Welcome to Racial Identity in the American Imagination's class blog, Who Are You? I look forward to reading your responses to the readings.

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Control

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...
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Letter to Claudia Rankine

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...
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What did you say

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...
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