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?
Hi Josh,
You did an excellent job putting Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine in conversation with Audre Lorde’s essay, “The Uses of Anger.” I think your analysis and discussion question, “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?” brings up important questions about the relationship fo privilege and anger. As you noted in your post, Serena Williams was publicly shamed and faced legal ramifications for the anger she exhibited. This drew a lot of media attention, but as Rankine and Lorde propose, there is an element underneath the surface that the media and public are not aware of and do not represent. Black women have pent-up rage from living in a world of constant oppression, so when they exhibit this anger, it seems so shocking and chaotic, because society expects women, and black women to be silent, specifically around issues of oppression. Audre Lorde writes about this: “Mainstream communication does not want women, particularly white women, responding to racism. It wants racism to be accepted as an immutable given in the fabric of existence, like evening time or the common cold” (281). Furthermore, this brings attention to the fact that the expression of anger in itself is a privilege. Men often express anger publicly, and it is accepted as the status quo. An example that comes to mind is during this year’s Super Bowl, when Travis Kelce got extremely angry and expressed rage toward his coach. However, because he is a white man, this was not questioned and there were no ramifications.
Overall, I think Audre Lorde and Claudia Rankine pose fascinating questions and statements about anger and the culture of anger. Just like pretty much anything else in our society, there exists a complex of privilege within it.
Hey Josh! Excellent blog post! To address your first question, I believe that people only care about a problem when there is outrage, rather than stopping it when the problem is small because smaller issues that don’t bring on strong reactions are easy to ignore and turn a blind eye to. Most humans are uncomfortable with change. We see this common theme of injustices throughout history going unresolved unless outrage and loud action is taken to address the issue. People often may underestimate the impact of an issue, unless they themselves are unconvinced or discriminated against. An example of this from the reading states, “the man at the cash register wants to know if you think your card will work. If this is his routine, he didn’t use it on the friend who went before you. As she picks up her bag, she looks to see what you will say. She says nothing. You want her to say something – both as witness and as a friend. She is not you; her silence says so” (Rankine 54). The friend seems unbothered by the comment the cashier made; that is because it was not directed to her. She will think about that for a couple seconds, and then forget all about it. Meanwhile, it’s clear that this moment in Rankine’s life stuck with her. As we’ve previously discussed in class, Microaggressions are a clear example of this. Microaggressions are often small, seemingly harmless prejudices that go unnoticed unless people come together to create a wave of outrage to emphasize to others that problems need to be addressed and changed.
Hi Josh! I really enjoyed your blog post and connection between Serena Williams and our story we are reading in class, Citizen. To answer one of your discussion questions, I think people only care about a problem once there is outrage for many reasons. The idea of being able to shield yourself from the problem until it concerns themselves (through social media) is a main reason I think people don’t stop problems when it is small. People can sometimes be afraid to say anything until other people are, but once someone starts the conversation of someone being treated incorrectly, everyone chimes in as a chain reaction and the once “small” problem becomes a much bigger problem. Another reason someone might struggle with speaking out or staying silent is because they are afraid of what may happen to them. Lorde writes “I have seen situations where white women hear a racist remark, resent what has been said, become filled with fury, and remain silent, because they are afraid” (280). Although the white women in this example wanted to speak out against it and share their own opinions on what was being said, they were held back by fear. This fear can represent being afraid to lose their job, afraid to stand out and make a scene, afraid to speak up, afraid based on how they are perceived, and many other fears. I am unsure if there is anything that can be done to stop someone from being afraid of these things, because they are things that have been done to other people when speaking up against racism. There is no way to make someone choose to make themselves and the other person uncomfortable, and that is the main problem as to why people don’t speak up.
Hi Josh, you did an amazing job analyzing these past few parts of the book “Citizen” and really putting together the main points that the author wants us to take away as we read. I very strongly agree with the whole Serena Williams issue over many years as being something that added on over time. Serena was never a disrespectful player or opponent, and for the game she loved to be cheating her through the eyes of white supremacy was something that needed to be handled. After “losing” so many matches I think it was only right of Serena to speak up and show the world how slurs, actions, utter disrespect can have on not only someone but a large group of our population. Serena was attacked by many players, watches, staff etc. I think that she handled all of the hatred she had to deal with very well. One part of the book that I was taken away by was when Serena’s opponent stuffed her top and pants to “look like Serena”, personally I would’ve been appalled and not been able to keep control of my emotions. Although there was no context of Serena talking back to the women or causing any further issues. In the book it states “Wozniacki (though there are a number of ways to interpret her actions –playful mocking of a peer, imitation of the mimicking antics of the tennis player known as the joker, Novak Djokovic) finally gives the people what they have wanted all along by embodying Serena’s attributes while leaving Serena’s “angry nigger exterior” behind.” (36.) I was taken away when I read about this. First off it says “finally gives the people…” as if hundreds of people were also behind this sick joke of the opponent. Serena had been named the WTA Player of the Year so I think that these actions were not only out of racism and hatred but also from a built up anger of knowing that even though she did not face nearly a quarter of the struggles Serena dealt with, she was still not the best player. Although I don’t know if Serena was afraid of her built-up anger, I believe that she was unaware of how to approach those continuous sitioust without being labeled and brutally assaulted with backlash, a person of color is much more prone to being labeled because of their actions or words and I believe that was the last thing she was looking for. Serena just wanted change and fairness. To answer one of your discussion questions, I think people only care about certain issues when there is outrage because they don’t want to be the first person to speak up and take that initial backlash, although this can be avoided by people coming together and changing the changes that need to be made within the system(s). It is so easy for people to hide behind other things going on within their lives even when they know bigger issues are occurring around them, if they aren’t the ones being affected people often sit back and watch the others suffer. Not until a large crash or outburst will the bystanders choose to do something.
Hi Josh, I enjoyed reading your comment a lot because you brought up a good point about how anger can build when people who wrong you don’t take accountability or acknowledge their wrongdoing. To answer your first question, people only care about an issue when there’s outrage as opposed to a smaller-scale problem because people in society now are only drawn to anything that interests them or can grasp their attention within the first few seconds. Today’s society has too little of an attention span to care about an issue unless it personally affects them or the people they know. In addition, some people are shy and don’t want to stick their noses in issues that don’t concern them. We can fix this issue by calling out friends, family, and people when they say a slur or commit an offensive joke or action. You must be able to have tough conversations even if it’s awkward to make sure everyone is comfortable and feels included. I interpret Glenn Ligon’s stencil drawings as a way for him to help share and expose the stories of African Americans through his art. His use of black and white is to show the contrast and he wants people to feel a sense of pride and vibrance when they look at his work. Yes, I think the drawings and the Serena Williams situation are similar because both used their platform and what they loved to speak out against racism, and when a big-name person speaks out, the world and their supporters are going to take notice. This quote on page 28 says “In any case, it is difficult not to think that if Serena lost context by abandoning all rules of civility, it could be because her body, trapped in a racial imaginary, trapped in disbelief—code for being black in America—is being governed not by the tennis match she is participating in but by a collapsed relationship that had promised to play by the rules. Perhaps this is how racism feels no matter the context—randomly the rules everyone else gets to play by no longer apply to you, and to call this out by calling out “I swear to God!” is to be called insane, crass, crazy. Bad sportsmanship.” This quote shows how Serena Williams recognized that she is the face of Tennis, so her speaking out would definitely gain support and attention from the community and fanbase.
Hi Josh! I really enjoyed reading your blog post and I believe you did a great job at exploring how Serena Williams fits into it. To answer your first question, I believe people only care about a problem when there is outrage for two reasons. The first being that some people may not realize the issue, to its full extent, until someone loses their cool and releases their rage to the public eye. But, on the other hand I believe it may be because people want to use the outrage against the person or issue. It is easy to become wrapped up in the ways of the rest of society that there is no end until someone gets angry. When racism is the main issue, many people do not realize their thoughts as they are never said out loud. Claudia Rankine stated, “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.” (27) This leads me to the second part of your question. So many people are blinded by racism that was instituted in them, maybe from when they were a child. We as a society need to change this aspect. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but if we take a moment to step back and realize we are all the same, we may be able to truly reveal how we can work as one. There is no need to be divided, yet no one seems to take the time of day to realize that. Issues stem from such small things, a majority of the time, that if we put an end to it then, there will be no need for an outrage, and the problem will be no more.
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?
Josh, great job on your blog post! I think you did an excellent job talking us through the complicated (and very angering) topic of what Serena Williams has experienced in sport. To answer your discussion question, “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?” I think sometimes people tend to notice something more when someone exhibits an out of the ordinary (but still human) raw emotion or reaction. As humans we tend to not feel affected by something unless it jumps out at us or affects us directly. For example, Claudia Rankine writes about a moment in Serena Williams’s career when she used very profane language towards an official for what she and others felt was an unfair call in a serious match (Rankine 29). This was highly controversial, because of the level of seriousness of the match. Rankine writes, “It is a public event being watched in homes across the world” (30). Rankine is again pointing towards the seriousness of the situation. As thousands and thousands watched Serena and her outburst for a bad call, this sparked conversations; was this about race? Rankine points out that her reaction to the rules of tennis also apply to racism (30). If Serena had not reacted the way she did those kinds of conversations may not have happened, and it is conversations like those specifically that happen as a result of something out of the ordinary that spark conversation, if not change.
Hi Josh! Great blog post. I loved the point you discussed in the beginning about our everyday lives and how there are small things that may not affect us in the moment but as they grow bigger, and time goes on, they can have a huge effect on us. That is so true, small things can really evolve into bigger things! Sometimes certain things do not affect us until much later on in the day or even life. You did a good job elaborating on this idea, through your example of Serena Williams and her anger. This leads me right into your first question. I think that people only care about the problem when there is outrage rather than stopping it when it is small because they have become so fed up with the problem. It is similar to a snowball effect. Just like snow, anger piles up and up until it can physically and emotionally no longer pile up and people then release their anger in several ways. Some chose to scream and others chose to take it out on others. I believe that another part of the reason why problems gets too out of hand is because people tend to ignore small problems, and wait until there is a bigger one to put an end to it/ say something, etc. In the reading Lorde writes, “ But anger expressed and translated into action in the service of our vision and our future is a liberating and strengthening act of clarification, for it is in the painful process of this translation that we identify who are our allies with whom we have grave differences, and who are our genuine enemies.”(280). This answers the second part of the question of how we can stop anger from building up. Instead of there being outrage, we can turn anger into action. Through this quote Lorde shows the power of anger and how it can be used/expressed in a positive way. By expressing anger in a way of action we can accept each others differences and strengthen our future. We can use our anger and turn it into a positive thing, embracing others and becoming united. Overall, you did a great job with your blog post!
Hi Joshua, I really liked your blog post. I believe that people don’t care about a problem until there is outrage simply because it’s a small problem. For instance, a lot of people don’t do their laundry until it’s an overwhelming amount, the same could be said about homework. This doesn’t necessarily justify anything, especially not in Serenas case or any case which someone would suffer from racism. I think that in her situation, no one really cared at first because they refused to see it. In a sport like tennis which is predominantly a white sport and culture, it can make it difficult for black athletes to get proper representation or support from the fan base and spectators. I think Zora Neale Hurston’s quote, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.”, speaks volumes in that sense.
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?
Hey Josh, I love what you had to say in your blog post! “Why do people only care about a problem when there is outrage, rather than stopping it when the problem is small?” I feel as if to some people they don’t care unless there’s an outrage because maybe it doesn’t bother them like it bothers the person who’s outraged. I feel as if in this example with Serena Williams those calls that she got were unfair and bad calls and as the announcer said “that’s over officiating for certain,”. I think that if the call had been against her opponent she could have also reacted the same way. Serena at the end of the day knew it was a bad call and knew it was unfair. She called it out and did it in a way we commonly see in sports due to so much time, effort, and emotion invested into the games we love.
Hi Josh, I really enjoyed your inclusion of both responses to Serena William’s anger in the tennis courts. I think the question of “why do people only care about a problem when there is outrage” attributes to the “angry black woman” stereotype that is usually paired with internal characteristics of a black woman instead of just an expression of anger. The reason people only cared about the microaggression problem from the umpire is because Serena showed her anger. Prior to this, she kept her cool and bottled it up, not causing a need for response. To have Serena Williams yell at an umpire highlighted her frustration by something that may be seen as minor to a white person. They did not care to stop the problem while it was small because “Mainstream communication does not want women, particularly white women, responding to racism. It wants racism to be accepted as an immutable given in the fabric of existence, like evening time or the common cold” (Lorde, 5). While yes, there is now technology added to decrease the amount of unfair calls made, there is still flaws in the system. They wanted the mainstream to be silent and since they continued to stay silent after William’s outburst, she has been painted as an aggressive black woman. Her anger was understandable, she is always under heavy scrutiny and backlash for being regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time while also being a black woman. This stereotype makes things a lot harder for black women to express frustration freely because it becomes associated with their personality and them as a person.
Hi Josh! Great job with your post, I really enjoyed reading it and as a tennis player I thought it was great that you took Serena Williams as an example. I will now try to answer to your second question which is the following : What does Glenn Ligon’s stencil drawing say to you? Are there any similarities between the drawing, Serena Williams, and microaggressions?
As for me, Glenn Ligon’s stencil drawing, particularly his use of text, often speaks to issues of race, identity, and language. His work often confronts viewers with uncomfortable truths about racism and discrimination, using language as a tool to provoke thought and dialogue which is very interesting. It could be related to microaggressions in the way that microaggressions, which are often subtle, unintentional expressions of bias or prejudice, can manifest discrimination and racism in various ways, and are clearly what he is fighting against. There are, of course, also similarities with Serena William because as a prominent Black athlete, she faced her fair share of both overt and subtle racism microaggressions throughout her career. She did not want to let it happen and because she was struggling by that she decided to defend herself. We can read in “The use of Anger” by Lorde that women who was persecuted by racism used to develop anger in reaction of microaggressions, because they are suffering by it “Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being” (Lorde, 280). I really think that Serena William used her anger to face racial descriminations and microaggressions because she deserved to be listen and to be recognize for her talent and not be judged because of her race. Then, the link with Ligon’s stencil drawing could be interpreting as commenting on the ways in which she has been both celebrated and marginalized
While there may not be a real direct connection between Ligon’s drawing, Serena Williams, and microaggressions, I think they all exist within a broader context of societal attitudes toward race, identity, and power dynamics, which Ligon’s work often seeks to address and interrogate.
Hello Joshua, great blog post! To answer your first question, I honestly believe it depends on the situation. To explain that even more, most people will always defend themselves in why they’re doing the right thing. That is not usually the case, however, it is usually not right to get into anyone’s business, and as well as that small problems are just easy to ignore. As stated before it all depends on the circumstances of the issue that is being involved. To answer your second question, what spoke to me or what caught my attention the most is how it is related to identity & race. The drawing’s main goal is to attract attention to the realization of race in society. The similarity between the drawing and Serena William’s life is the struggle that black individuals face. A quote from page 30 states, “I’m very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed” (Rankine 30). This is essential because Serena felt as if biased calls were made against her. This match is important since it shows the need for equality. Ligion and William are both prime examples of trying to make a difference in making a change since no matter how tough it is on the road, it does not mean you go backward but rather go forward and finish whatever you started.
Hey Joshua! To answer your second discussion question, “What does Glenn Ligon’s stencil drawing say to you? Are there any similarities between the drawing, Serena Williams, and microaggressions?”, I feel that, by using the darkest colour/shade, black, and to have the lightest colour/shade as the background, white, expresses what he is saying, that he feels most coloured when thrown against a sharp white background, allowing me, as a spectator of his work, to think that he feels more out of place in a predominantly white community. This artwork also reminds me so much of the book itself, having the front cover being a black hood with a sharp white background, as well as, the inside of the book, the pages being a blinding white with the words being black with a sans-serif font to stand out. In my opinion, there seems to be some similarities between the drawing, Serena Williams and microaggressions. As the artwork vertically carries on, it gets darker and darker and less readable, that unreadable area could represent outrage or silenced anger, the latter being what Serena Williams had during the 2004 US Open. In the book, it stated that she said after the match ended, “I’m very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated…” (27). Then 5 years later, in 2009, Serena lost her temper to having a bad call, and the book states “She says in 2009, belatedly, the words that should have been said to the umpire in 2004…” (28), her righteous anger had surfaced.
Hi Josh! I really liked your blog post! I want to dive into your first discussion question; 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? As humans, we react to things in relation to how it comes to fruition around us. If it startles us, we’re going to have a somewhat fight or flight response. Or if it comes naturally, we will react in a more calm, collected manner. When it comes to outrage, we tend to feed into it rather than run away from it. People love to get into other’s problems and issues because we believe we can fix it or just help whatever may be going on. I think that if we as a society came to terms with the idea that we can’t get involved in every problem, no matter how big or small, I feel that these issues could get nipped in the bud in a much earlier stage than outrage. For example, Rankine wrote, “As she picks up her bag, she looks to see what you will say. She says nothing. You want her to say something – both as witness and as a friend. She is not you; her silence says so” (Rankine 54). Your friend seems unbothered by the comment made and just wants to move past it, not letting it build up and rage out of her, instead she lets it roll off of her back and attempts to carry on with her day. You, on the other hand, want her to get angry and fight back against what was said as a means to defend herself. The issue is essentially non-existent anymore but you still want it to continue which in turn would create more problems and eventually it would blow out of proportion. There was no need for it to escalate but because of human nature, we want to try to help but what we don’t realize is that it might hurt the situation more than it can help it.
Hey Josh, great post this week! In “Citizen: An American Lyric” there are a lot of interesting ideas to unpack. As a sports fans something that really stood out to me was the Serena Williams incident at the 2004 US Open. She was clearly put at a disadvantage that she couldn’t control, and crazy enough this would happen again in 2009. Obviously being the competitor she is she was upset and let her emotions out causing here to receive a massive fine. She followed this up with saying “I’m very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed” (pg.27). These are obviously very valid feelings, as a top performer was being unfairly treated for unfortunate reasons.
To answer your first question people only care about a problem when there is outrage because unfortunately that is the only time when the problem is brought up directly and they must confront the issue which is where many people struggle doing so. Glenn Ligon’s stencil drawing is kind of hard to put together but I think it means things continously get harder when they are not addressed at the beginning.