General Thoughts on Citizen

I'm going to open this by saying that I am not good with poetry. Since middle school started to make poetry more of a task than a fun way to express myself, I've turned away from the medium for better or worse. However, Citizen is a key exception. While I may not be able to grasp all the meaning that Claudia Rankine has carefully placed into the page (for example, when she talks about using I,) but I can understand more than enough. This book, collection of poems, whatever you want to call it really, is an experience. While I may have reactions to other books I've read, Citizen brings out a much deeper response. This book, more than any other has managed to give a clear idea of what it is like to be the "other."

When we talk about binaries, we usually split things into the "us," and the "other." The idea is that binaries exist because in order to define ourselves, we must first set a group as the "other" in order to more clearly define ourselves. Usually binaries will get stuck as they are because of an inability for one group to really empathize with, see through the eyes of, and recognize the other group. Depending on who you are, Citizen fixes that issue. I am white, and Citizen very quickly and very effectively gave me an idea of what it is like to be an African American surrounded by white people.

Something that I thought was interesting was how Rankine kept coming back to how the white backdrop emphasized color. (Maybe not those exact words, but something close to it.) It makes me think of my hometown and how in many places, its very uniform. We have a decent amount of diversity here, but there are still some problems, and as some of my older teachers said, you can know whether a class is AP or not just looking at the kids in the class. There are problems all through the US with racism, and before anyone says "Hey! You're wrong! Things are better than they were!" I just have to say that a lot of the issues have just become more invisible. People are (supposed to be) on their best behavior in public, being sure not to offend anyone, and so we aren't made aware of the problems. Additionally, how can you know if society has planted subconscious racist patterns? I think that the unconscious programmer is the greatest threat at the moment. It's a hard issue to fix, but books like Citizen can help to spread awareness and show people the do's and don'ts so that everyone can get along better. Hopefully eventually a resolution will be reached, and Citizen  is the book to get the ball rolling.