In Claudia Rankine’S Citizen An American Lyric, Many Themes

In Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, many themes come together to show the intricate and fragile lives of black people within the racist construct of America. Anything from the game of tennis filled with bad calls to the outright brutality of police violence against blacks is represented by Citizen. Rankine creates a narrative of the everyday lives of blacks through not only her own experiences but the experiences of others. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine seeks to bring to light the issues surrounding identity within the racial constructs of America. Within the quarter of the novel Citizen, a major theme is introduced. The theme of tennis is discussed in detail in an essay about Serena Williams. Serena†¦show more content†¦Yet the sport of tennis and the society it has created is reluctant and even defiant to accept her. The ideal tennis player is defined by Rankine as, â€Å"be ambiguous, be white. †¦ image of smiling blond goodn ess† (Rankine 36). This is the image more people in the world of tennis are quick to accept. The image that most people are comfortable with. This image comes to life in the form of Serena’s opponent Caroline Wozniacki, a blond, skinny, beautiful former number one tennis player who, â€Å"imitate[d] Serena by stuffing towels in her top and shorts† (Rankine 36). This only proves, by the lack of protest to Wozniacki’s actions, that racism is not dead. When a black woman protests something that is obviously racist, she is only met with resistance and fear. Yet when the blond, white, and ambiguous tennis player pretends to be Serena, people have gotten just what they have wanted all along. For Serena Williams to be the familiar white role model they have always pictured to be the number one tennis player in the world. And yet Serena embodies more than just a black woman who is excellent at tennis, for many people she is a symbol as well as a human. She is, â⠂¬Å"a black woman winning in a white world, despite all the obstacles standing in her way† (Corbett †¦). Rankie capture the anger that racism traps within the body in vivid detail. Anger seems to linger like a cloud that hangs overShow MoreRelatedRacial Profiling And Discrimination By Claudia Rankine s Citizen : An American Lyric Essay1366 Words   |  6 Pagesunderlining theme in Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric. The author uses everyday encounters to expose the harsh reality African American people live. Rankine’s perspective on racism is applicable to years dating from 1860 and to present day occurrences. Discrimination against African Americans is a continuing problem. Although slavery does not exist today, African Americans continually grieve the agony their ancestors faced throughout the Civil War up to World War II. African Americans overcameRead MoreCitizen An American Lyric By Claudia Rankine1505 Words   |  7 PagesCitizen An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine is a unique piece of literature that truly encompasses the concept of being a Black Intel lectual assessing the state of Black people in the American society. Among many of Rankine s passages in Citizen, she addresses microaggressions, racial incidents and current events surrounding Black Americans. From there her novel further transitions into assessing high profiled racial and political cases in America of Blacks who have died unjust deaths, as well