How Rankine’s Ideas in “Citizen” are Presented in the Podcast "Serial"

Throughout Claudia Rankine’s novel, “Citizen: and American Lyric”, she presents the reader with everyday microaggressions that she faces as a black individual in America. The podcast Serial presents these same microaggressions and the effects of them in terms of a larger system: The criminal courts of America.

Sara Koenig explores the deep-seeded racial prejudice in our judicial system, from judges, to lawyers, to defendants. The “code-switching” that Claudia Rankine speaks on in her novel is reflected through the language of judge Gaul in the podcast. Gaul regularly refers to, “baby-daddys”  and assumes a fatherless past of many of the defendants that enter his court. His rulings reflect his views and he consistently makes suggestions of punishments that are blatantly unconstitutional. He often employs the threat of jail if the defendant decides to have another child, assuming that the defendant will leave the child eventually. He then puts them under probation, securing an omnipresent white gaze over their black body.

Rankine explores other ways in which black people are defined by the white spaces that they often inhabit. This takes form in the criminal justice building in the podcast Serial, and the way that prosecutorial staffs operate in the building. Prosecutors often employ certain tactics to prevent a change in the system. Specific charges that prosecutors pursue discourage defendants from suing the state if they believe that they have been wrongfully convicted, but instead encourages taking a plea deal. The podcast details how taking a plea is seen as a victory in the courts even if the defendant did not commit the crime in question. The prosecutors also employ racially charged language that raises specific racial perceptions of African Americans to try and influence a jury. Phrases such as, “reached towards his waistband” reinforce ideas about African Americans being dangerous and threatening officers, therefore justifying the police officer’s actions of force that are presented in the show.

Both the novel and the podcast then continue the conversation about race through art. Rankine has a series of art pieces throughout the book that support the ideas written about in the text. Similarly, the podcast uses art to redefine the spaces that are spoken about throughout the show. On their website, www.serialpodcast.org, they digitally recreate the spaces in the show with art added onto the building, redefining the spaces. Often times these were spaces that were largely defined by a white presence, but through the addition of art, the spaces are transformed into critiques of the spaces and beautiful representations of injustice in our country.

Claudia Rankine’s depictions of microaggressions provide a close-up view of daily life for many African-Americans. Though these experiences can seem small and contained to the individual, Serial provides examples of how these microaggressions can sneak their way into our institutions, and result in macro consequences.

Let's Talk About Race

When discussing Citizen by Claudia Rankine, our class had trouble starting the conversation. When we did being the discussions, it felt sparse and surface-level regarding both the content and literary architecture of the essays or poems.

We mentioned how the diversity, or lack thereof, in our classroom as well as the idea that the AP Literature class is a white space impacts how we discuss the book's content. One point we never finished talking about was the discomfort of being white and how this leads to withdrawing participation in fear of saying something wrong.

Although I understand this point of view, it is crucial to speak up, even if you "say something wrong." Part of the point of discussing race is to overcome prejudices and to teach others about non communal experiences. If we are to make progress in the race conversation, then we need to educate each other - which I felt we lacked during this unit.

If you're white, you will never understand the discrimination that minorities do. It is simply impossible because experiences shape us into who we are and our belief systems. When people who aren't white open up about their experiences, they are not inviting your pity or apologies. Instead, your job is to realize your own inherent prejudices and to encourage introspection in those who are unaware of their own biases.

The fear of being labeled racist, which has such a negative connotation, and rightly so, prevents constructive conversation. Last year, I read Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum. She argued that the term "racism" should be defined as a system of advantage based on race. Although I don't necessarily agree with this definition, it would certainly aid people in speaking up.

So, let's talk about race.

The Stranger: Lacking Emotion

Throughout the first chapter of the book The Stranger by Albert Camus, one thing that stood out was  the narrator's lack of sympathy for his mother's death throughout the time of him going through the funeral.

One of the main evidence throughout the book where we can see the narrator's lack of feeling was in the very beginning of the book.

 "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know" (3).

If someone were to experience the death of their parents, sibling, or a close individual, they would remember the details of what they went through. This includes the specific date in which the incident occurred. The narrator has uncertainty of the date his mother died, which gives the reader a sense of how distant he may have been with his mother.

Another scene that stood out was when the narrator was with a group of his mother's friend during the funeral and saw one of her friend crying. Although the narrator does not talk about the emotion that he was going through, the tone of the way he spoke may make the reader wonder how the narrator really felt as he was experiencing one of his mother's friend cry.

"We just sat there like that for a while. The woman's sighs and sobs were quieting down. She sniffled a lot. Then finally she shut up" (11).

 Not only is the tone of this quote quite monotone and emotionless, but the diction that the narrator used, "shut up", may give the reader an idea that the narrator was not too fond of hearing the women cry. He even said "I wished I didn't have to listen to her anymore" (10). During the scene where the narrator was stating what he observed during the time of his mother's death, the narrator's diction, syntax, and tone will pose a question to the reader regarding what he was feeling throughout the experience.

Cultural Appropriation In Oak Park, One Of The Most Progressive Neighborhoods

In Claudia Rankine's Citizen, Rankine often shares small anecdotes in order to create an image to get her point across. Some of the images she creates are extremely relatable to me, and I can picture them perfectly, even in my community.

At the beginning of Section III, a friend of the narrator calls her a “nappy-headed ho” (41). This shocks the narrator, because her friend had never talked in what she calls “black people language.” The friend seems to have adjusted her language based on her surroundings, which is something I see all the time in my community. For example, I see white kids, who hang around black kids, try and act like they are black, similar to the friend in Section III. This includes using what Rankine calls “black people language,” which unfortunately includes the n-word. I’ve heard too many white kids say the n-word, thinking it’s okay because they are friends with black people. Because of their surroundings, they adapt and change who they are. I believe that changing the way you act, talk, and carry yourself because of the people you are around is wrong, despite almost everyone doing it. I can admit to doing it, just on a lot smaller of a scale. I act very differently around my friends than around my parents. It’s just a matter of when it becomes offensive, which is what Rankine is trying to expose. Cultural appropriation is a thing, however there are levels to how offensive it is. I believe Rankine is trying to inform society about how common this problem is, and how it often goes unnoticed. The problem seems to be getting worse, and I see it almost everyday, even in a very progressive community.

A Sentence Analysis in Citizen

"It's then the man next to you turns to you. And as if from inside your own head you agree that if anyone asks you to move, you'll tell them we are traveling as a family." (Rankine, 133)

This sentence in Citizen, by Claudia Rankine, follows a passage about an experience Rankine had while riding the train. In the passage, she attempts to protect this man by associating with him, by sitting next to him on the train she'll silently show that he is not something to be feared.

This experience of solidarity on trains can be compared to female solidarity on trains. While in this case, Rankine sits by the man to protect him from the judging gaze of others. Women on the train oftentimes sit by each other to protect each other from predators. Every time I get on the train by myself, my mom tells me to find a nice looking adult woman to sit by, and to avoid creepy looking guys. This is a silent defense mechanism, living out safety in numbers. You are less likely to be preyed on if you have someone who might protect you.

Citizen...Upside Down

"And still a world begins its furious erasure--

Who do you think you are, saying I to me?

You nothing.

You nobody.

You" (Rankine 142).

Me.

Me nobody.

Me nothing.

Who do I think I am, saying you to me?

And still a world beings its furious erasure--

In this passage, I turned Rankine's lines upside down and switched all of the second person pronouns to first person. In Citizen, many binaries exist, most notably between a controller and those controlled. In her poems, Rankine uses "you" to suggest that each individual microaggression that she describes is intimately felt by the reader. Rankine's use of pronouns provides a template for understanding each event. When she writes in the second person, she induces experience in the reader; when she writes in third person, she allows the reader to make their own person decision about the meaning of the event.

Therefore, by switching and flipping this passage, it is possible to view this description upside down. When Rankine first writes this passage, she creates develops "you" as a person who has crossed a line. She speaks aggressively about this "you" and makes the reader feel the power of this aggression. When it is written from a "me" perspective, there is a somber tone, where it almost seems she has taken personal accountability for whatever event has just occurred. "You" is offensive and "me" is defensive. 

Mixed Race Persons in America

In class, we were talking about how in America, we often limit our conversation on race to just two races, black and white. This means that a number of groups are excluded from this conversation.

As someone who is both black and white, I have witnessed this dichotomy in my everyday life. I feel that common misconception about mixed race persons is that they are two races, when I often feel like I can only be one or the other. This strict grouping in America that tells us we are either black or white can leave the rest of us who are neither or both wondering where they fit in.

I make this point to emphasize the fact that we need to recognize that not everyone is black or white. Many people are neither, and many are both. We need to acknowledge this and incorporate these peoples into our conversations about race and American society. We exist, and we deserve recognition.

Getting to the Point

Citizen describes an incident in which a white man overlooked the narrator (a black woman) in a drugstore (pg.77). The passage itself was interesting to me because I am not totally sure if the events described are racially motivated or not. I feel that in some ways this reflects much of the Black experience because a key component of racism is erasure, or making Black people feel that their experiences aren’t valid or even real sometimes. The ambiguity of the scene itself speaks to that I believe.

Our in class discussion was interesting to me because of what I perceived from many students as a distinct unwillingness to accept that it could have been racially motivated or the idea that if the literal events weren’t racially motivated there wasn’t a “point”. I think that Citizen should be evaluated a work of literature. If we as English students can accept without question the at times dubious symbolism of every 19th and 20th century white author as fact, why must we challenge the symbolism when it comes to Claudia Rankine? To me in some ways this discussion was a reminder of the subtle erasure that I think is the “point” of the passage.

Not Your Job

“Memory is a tough place. You were there” (Rankine, 64).

This is nothing new to you. You’ve seen this before. You’ve breathed this before. You’ve felt that. And that. And everything they think you haven’t. You have.

You wish it was different. You know that that is just your excuse. For what?

Inaction. Passivity. Willful ignorance.

Funny. That reminds you of “Willful Obstruction.” Obstruction of what? Beyond police officers, perhaps those around you are willfully obstructing justice. There are no innocent bystanders. Silence isn't simple. "Willful Obstruction." Isn't that a felony? How would you know?

You know.

What even is a felony? What applies to your brothers and sisters might mean nothing more than a warning to the girl in your math class.

You know this. Your TV knows it. Your eyes and ears and mouth and hands and toes know it. Your memory knows itself. Your memory's job is essentially to never forget. It’s a trap, a prison. The whole damn thing.

And no, for God’s sake, you don’t want to read about it and talk about it over and over with people who don’t actually care to acknowledge that your life is real and valid. Your life -- and your experiences. Of course, that’s what you meant. You sometimes forget that people don't always see the correlation. You’re sorry you didn’t clarify.

Reading and rereading your experiences is like the universe giving power to your memory. Don’t they know how hard you’ve worked to move forward from that, rather than backward? You know they do, and you know they also do not at the same time. You know they don’t understand that concept, and you know that you won’t ever be able to get them to understand it. Understand you.

You.

You’re here. You were there, but you're still there. You're here. You’re real. Tell yourself over and over. What happened was real. What’s happening is real. Don’t they know? No. And it isn’t your job to teach them.

Free Will and the Stranger

The Stranger by Albert Camus is often cited as a text upheld by existential philosophy. Through the diction and lack of finesse Camus reflects the absurdity and normality of our everyday lives. However, in these dry descriptions of life he explores the finality of death and whether we have free will. Free will is the ability to make decisions for ourselves. This is in direct opposition with the societal pressures we face everyday and more importantly the pressure of existence as a whole. Throughout this novel Marsille exercises the only true form of free will we have our thoughts and emotions. He does not bend to the will of desired expectations. For example, he does not feel real sadness when his mother dies. It may be argued that he is a sociopath and there for is a reject from society but he is the expression of the truest free will.

Citizen and White Overreaction

In Claudia Rankine's lyric, Citizen, she has page in which a very interesting racial encounter takes place...

"In line at the drugstore, it's finally your turn, and then it's not as he walks in front of you and puts his things on the counter. The Cashier says, Sir, she was next. When he turns to you he was truly surprised.

Oh my god I didn't see you.

You must be in a hurry, you offer.

No, no , no, I really didn't see you"

This is a very short chapter but I think the most interesting part was the drug store incident but it is also very confusing about what the white man was actually thinking. While on the surface it looks like it was a typical white man assuming the world is his for the taking, it seemed to me that the white man completely overreacted to a normal innocent encounter with another person, but when he realized that Rankine was a black woman, he didn't know what to do. His immediate reaction was to over-correct himself because he saw a black person and tried to make sure he wasn’t offending her in any type of way and was pleading to her that he didn’t see her. While it sounds like the man is being a nice guy, I think that it would’ve been different with another white person. He assumed that it was a terrible racial encounter rather than just a normal mistake with another person, seeing her as a colored, different person, not just another human.

It is also a cool section because it relates to the invisibility Rankine expressed as a black woman earlier in the book, the man didn’t see her at all and that was just one of the examples of her being invisible. IF the man really was right in the fact that he didn't actually see her, it proves everything right for her. She is just being disregarded as an African-American, and as a woman.

Tenth of December: A Black Mirror Spin-off

While reading the Tenth of December stories by George Saunders, I immediately found a strong connection to the Netflix series Black Mirror. Black Mirror is a personal favorite of mine, for I find the individual episodes to be interesting and diverse, and each episode is intertwined with the next. Saunders writes his short stories in a quite similar way, having all of his short stories have a common theme with a focus on a lost and powerless male main character. He also set most of the stories in the near future with technological advances, like in Black Mirror. While Saunders chooses to focus on a male main character, Black Mirror has characters in focus from all different sexes, races, and backgrounds. No two characters in either Tenth of December or Black Mirror are the same, and both the book and the TV series seem to paint the characters and their personal lives very clearly. I found their styles to be quite unique, and that is why it was so easy for me to see such a strong connection between the two, because they both are so unlike anything I have ever read before. Both Tenth of December and Black Mirror force their audience out of his or her comfort zone, purposely making the reader or viewer uncomfortable in order to push their audience towards making a change and seeing the injustices within themselves and in society.

Section 1 of Citizen: An American Lyric And Movie Example

Section 1 proved to be a motivating and powerful analysis of some of the daily racial slurs and actions that African-Americans face on a daily basis. The section starts with a rather cooling to the touch tone to the reader. She makes the reader want to fall asleep and peace and harmony. She then begins her argument. Essentially, through the first section, Rankine argues that there are certain social challenges that people of minority races will encounter if they do not want to make themselves “blend in” with the rest of society. For example, she references a time when “you” were standing in line at Starbucks, when you hear some boys whisper N***. She argues that most (white) people would simply say “Oh, they are just being boys,” but Rankine argues that (you) should take action and call them out on it.

The first section, while I may have different opinions regarding what she has written, is laid out well. She writes the book as if it is a large metaphor of color distinction between white and black people. However, subtle, she uses the color “grey” sparsely throughout the first section to bridge the gap between white and black people.

Overall, Rankine describes several instances in which African-Americans are faced with racial tensions between whites in nearly every different situation one could think of. She even begins her story claiming that a white child accidentally called her black friend by the name of her “black housekeeper” and perhaps thinking that there are two black people in her life.

The movie provided above is an example of how someone who is African American might be treated or seen differently in a "white space". Ron Burgundy and his news team are simply not accustomed to seeing other races beyond their "white people". Therefore, when they see someone who is African American, they almost panic and aren't quite sure how to treat her. 

Writing in the Second Person

I have never felt invisible in the sense of race, I am a privileged white girl. I feel invisible in situations, for example, classes when all of the other students are smarter than me and every time I have tried to raise my hand the teacher skips me. Or this summer when I went to New York alone I didn’t know anyone, I would walk the streets alone or get coffee at a place I have never been before and every face was unknown. Nobody looked or cared about me, nobody knew my name. More importantly, nobody cared. I am not saying that here people stare at me and care but when I go running or go get coffee I recognise people and people recognise me. New York was a different type of alone but I liked it. Everyone was alone, I didn’t know anybody so I didn’t feel the pressure to do/act/dress in a certain way other than I wanted too. Which is weird, because I brought back some of those tendencies here and my friends have commented on how I dress differently when to me its just what I decided to wear. So, below is me writing like Claudia Renkin in the 2nd person.

You’re walking down the street to go to your 8:45 AM class. You reach into your back pocket and grab your phone. 8:36. Crap and your casual stroll turn into a “New Yorkers” walk. Which to anyone outside of New York, it is a speed walk or even an awkward looking jog. The beautiful thing about rush hour mornings is the crisp air. The cool wind tickles at your arm hair and the back of your dress flies up with every fast-paced step. To-go cup of coffee in one hand, you can feel your coffee move as your speed increases, trying to balance the beverage before it spills. You see three other people doing the same thing, you start to think you fit in.

What the magic is about New York is, especially at rush hour, is that everyone is the same and everyone is equal. The world is rushing somewhere whether that is home, work, the subway or actually running. You are alone, but you don't’ feel lonely. Everyone around you is alone. Nobody is staring at you, and you aren't staring at anybody. Everyone is fully focused on themselves. You’re all alone but you’re doing it together all focused on how you’re going to make it through the day.

New York surprisingly is the quietest city you know. Only among a million beating hearts could you still hear a cigarette burn on a balcony in Brooklyn.

Thick Skin

Rankine states in Citizen, “You are saying this thing and I am not going to accept it. Your friend refuses to carry what doesn’t belong to her. You take things you don't want all the time.” (55)

This line stood out to me the most in the reading we did over the weekend because it symbolizes in a real life situation that some have the ability to ignore hate and discrimination, like the narrator's friend. While there are some who do not have this ability and seem to take all the hateful speech and discrimination to heart, like how the narrator describes herself. It is left up to the reader to determine who they are, and how this can affect the happiness and strength of one's character. Personally, I tend to take things that I hear and hold onto them for too long letting it get to me and hurt me. I have been working over the last few years to develop a “thicker skin”. I found that through this thick skin method it is easier to move forward with what some see as questionable decisions. You learn to trust and lean on yourself, instead of others. The downside is not being able to take advice because of the fact that you have developed this habit of not letting what others say affect you. The hard fact you must learn is sometimes outsiders have the best view in. This would not necessarily apply to this scenario in the book as they are talking about racist remarks but the ups and downs to having thicker skin are numerous and range further than simply ignoring what others say.

The Death of the Stranger

The Stranger starts off with "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: "Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours." That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday." (3)

My first reaction to this passage is that he seems very nonchalant about his mother's death. Throughout the chapter when the subject of his mom comes up it seems like he doesn't know a lot about her. He doesn't know the day she died, he doesn't know how old she was when she died. He doesn't know much about her life in the home. It's almost like he doesn't care for his mother, it seemed like he made no contact with her when she was in the home. He said he didn't come visit her because he would have to buy tickets and travel for two hours. Two hours isn't actually that far away and he wouldn't have to go every weekend but maybe once a month would be good. He didn't talk about his mother much to his friends or co-workers until she died, and even then it was one or two words about her. It makes me feel like perhaps he didn't like his mother or even know her. He didn't even want to see her one last time before they put the casket in the ground. It makes me sad for him and his mom to imagine their relationship, I can see them sitting in the kitchen of that small apartment eating in silence. In the passage when he says "That doesn't mean anything" it could also apply to his mom like she didn't mean anything to him. That maybe his mom is the stranger because she has become a stranger to him.

Beating. A Nice Thing?

Chapter 3: The Stranger.

One of the characters we meet in chapter 3 is Raymond, one of Monsieur Meursault's neighbor.  Raymond invites Meursault to his apartment for dinner. As Monsieur Meursault and Raymond bond over sausage, Meursault notices Raymond's injured hand. Raymond acknowledging this, explains that his mistress had been the root to his hand problem. He says that his mistress and him had gotten into a "little" fight, and as a result, the mistresses brother hunted Raymond down to avenge his sister.

Raymond goes on to say that his fight with his mistress was motivated by the belief that she was cheating on him. He goes on to describe the physical fight they had. He says on page 31, "I'd smack her around a little, but nice-like, you might say. She'd scream a little. I'd close the shutters and it always ended the same. But this time it's for real. And if you ask me, she still hadn't gotten what she has coming."

Is Raymond a psychopath? The way he describes the beating is so ordinary. He makes it seem like it was no big deal. To me, this bring up the question whether or not Raymond and Monsieur Meursault's friendship will last, or if Meursault will feed into Raymond craziness. At the end of the chapter, Meursault ends up agreeing to writing a revenge letter to Raymond's mistress. This leads me to believe that Meursault will become Raymond's evil minion, unconsiously, as a distraction to his own miserable reality.

Will We Ever Get Developed Female Characters?

When we meet Meursault in The Stranger, he is strikingly unemotional and indecisive from the very beginning. He barely reacts to the news of his mother's death, and his most striking emotion about the news is his momentary guilt about sending her away to a home in the first place. Throughout his entire journey and experience at her funeral, he remains unemotional, and the reader begins to understand that this is one of his defining character traits.

In the second chapter, however, he rekindles an old flame with a woman, Marie. But instead of being a spark or energetic force in his boring life, Marie remains just another item that Meursault is indecisive about.

Throughout the entirety of Part I, Marie's sole purpose seems to be to further demonstrate how boring Meursault is. He rarely wastes a thought on her when she is not with him, and when she is with him, her defining trait seems to be her love for Meursault. Her repeated questions about his love for her or his willingness to marry her create a completely one-dimensional female character who exists as a defining trait for a male character.

As Meursault spends more time with Marie later in Part I, he insists that she is both beautiful and funny, almost as though she might soon be described as a real person with a true impact on Meursault's life. Instead, she remains objectified by several of the other men with whom she interacts, and she continues to not have much of an impact on Meursault's actions.

The inclusion of the female character so early in the story creates an opportunity to really develop the female character as a human and not an object, but thus far in The Stranger, Marie's sole purpose and development mostly serves to highlight how unresponsive the male character, Meursault, is.

Who is the Stranger?

My first impression from The Stranger got me thinking about the title and the titles meaning. While we have only read the first three chapters Meursault seems to be the stranger. It almost seems as if he is an outsider in his own life. The very first sentence of the book starts off with a very relaxed sentence about the death of Meursault's mother. Meursault continues with his grim life and almost seems apologetic for asking for time off from his work. It just seems as if Meursault lacks any empathy and does not care about anything in his life.


Meursault does not even want to see his mother's body. Granted some people might not want to see their dead mother, but for me I would not believe it if i did not see it. I would need to say a final goodbye before I could let go. Meursault demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge about his mother and is distant when talking to others. He meets Marie the very next day after his mother's funeral which might indicate a distaste in his mother rather than lack of desire in anything in his life.


What I took from the first three chapters is that Meursault is going through the motions of his life and there is little to nothing that changes in his daily routine, making life a bore. Meursault shows no remorse for his mothers death and was looking forward to a good night's sleep when leaving. I took Meursault's boring life as him doing what he can, while living another life in his head. While he might rather be doing other things he continues on his boring path, making him a stranger in his own life.

Who is to blame for racism in the United States

I am not here to point a finger at any particular person our group, and trust me there are many people to blame for racist beliefs that have ran through America since it was formed. In my eyes racism is never going to end until we stop pointing fingers, and come together as a whole.

A song and video that has stuck with me since it came out last year was ¨I´m not Racist¨ by Joyner Lucas. If you have heard the song, I hope you were as moved by it as I was, and if you haven´t heard it then you really should give it a listen (and watch). Half of the 7 minute song is a racist white man wearing a MAGA hat spitting racial slurs left and right at a young black man who just sits there and listens. Then the white man stops and give the black man a chance to say his side of the story. After about 3 minutes of the black man saying his perspective on racism and culture and America, the two come together and hug it out vouching to understand each others side and work together to end racism.

I think the message of the song is the answer to stop racism in America. People on both sides need to stop blaming the other, and everyone needs to come together as a group. If each side feels attacked by the other then there will never be progress.