Author: Kyle Holmes

In the book Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine Parts II and III, there are reoccurring times of the influence of the past in the present, images in perpetuating racial violence, past histories of racial violence and racial discrimination and how they continue to show in the daily life and what happened to professional athletes who are known for the greatness in their game. Rankine speaks about what Serena Williams went through during her career and it is very sad how she was treated. Rankine talks about the struggles of being an African American in an American society, Rankine brings up many scenarios in which African Americans were treated very poorly. In Parts II and III of Citizen: An American Lyric, she includes images and some pages that are just blank, which leaves readers thinking about what they saw in the images, and it is rare for a book to have blank pages, which I think is a unique strategy by Rankine to keep the readers hooked. Rankine mentions scenarios that happen to African Americans and how they are treated poorly by continuing to speak in the 2^nd-person so you could pretend to be in their shoes.

 

In Part II of Citizen: An American Lyric, Rankine’s focus was to speak about the tennis phenomenon Serena Williams and the things she went through during her career, which is still going to this day. Serena is known as one of the greatest tennis players and how she treated during her career is such a disgrace. There are times where she was treated unfairly on the court and people in the stands noticed it. Rankine brings it up in Part II, stating “The most notorious of Serena’s detractors takes the form of Mariana Alves, the distinguished chair umpire. In 2004 Alves was excused from officiating any more matches of the final day of the US Open after she made five bad calls against Serena in her quarterfinal matchup against fellow American Jennifer Capriati. The serves and returns Alves called out were landing, stunningly unreturned by Capriati, inside the lines, no discerning eyesight needed.” (Rankine 26-27). It was clear to many that Alves was leaning one way during the match because the description of inside the lines, no discerning eyesight needed is just proving that Alves had something against Serena Williams for some odd reason and was umpiring in a cheating way. Another example Rankine speaks on is “Though no one was saying anything explicitly about Serena’s black body, you are not the only viewer who thought it was getting in the way of Alves’s sight line.” (Rankine 27). Serena had her response to the unfairness stating, “I am very angry and bitter right now. I feel cheated. Shall I go on? I feel cheated.” (Rankine 27). Serena has the right to be angry and bitter because she is in the right and was cheated and the match was totally unfair. This scenario was an example of racial violence and racial discrimination because Alves was treating Serena in a very unfair way and what happened to her while playing the game she loved.

 

Also, in Part II, Rankine shows a photo perpetuating racial violence. Rankine shows an image of Caroline Wozniacki, former number one player in the country mocks Serena during a match against her which is awful. Rankine states “Now that there is no calling out of injustice, no yelling, no cursing, no finger wagging or head shaking, the media decides to take up the mantle when on December 12, 2012, two weeks after Serena is named WTA Player of the Year, the Dane Caroline Wozniacki, a former number one-player, imitates Serena by stuffing towels in her top and shorts, all in good fun, at an exhibition match. Racist? CNN wants to know if the outrage is the proper response.” (Rankine 36). This showing by Caroline Wozniacki is another example of how poorly Serena was treated during her professional career.

 

Rankine speaks on the struggles of being an African American in an American society in Part III. She talks about scenarios where racial discrimination occurs. Rankine states, “At the end of a brief phone conversation, you tell the manager you are speaking with that you will come by his office to sign the form. When you arrive and announce yourself, he blurts out, I did not know you were black!” (Rankine 44). That is one of the many scenarios Rankine speaks on in Part III, racial violence and racial discrimination must come to a stop and it should have a long time ago.

 

In conclusion, Rankine does a great job explaining the struggles of being an African American in an American society by showing many scenarios and that even when you are a professional athlete that everyone loves, you can be treated terribly for no reason and the themes of  the influence of the past in the present, images in perpetuating racial violence, past histories of racial violence and racial discrimination and how they continue to show in the daily life and what happened to professional athletes who are known for the greatness in their game shows in Parts II and III way too often and there needs to be changes to how African Americans are treated immediately.

Discussion questions:

1. Did Rankine do a good job in Parts II and III by showing scenarios to the readers with what goes on in the daily life of African Americans and the struggles that are battled through?
2. Was Alves in the wrong in 2004 in Serena’s match? Why or why not?

 

Works Cited:

Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf 2014)

Hi. My name is Kyle Holmes, I am a sophomore, and my major is Sports Management. Favorite food is pizza.