"Every day your mouth opens and receives the kiss the world offers, which seals you shut though you are feeling sick to your stomach about the beginning of the feeling that was born from understanding and now stumbles around in you- the go-along-to-get-along tongue pushing you tongue aside. Yes, and your mouth is full up and the feeling is still tottering-" (154)
This quote stood out to me in that it seems to get across the feelings that Rankine is trying to show with this book. When she writes, "sick to your stomach about the beginning of the feeling that was born from understanding," certainly that is the feeling that any one who has been discriminated against feels when they first learn of discrimination. That feeling is what Rankine is trying to point out in this book. It shows that when black people begin to see the world in all of its harshness it hurts. Rankine puts it far more poetically than I can though, of course.
The second half of the quote about the pushy tongue is also very deep. Rankine is getting at the fact that black people are forced to swallow their feelings just to get along with people who are different from them. They have to settle for things they disagree with and Rankine is showing how terrible that feeling is. There are two different tongues fighting for power because as you go about in the world and learn of its inequalities you have to say what you can to get by.
I like that you pointed out the second half of the quote. I think that it is especially important to realize that minorities were forced to silence their voices.
ReplyDeleteEven when people do speak out, they are often discriminated against for a variety of reasons. For example, when Serena Williams (who already had a history of refs discriminating against her) exploded at a ref who may or may not have deserved it, she was fined, put on probation, and had slander thrown at her. But no one seems to pay attention to the fact that she has been discriminated against and couldn't stop herself from speaking against it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super powerful quote, and I totally agree with your interpretation of it. Rankine does an incredible job of illustrating the compromises that Black men and women have to make regarding their identity. Too often, biased expectations and stereotypes shape how minorities are allowed to express themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the tragicness of black children discovering there is discrimination towards them. I could never imagine what that might feel like. Would it be heartbreaking? Or would it be something that children are taught to accept?
ReplyDeleteRankine really shows how terrible it is to have to agree with something that is forced upon you. As a reader, you could really see the frustration build up as several bad calls were made against Serena over a couple years. When Serena yelled at a referee, she was really struggling with having to agree with something she didn't see the same way.
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