Joshua Rankine – Intro to African American Literature

During black history month I went to a presentation that Professor Yolanda Clarke held on the negative effects a predominantly white college has on black women and their health. At first I didn’t think I would have found it interesting because I wasn’t able to fully relate to what she was going to say. Which is what I thought at first. But quickly I realized even if you’re not able to relate it does open your eyes to how change is needed. Now that is easier said than done, she brought up a lot of examples of how the racial disparity pushes people of color away from their full potential. And she opened my eyes to soloism. This is when someone is set apart from the group and can’t find anyone who is like them. And this results in a lack of effort and sense of loneliness. And as science proves, people struggle most when they are alone. Not only in tasks but people can even die from prolonged isolation. Just as a baby who grows up with no prenatal care is more likely to die, and babies who are with their mothers regularly are more healthy and more likely to live. And this goes with her next topic, that black women have a shorter life expectancy and this is not only because of the care, but because of the stresses you need to endure while being a black woman. There is no one problem, being a woman and being black is a double edged sword and acts of sexism and racism are targeted towards you.

With all this in mind there has to be a solution to how to fix them. During the presentation there were people who wanted to learn more and went to understand what they could do to solve these problems. That is a start to how we fix these problems. Allowing for more inclusivity and engagement from the community to understand not to separate people of color. When there are people you feel connected to on a cultural level, it allows for a happier environment. Schools have the budget to give people of color these opportunities but they do not give the resources. This is because they do not believe in black communities to bring their art and inspiration. But there will be no way of knowing if nobody takes the risk, as well as their best foot forward. This must be done by all communities coming together to accommodate for groups that are put to the side. Not only the black community, but all communities that are given unfair opportunities in life.

In “Citizen: An American Lyric” there are a lot of ideas that are brought up regarding racism. One of them is the idea of evolving anger, how acts in the past build to something greater. Rankine brings up a video by Hennessy Youngman, and in that video he says “the anger built up through experience and the quotidian struggles against dehumanization every brown or black person lives simply because of skin color.”(24) This is powerful because in our everyday lives there are small things that in the moment may not affect us but as time goes on that small thing grows bigger, especially when recurring. For example, in 2004 Serena Williams was participating in the US Open and she was put at a disadvantage and subsequently lost the game. This was because of five bad calls. With that she left calmly and didn’t make a scene during the game. After the game Williams said “I’m very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed.”(27)A year later technology was added to be able to challenge plays, so whatever the official said was not the final word and avoided these outcomes. Comparing that to 5 years later in 2009, there was another match where Serena got a bad call and lost her temper. But instead of keeping it inside, she let her anger out. Audre Lorde says “that her response to racism is anger. I have lived with that anger, on that anger, beneath that anger, on top of that anger, ignoring that anger, feeding upon that anger, learning to use that anger before it laid my visions to waste, for most of my life. Once I did it in silence, afraid of the weight of that anger. My fear of that anger taught me nothing. Your fear of that anger will teach you nothing.”(278) This relates to how anger is used, and in this moment what happened to Serena. She had so much pent up anger that was never resolved. She ended up cursing at the umpire and this caught a lot of people’s attention. She ended up getting an $82,500 fine and could not play for two years. During the dispute Williams used the word “again. And this can draw your attention back to the first time and how she kept all her feelings inside. So maybe there was a better way that she could have approached the unfair ruling. But when in the moment it is challenging to keep your composure. This relates to how there is an evolution of anger, a strong emotion that helps humans fight adversary. And through that 5 year period she learned to stop fearing her anger and to embrace it. For that anger is what allows her to fight for injustices in the world.

From pages 40 to 55 there are small stories that are based on racist acts and microaggressions. Towards the end of that section there is a picture that is given, “plastic letter stencils, smudging oil sticks, and graphite” was used for this art by Glenn Ligon. The left side says “I do not always feel colored” and the right side says “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” Both of these are repeated numerous times as it gets lower it gets darker. For me this relates to the idea of what Serena went through as well as microaggressions. As it happens more and more you get into a darker place mentally. On the surface it seems fine but there still is a lot of hidden emotion that has yet to come out. There could also be a retreat into a more common place. If the white background symbolizes a white place than the darker it gets, that could be going back into a place that is more familiar to you. That relates to the left part of the drawing, where the speaker does not feel colored because his color is no longer a part of his identity. Because everyone is the same there is no space for feeling different.

Lastly are the examples and the story, every story is different but there is a common theme in all of them. There is an offense happening to someone of color and there isn’t much thought about it, or there is never the recognition that something occurred. There are so many examples of this happening and the strive for wanting better. Rankine finishes the chapter off by saying “just getting along shouldn’t be an ambition.” This is sadly what a lot of people go through and as someone of color, it makes it a lot harder to not fall in this category.

Why do people only care about a problem when there is outrage, rather than stopping it when the problem is small? What can we do to stop that?
What does Glenn Ligon’s stencil drawing say to you? Are there any similarities between the drawing, Serena Williams, and microaggressions?

Author: Joshua Rankine

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Serena Williams: Evolution of Anger