“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)
