Her Body

Claudia Rankine displays a powerful and relevant work of artistic literature in her American lyric, Citizen. She illustrates not only the history of race in America, but how it's presence affects people in modern society as well. She did not write it to try and change people's mind or voice her own opinion, but to give a diverse view to the different roles racism continues play. One part of her story that had really stuck out to me was her take on Serena Williams in the professional tennis world. The line that I think summarizes everything Rankine was trying to articulate was, "...her body, trapped in a racial imaginary, trapped in disbelief-code for being black in America..." This is very prominent because it shows how because Williams looks different than the accepted ideal of what a tennis player should look be, she is belittled and cheated by her peers and superiors. Even though her skill level matches and even beats most of her opponents, the "lily white" tennis world rejects the darker pigment of her skin. I believe most of the aversion stems from history and people's reluctance to change something they believe has been working, But when it comes to racism, change must be made in order to reach equality.