The first section of Citizen combines dozens of racist interactions into one cohesive chapter. Memories are told through a second-person point of view, inviting the reader to experience them firsthand instead of at a distance. As the chapter progresses, so does the strength of the negative feeling produced. In the very last story of the first section, the racist realization is shouted down on the narrator. Many of the interactions deal with a type of racism that is harder to detect in ways than outright derogatory slurs. Microaggressions. They exists within and without black communities, among people of color and people of privilege.
In the third section "What did you say?" is repeated. This section focuses on the addressability and our reactions to language that is used to address, both directly and indirectly. For the first time we see the narrator laugh and comment on these microaggressions. For instance, the narrator remarks that the manager's mistake was saying what he said aloud. The important thing to identify about this chapter is that the narrator recognizes his/her/their capacity to react. Microaggressions do not end at the microaggressive statement: the reaction is part of the aggression as well. If the subject stays quiet, the microaggressive statements will go unadvertised to the speaker. The difference between section one and section three is that section one trusts the reader to understand the injustices being performed. Whereas section three provides the much desired protests to the acts.
In the second sections lies a deep conflict. Where anger is justified, it should not be expected or commodified. The human form covered in the flower suit on page 33 shows that the skin can be hidden, and that art, can undo preconceived identity. No one can look at this body covered in flowers and assume anything about its 'historical self', because a flower body does not have a history. The black body on the other hand, has a deeply ingrained history from the moment he/she/they're born.
The end of the second sections leaves an open-ended question for all to ponder. What do we make of Wozniacki dressing up like Serena? Is it a playful imitation? Or is it racially charged, as we see by the stuffed bra and underwear? Are these attributes things we associate with black bodies, or Serena inparticularly?
I think it's interesting to note that even if Wozniacki's joke was 100% not racially motivated, actively or subconsciously, it would still be problematic. As the chapter establishes, the tennis world itself is often racist. Projecting the mockery of Serena to the audience is an open invitation for it to be taken as a racial joke, one that some tennis fans may laugh at.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you talked about the entire three parts of the novel. However, what really stood out to me and resonated was how you interpreted the picture of the flower body and how it does not have a history; however, the black body has an ingrained history in the body from the very second that he/she/they are born.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of how the three sections you mentioned interact with each other, and it is interesting to see how you view them as tying together. In regards to Wozniacki, I think that there was not meant to be hard feelings. Especially after knowing that her and Serena were good friends before and after the incident, I don't think Wozniacki meant any harm. However, it is the unconscious white privilege that inspired her. Because she's white, she didn't necessarily have to think about what she was doing, she just did it. And more importantly, there were no repercussions. If Serena had done a similar act, there would have been outbursts. The whiteness is built into Wozniacki, so she can get away with her actions.
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