“If they don’t see happiness in the picture, at least they’ll see the black.” This quote introduces the reader to the world of Citizen: An American Lyric, a book by Claudia Rankine that details the struggles of living in American society as an African American in a unique way; this idea is immediately thrown to the reader at the beginning of the book. The opening chapter contains small anecdotes depicting your firsthand struggles as an African American. What makes this book unique from others is the effective writing strategy that Rankine implements throughout the chapter, which allows all readers to relate to the subject being discussed. In Citizen, Claudia Rankine’s constant use of the second person ‘you’ serves as a universal character that readers can relate to while educating readers about the phenomenon known as John Henryism.
The first of many powerful instances starts within the book’s first pages. Imagine this: You are a Catholic school student, and a girl asks if she could copy off your test; while you do not know the girl, you let her cheat on your test anyway. After this, you two only talk the day the next test comes. But she constantly says that you smell good and that you have features similar to a white person. This story ends when she thanks you for letting her cheat and mentions how she feels about cheating off an “almost white person.” (Rankine, 3.) The emotional impact of these experiences is palpable, inviting the reader to feel empathetic towards the ‘you’ character. Another instance appears further in the chapter when you and a woman eat lunch at a café. You two order your food and immediately talk about college; the woman mentions how she, her father, her grandfather, and you have all attended the same college. She grows disgruntled as she explains how her son was not accepted into the school and blames affirmative action; how do you react? Do you apologize for ‘taking her son’s spot?’ You sit there as she grows upset about how you took her son’s place at that school. (Rankine, 12.) Situations similar to this probably cause much unwanted stress; you seem never to be able to escape this horrid mistreatment. Following these events, you decide to seek help. You have contacted your therapist over the phone for some time now and scheduled an appointment to meet in person. On the day of the appointment, you go towards the back of the house to the entrance where patients typically meet. You ring the doorbell, and soon later, the woman at the door screams at the top of her lungs, “Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (Rankine, 18.) She yells as if a dog has gained the power of speech; once you step back, you explain that you are there for an appointment. After realizing her mistake, all she does is constantly apologize. (Rankine, 18.)
These were just some of a few examples in the chapter of the heavy amount of racism a person could face throughout their life. One of the chapter’s key themes is John Henryism, a term coined by Sherman James. It refers to the high levels of stress experienced by individuals due to racism, and this societal stress can have severe lifelong health implications (Rankine, 10.) Citizen is a valuable tool for readers to explore John Henryism through the lens of a universal character, fostering a deeper understanding of the African American experience. Rankine purposefully writes in a second-person perspective so that all readers can relate to this struggle. Authors often struggle to get readers to relate to their characters so that they are engaged with learning the theme; only some people have lived through similar experiences in the real world. If the book is written in the first or third person, then the total number of people who relate to the text shrinks, as many readers may find that the narrator or outside characters share different sentiments than they do. With a second-person perspective involving ‘you,’ every person reading this chapter can relate to the presented struggles. This opens the range of audience engaged with the reading and who may want to learn more about John Henryism. Having a universal character forces the reader to relate to the text and may instinctively allow them to immerse themselves better into it.
Other writers could use styles similar to Claudia Rankine’s in Citizen, which implements the second-person point of view with the word ‘you’ to better allow their readers to relate to the text’s themes. This unique writing style allows all readers to create a character of themselves in the author’s environment, allowing them to learn more about their world. Rankine uses the example of John Henryism by having the main character (you) face racial hardships in most aspects of life, later introducing the term and highlighting its adverse long-term effects.
Discussion Questions:
- Is it important for Americans to learn about John Henryism? Why or why not?
- Do you think that the meaning of this text would change if there was a specific character instead?
Works Cited
Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf, 2014)
Hi Thomas! I really enjoyed your blog post on Citizen and your deep analysis on main characters. To answer one of your discussion questions, I do think that learning about John Henryism is important for Americans. The idea that we are each impacted by the stress of situations that have happened to us is real and applies to everyone in different ways. By learning about this writing technique and having your main character from a story go through something that results in high levels of stress, the readers are able to connect with the characters more and want to continue reading the story. For example, Rankine writes “They achieve themselves to death trying to dodge the buildup of erasure,” (10). By having a character in a story go through something so profound that their own judgment is changed, the readers are able to connect to the story and relate to how each character evolves in different ways based off of their own personal situations, which might help someone in a similar problem. There’s also the idea that we do not know which way would have been for the better, if someone had not gone through the hardships they faced, or if by them facing these problems they are becoming a better person than they would be.
Hi Thomas,
I really loved your assessment about the book Citizen by Claudia Rankine because I had a lot of similar thoughts about it. Especially the use of “you” that Rankine uses to puts the reader into another perspective. You pointed out a lot of examples that Rankine talks about, and I think it puts the reader in a “what would I really do if I was in this position?” To answer one of your discussion questions, I think the whole meaning that Rankine wants to get across would be thrown out the window if we had a specific character. The whole out of her use of “you” is to show what a black person in America faces. Specifically micro aggressions and how they still do have an effect on the individual. At the end of the chapter, she sets the scene of going to see your therapists, but she doesn’t know who you are. “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (18) Instead of giving the person the benefit of the doubt or even just being simply having manners, the therapists thought the worst of a person. That they were in danger and that they should be scared. Now it is the person she screamed at that should be scared. That person will be scared or even nervous about how another person might react to them. If we got a simple story with this same situation, we would simply be reading a story instead of thinking about our own feelings and reactions if we were in that situation.
Hello Thomas, I really enjoyed your interpretation of the text “Citizen an American Lyric” By Claudia Rankine and how you pointed out how Rankine used second person. If Rankine would have used names for specific characters I think the meaning of this text would definitely change. I say this because not using specific characters made me more interested in reading and I became more cautious as to what this “You” character was going through. I felt more sympathetic reading all the struggles she had indoors as an African American woman. One scene that stood out to me was “ you are not sure if you are meant to apologize for this failure of your alma mater’s legacy program; instead you ask where he ended up.”(Rankine 13) While reading this text I found that this “you” character always felt the need to apologize or feel sorry for someone’s else’s reactions or problems. This just shows me how traumatized she is in wanting no problems. She is just trying to get by. If this “You” character had a name I don’t think it would have brought a large audience to text just because it wouldn’t interest a lot of people, but not using specific characters it gives people a chance to put themselves in her shoes and have them relate a bit more.
Hi Thomas, In the book Citizen I completely agree on the “you” angle that Rankine is doing in this book so far. Taking this approach forces the reader to imagine these things happening to them. The reason it’s so impactful is that for me as an African American person reading this, it is stuff that I’ve seen happen or it’s not completely out of reach of the imagination, unfortunately. Most tend to be microaggressions, but I’ve experienced blatant interactions as well. For a Caucasian reader, I can only guess that reading this first makes them imagine the interaction as a Caucasian person because that’s the easiest thing to do as your own race and I believe most would agree that these scenarios would not happen it just doesn’t make sense for them. Then as a Caucasian reader, you would have to take the extra effort/step to imagine this as an African American person to interpret the feelings and the unjust situation of these actions. The average African American is wondering the same thing because we don’t feel like we are any more dangerous or different than any other race. The book gives a great example of this thought process. “The girl looking at you, tells her mother these are our seats, but this is not what I expected” Then the mother says, “I see I’ll sit in the middle” (PG 12) seeming to protect her child from you.
Hi Thomas! I enjoyed reading your blog post and I believe you made some very good points regarding Citizen by Claudia Rankine. When I read through part one, I found it to be more impactful as Rankine referred to us, as the reader, through her use of “you”. This leads me to answer your second discussion question, that being “do you think that the meaning of this text would change if there was a specific character instead?” I do believe that providing a character that experienced these anecdotes in life would change the narrative as it would allow us to picture an African American woman and what she deals with throughout life. However, the exclusion of this character allows us to imagine ourselves in these situations. This is beneficial as it allows for a deeper connection and understanding to the point Rankine is trying to get across. By allowing the reader to imagine themselves in these situations gives us a more impactful viewpoint. Being that of a white reader, I believe a characters focalization would have drawn away from the message to be taken away from the book. One of the instances I believe to have a profound impact was when Rankine wrote, “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (18) This is just one of the many examples of how being able to read from my own perspective has influenced me. I would have never thought to imagine myself in this situation prior, but now I am able to gather a new sense of what it was like to live as an African American in America.
Hi Thomas, I really enjoyed reading your blog post and hearing your thoughts on Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric. I am in agreement with you that the style choice of Claudia Rankine creates a more hefty engagement for readers. This of which is needed to give readers the deepest connection possible to “you” so we can sympathize and feel as many have for generations. To answer your second question as to whether or not the meaning of the text would change if there was a specified character rather than “you”, I do not think the meaning would change. Rankine is trying to highlight racial relations and the experience of racism from a personal, second-person narrative. What would change, however, is the sympathy readers would feel when reading the narrative. When placing one’s self into another’s shoes, we are more closely able to imagine ourselves experiencing the racist instances rather than it being focalized through someone else. We become the story in a way that allows us to hate ourselves for partaking in these conscious and unconscious acts of racism and aggression. A line that stood out most to me was, “they achieve themselves to death trying to dodge the buildup of erasure” (Rankine 11). This is in reference to those who suffer from John Henryism, or extreme stress from racism. Imagine yourself beating yourself up and having goals to do better, but only for the purpose of beating a statistic, rather than achieving things for yourself. The sympathy we feel as readers is heightened through this second-person narrative, however the meaning does not change.
1. Is it important for Americans to learn about John Henryism? Why or why not?
It is important for Americans to learn about John Henryism because John Henryism reflects the resilience and determination of African Americans. John Henry himself worked as a steel driver, hammering and chiseling rock during the construction of railroads. What John Henryism means is a thinking pattern where individuals believe they can meet overwhelming demands through hard work and determination, or known as high- effort coping. Also, John Henryism highlights the toll of the well being of African Americans. John Henyrism is mentioned by Rankine in part I as stated, “Sitting there staring at the closed garage door you are reminded that a friend once told you there exists the medical term—John Henryism—for people exposed to stresses stemming from racism.” (Rankine 11). Sherman James came up with the term John Henryism as stated on page 11 as well, he said the physiological costs were high. So yes, it is important for Americans to learn about John Henryism.
Hi Thomas! Great blog post. I liked that you started your post off with that quote because it definitely does introduce the reader to the book Citizen, as it is also on the first page of the book. I also strongly agree with your point that Citizen is a very unique and relatable read. Like you said, Claudia Rankine’s constant use of the second person “you” allows the reader to feel an emotional impact. This leads me to answer your second question- I believe that the text would change if there was a specific character instead. Currently, as you said the text is very relatable and if there is a character, readers may be unable to connect with the character as well as they do when Rankine uses the second person “you”. Rankine writes, “You are in the dark, in the car, watching the black-tarred street being swallowed by speed, he tells you his dean is making him hire a person of color when there are so many great writers out there. You think maybe this is an experiment and you are being tested or retroactively insulted or you have done something that communicates this is an okay conversation to be having”(10). Through this quote, I as a reader can picture myself being in the dark car watching the street where cars are speeding by. The description of the setting sets the tone for what is to come. It then talks about a man who tells the reader that the dean is making him hire a person of color and he goes on to say that there are many talented people out there. Then Rankine continues using the second person “you” which makes the reader feel that they are really in the position. At this moment, the reader is trying to understand if this is an experiment and questions if this is even okay. It is an uncomfortable situation that is also offensive. We know that many talented people are from various backgrounds and they deserve to be treated equally. I think had Rankine used the same script but instead put a character into place, readers would not be thinking as hard. The second person allows readers to put themselves into the position and think about how they would feel. In a way it almost seems as if we are forced to feel the way the book is telling us to, it feels direct as if they are talking to us/about us. It also evokes a more emotional response for readers. If a chacter is in place, readers might not experience this thinking, emotion or connection that they do with the second person. Overall, I agree heavily with several points you made. Great work!
Hi Thomas! I really enjoyed your blog post. I really want to dive into your second discussion question, Do you think that the meaning of this text would change if there was a specific character instead? I think that the idea of this book would shift drastically if we were to throw out the entirety of the original idea of it. Citizen is written to place the reader, you, as the main character. While it is a bit out of the ordinary, it’s what makes the book so intriguing and unique. This book is similar to a very realistic dream in the sense that it feels so real because the center of this said experience revolves around you. Some would consider this to be stepping into the shoes of a character, kind of like a roleplay. But, what Citizen does is leaves a pair of shoes out for you to claim as your own, instead of taking the role of someone else, you create your own. Rankine wrote, “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (18). When I read this quote, I had to pause for a moment because I felt as though I was the one being yelled at. It pulls us in as the reader and allows us to fully understand the experience and involvement that goes into being the main character of a story. Therefore, if we were to take away the singular aspect that makes this book so immersive, it changes the dynamic of the book all together, making it less relatable which could deter some from reading it.
Do you think that the meaning of this text would change if there was a specific character instead?
I think this is an amazing question. I think the fact that there is no character and the fact we are not hearing what someone else is going through but instead the author, Rankine, writes it as if you are the main character. It gives you a perspective and puts you in each of these situations making it tough not to feel like you’re in these uncomfortable situations. I especially think the one you mentioned and one that stood out to me was the one talking about the college situation. The way it started and said “You are visiting her campus.” even though you are the one who goes to the school hit me when I was reading it. Then the way it ended saying “This exchange, in effect, ends your lunch. The salads arrive.”