Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Violent or Oppressed?



One of the many successes of Claudia Rankine’s Citizen is the call to empathy directed toward the white reader. Although this is a general result of the whole book, it is most obvious in her passage about Serena Williams.

Rankine describes Williams’ reaction to a bad call that cost her a tennis match in the 2009 Women’s US Open semifinal vaguely. She alludes to “a string of invectives” and “explosive behavior” (25). She does not, however, simply illustrate Williams as the stereotypical Angry Black Female that the media treats her like. She concedes that her own reaction was one of concern for Williams’ sanity, but also claims that her behavior “suggests that all the injustice she has played through all the years of her illustrious career flashes before her and she decides finally to respond to all of it” (25).

Just like all of the other experiences that Rankine describes, she does not sugarcoat Serena Williams’ outburst. She concedes that it was something of a breakdown, but in a way that calls the white reader to withhold judgement. Yes, this was an angry woman who happens to be Black. Perhaps her behavior could be considered an overreaction if analyzed out of context. But the context of Williams’ life is crucial to understanding her reaction. This was not an isolated event in which a slighted athlete violently threatened the ref, but the climax after a rising action full of bad calls based on prejudice.

Rankine does not directly argue that Williams’ actions were excusable, but does ask that readers be empathetic with her anger. As a result, it is impossible to judge the outburst as vicious and unwarranted. Williams is not mean or violent, but a woman who has been forced into composure for too long. In comparison to the injustice she has faced, Williams’ words were harmless.

4 comments:

  1. It's unfortunate that many people wouldn't agree with you (I totally do but that's not my point). Many would treat her as if she had acted out with NO REASON. These same people would later insult her and call her "immature and classless" for Crip-walking for about three seconds. Some things are so deep-rooted that logic doesn't seem to do anything at all.

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  2. Serena Williams let go of the restrictions society placed upon her to be more like white people so that she could fight for what was important to her.

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  3. Serena Williams' actions are viewed as an unacceptable outburst when she is placed against a "stark white background." In this context, America is able to characterize her as violent instead of empathizing with her situation and understanding the systemic racism she faces.

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  4. Claudia Rankine suggests that Serena, by smashing her racket, overreacted to her own poor performance in the semifinal. On the other hand, Rankine believes that Serena's reaction to the poor call made by the line judge in the semifinal was understandable and justifiable, because the line judge threw Serena in front of the "sharp white background".

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