I also realized that a lot of the racism you've faced isn't the explicit type of degrading behavior from white people that one would expect- instead it seems that society subtly but very clearly imposes racist and stereotypical thoughts on you. The story about someone calling you the name of their black worker especially rung, as the very fact that the only other black person in her life is regarded as inferior and is yet compared to you just because your racial identity overs...

Dear Claudia Rankine, I don’t know what genre Citizen falls into , but it strikes me that this fact may be part of your message: race and racism does not follow neat lines; it operates arbitrarily (yet with purpose) contradicting and overriding societal rules. So it makes sense that a book about facing racism wouldn’t follow conventional rules either. The way you articulate your ideas makes for maximum impact on the reader. We are taken through story after story, always on our toes, impressed by the sheer number of back to back to back descriptions of how black people experience being a citizen in America. Of all the striking lines in your book, one stood out to me as particularly poignant. You describe the experience of  a person having to convince their partner not to confront a person who presumably said something racist. You write: “this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on.” This is a theme you discuss in other specific incidents, but this single phrase su...

Dear Claudia Rankine,     I loved your collection of stories in your book Citizen. The way you captured the dehumanization and sense of invisibility that racism causes was very powerful. I was particularly struck by your writing on Serena Williams. As you describe Williams’ realization that she must contain her emotion despite the injustice she endures, you mention that commentators said “she has grown up… as if responding to the injustice of racism is childish.” This analysis reminded me of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem. Many viewed Kaepernick’s protest as irresponsible and called for Kaepernick to remain in his place. Yet, just as Williams stood up for herself in the early years of her career, Kaepernick continued to protest. What is disheartening to me is that the parallel continues because Kaepernick has decided to stop the protest for the upcoming year. With this in mind, I ask you: Would you say Williams ...

To John Howard  Griffin: Your action spearheaded the  American society's advance and attempt to resolve racial problems. The book Black Like Me  will always be the most influential record of reality in the United States history. Your valiant act granted new meaning to the action of passing and has shown every single person in this country how a small act can change the whole status quo. From  this book you wrote back in 1959, I can see your eagerness to solve the problem and wipe the racial problem out of America's national identity as a whole by changing your own identity. To some extent, you are not only a trailblazer but also a patriot. Your records opened window for every single citizen to see with their own eyes how injustice had plagued the nation and how important it is to resolve the issue.

Dear Claudia Rankine, What struck me was the cost of being black compared to the wage of being white. White people in American society have access to a host of physical and psychological benefits, all constituting a "wage." On the other hand, black people face a wide array of injustices, which are particularly striking when looking at them through the lens of silence. Being black means accepting instances of injustice because what is the alternative? Black people are faced with so much injustice and so many microaggressions for passively existing, so why would an angry reaction help? Even in a state of invisibility, the disdain towards blacks in our society is apparent, and this is the psychological cost. Uma

Dear Claudia Rankine, A major theme of your masterpiece, Citizen , is visibility: how much space are you allowed to take up in every situation in which you are the only minority there? How about in the public consciousness? Even a sigh or a moan, those sounds which feel to you most uncontrollable and natural reflections of your dire circumstance, feel too loud. For some African-Americans, invisibility, a kind of "keep your head down" mentality, serves as the best strategy to get ahead. Try to take the higher ground and not fly into a fit of rage at every injustice. Unfortunately, this can also desensitize and numb oppressed groups to everyday aggressions, those you describe so keenly with each flip of the page. To me, the most unfathomable part of your story was when you described the phenomenon of people mistaking you for other Black people. As you mention, "Apparently your own invisibility is the real problem causing her confusion." (43) I know this kind of ...

Dear Claudia Rankine, While reading your book Citizen: An American Lyric , I became acutely aware of your focus on the power of words. Names and terminologies all have immense weight and often contain entire identities in a single word. In your stories and poems, you recount experiences in which your name was taken from you and you were mistaken for another person solely because of your race - that it’s a “all black people look the same” moment; experiences in which others’ sentences have the ability to physically affect you; experiences in which your words were discredited because of your identity. You often repeat phrases such as, “What did he just say? Did she really just say that? Did I hear what I think I heard? Did that just come out of my  mouth, his mouth, your mouth?” Where does this power originate? How did words come to hold such strength and meaning? And how does one find the ability to break free of the constraints of words? Sincerely, Lucy Sandeen

Dear Claudia Rankine, In your lyric, "Citizen" you discuss identity in America and introduce the idea that one possesses a dual identity, one of self-created identity and one that is predetermined by society due to history and established social hierarchies.  I saw and found this idea interesting in your discussion of Serena Williams.  Serena who possesses large talent proven through her acquisition of multiple world titles and Olympic medals has often been the recipient of discrimination and unfair judgments not only during matches but also surrounding her day to day actions.  This prejudice occurs I argue not as a result of her self-identity, but her historical identity.  This proves the power of historical identities because no matter the poise and skill Williams possessed she was judged based on a racial perception that derived from her races historical origins.  Know this information I question whether historical identity blinds one from seeing another...

Dear Serena Williams, Having grown up the during the last phase of the “Michael Chang Fever,” many of my Asian friends flocked to play tennis, hoping to become the new Michael Chang who became our hero for dominating in a white sport. Luckily for me, I did not have to join that crowd. I found another game that was predominantly white for me to play in. As an ice hockey player during my teenage years, I’ve drawn stares in the locker room, wondered about the judgment call before stepping into the penalty boxes, and was heckled at by other kids on the opposing team for being “yellow.” Each time an incident like that happened, my anger will boil inside me, disturbing my concentration level and destroying my confidence. So, reading about your 911 match in 2011 against Sam Stosur caught my attention and made me wonder perhaps the referee had made a biased call that caused you a point. Although some may criticize your verbal expression on the court, I can understand how frustrated you cou...

To the author of Trespassers?: Your account on the cultural background invoked us to talk about cultrual appropriation. For most of the time, people tend to generalize a single cultural phenomenon as to represent the whole set of cultural system. Usually, a person won't truly understand the internal reason of the existence of different rituals and customs, but they will still practice it fo various reasons, sometimes just for attention and profits. Your discussion in your book about the so-called "model minority" stereotype gave us an inspiration to talk about the occurrence of micro-offense. Due to the inability to fully comprehend a kind of culture, a person may make another person uncomfortable by asking questions that gives hint to all the traditional stereotypes, and the tricky thing is that only the one who's being asked have the power to judge and explain, but sometimes explanation just won't work very easily. Your book can be modified by adding in these el...

Dear Claudia Rankine,   I really liked the way you formatted your book by telling different stories from the perspective of a person of color or on the behalf of another person of color. I found it interesting how the first chapter (and others throughout the book) were written in the second person. It is a very unusual writing style, but I found it an effective way to articulate your message, as the readers can better understand the discrimination people of color face and the emotions that follow. I'm interested in knowing how you came up with this method of portrayal.  A story I found especially captivating was the one about Serena Williams. I thought I "knew" about the discrimination she faced as a black women in a traditionally white sport, but I never realized how it was evident through refereeing and increasing progressed through the years. I also didn't realize the effect it had on her emotional attitude on the court, and as a result, I have much more...

Dear Willow S. Lung-Amam, In your book Trespassers? You describe the ways in which Asian American people have made their space in the American landscape. Yesterday, we discussed how history often rhymes with itself, and I found it interesting how the issues Asian immigrants face today parallel with the struggles of asian immigrants in the 1840's. As Asians immigrated to the coast in search of opportunity, they often took up menial labor that didn't compete with the white labor force. They attempted to appease and accommodate, but were faced with opposition. Discriminatory immigration laws and anti-foreigner sentiment contributed to the 'Yellow Peril'. Similarly, Asian Americans in Silicon Valley have attempted to "weave their dreams within the valleys existing special fabric", fitting in with the homogeneous white landscape. Just as Asian immigrants have been historically othered, newcomers to the valley have been categorized as "Abnormal, undesirab...

Dear Willow S. Lung-Aman In your work Trespassers?, you mentioned Asian American's strong ability of refashioning the suburbia whose image is familiarly white to many people in their mind. You mentioned how Asian Americans were able to enjoy the lifestyle of the country of their origin--practicing Tai chi, watching TV shows in their first languages, talking to people with similar backgrounds etc. However, you also mentioned that their attempt of innovation were often confronted by hostility from white middle class people. From your description, it seems like white middle class is the standard setter of landscape planing and civilized society. It is indeed a plight that Asian American's traditional culture of their original country is distinctively different from white American's culture. Mosques, Buddhist temples, and feng shui sites are definitely unfamiliar to traditional white culture. And in some other aspects, Asian American's ideology can even be contradictory w...

Dear Willow S. Lung-Amam, I really loved your piece on the minority myth mostly due to my own experiences with this myth. Yes, we are expected to get amazing grades, be perfect in class, and do all things perfectly, and those expectations are good to some extent. But when these expectations become stereotypes and not parents' projected wishes upon their children, it becomes detrimental to all Asian Americans. I had to force myself to be the best in everything to further the stereotype of academic exceptionalism. This is exactly why I understand this notion is a myth because Asian Americans do receive privileges that other minority groups may not and and I enjoy certain benefits from being a "model minority," it's definitely detrimental in certain aspects for kids, not only a positive thing. In an ideal world, projecting no stereotypes onto a minority group is the best because less external pressures will affect development of the members of these races.

Dear Willow S. Lung-Amam, I am curious about your interpretation of the model minority myth, what problems it presents, what impacts it has on society, and how it could be addressed. Firstly, I would wonder what the right way to combat such a stereotype would be. In the case of more negative stereotypes and more obvious forms of racism, many people would either claim that you should assimilate to show the ruling class that it is possible, or you need some sort of resistance, whether violent or peaceful. It seems that the model minority myth would claim that Asian Americans are already successfully assimilated. Is the strategy then one of direct protest? And if so, on what grounds do you protest? On what state action do you demand? It almost seems to be more of an issue of societal awareness, something that besides curriculums as common core is not grounded in state oppression. If, then, the model minority myth is not grounded in policy, do you then turn to combatting other acts of op...

Dear Willow, Your book Trespassers? impressed me by its unique breakthrough point on the issue of Asian Americans. I have never read and never thought about the role landscapes played in racial problems. From your book I learned that, most of the Asian Americans live in suburbs. They form their own community, their own family and cultural bonds there. On the meantime, they tried hard to fit in the mainstream culture—the white culture. However, when they tried to make more efforts in building the landscapes and purchasing their own American dreams, they always need to face way more challenges. As far as I concerned, the idea of “American Dream” is really popular in China. Every Chinese who wanted to immigrate to US takes “American Dream” as their motivation. Unlike those low-income immigrants in the past, most of the new Chinese immigrants study and work hard in China to gain enough wealth and capacity to move to US. I used to think that, compare to their ancestor, they may suffer les...

Dear Willow S. Lung-Amam, I found Tresspassers  extremely enlightening in its relevance to my lifestyle and the people I know. Most of my friends at school in Hsinchu, known as "Taiwan's Silicon Valley," are from Fremont, Cupertino, or surrounding areas in Silicon Valley. Although I grew up as an Asian-American myself, I often found it hard to relate to their experiences in America because, as Irene Li says, "I almost felt like I'd moved to another country" from them. I grew up in East Setauket, NY, part of the most segregated suburb in America. Like the experience of Timothy in your book, I was among only 3 Chinese students at my school; compared to the experiences of my Taiwanese classmates, who had grown up in the Bay Area, I indeed felt the gaping differences between immigrant-saturated communities and my own, despite my parents' efforts to engage in a local Taiwanese-American association. However, what I found most interesting in your book was t...

The following is a letter written to Willow S. Lung-Aman, author of “Trespassers? Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia.” Dear Ms. Lung-Aman, After reading your book “Trespassers? Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia,” I was intrigued by your call for respecting “a right to difference.” You suggest that people of different identities should have to right to express one’s difference without exclusion or discrimination. In principle, I do not dispute that one should have genuine freedom of expression, but I am concerned how this can be realized. The first problem relates to the difficulty in convincing privileged communities to let go of their vested interests, which has existed since the beginning of human history, so I’ll move away from that. The second problem, related to the first to some extent, is how can we ensure that institutions can remain dynamic enough to allow for change. Just a few thoughts. Sincerely, Kare...