The Catch-22 of Visibility

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 racial victim-blaming well; as if it is the oppressed group's responsibility to stand out above all else just to be heard. Undeniably, this forms a catch-22 situation: blacks feel that they must not stand out (or else get punished); yet if they don't, they risk losing the identification they require to build a strong identity.

Sincerely,
Dana

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