Racism, according to Webster’s dictionary, is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. From history, we know that racism from white Europeans towards people of African descent originated back to the TransAtlantic slave trade. The savage slave trade in Western Africa forcefully displaced millions of people while taking their identity. This creation of slavery in America produced a shockwave that we still are affected by today. Hundreds of years later, black Americans are told they are part of citizenship within the United States. This so called citizenship originated on slavery, and continues to be affected by racism and injustice. Claudia Rankine in her book Citizen: An American Lyric addresses instances of racism and injustice black people face to this day. In these powerful poems and stories, the true meaning of being a black citizen in America is revealed. She concludes Citizen by saying, “Yes, come on. Let it go. Move on” reflecting on a common theme along this book. The constant physical and psychological oppressions caused by white America has created submissiveness within the black community. What battles are worth fighting are daily thoughts flowing within their minds. Through Rankine’s stories I will evaluate the hypocritical usage of citizenship within American and the subconscious submissiveness black Americans have developed. 

History seems to repeat itself when it comes to how black people are treated in America. The response to the end of slavery in 1865 was the beginning of Jim Crow laws in 1877, a little more than ten years later. The creation of segregation because of these Jim Crow developed a separate but equal mentality for white America. Through the civil rights movement, those who were responsible for upholding this separate but equal standard were the police force. Not even a hundred years ago, we saw how predominantly white police officers over used their authority on black Americans. Blacks were beaten and abused while being wrongfully convicted and sentenced for crimes. Today, we still see police officers misusing their authority and profiling black Americans. Rankine describes to us a story named “Stop-and-Frisk” explaining a situation that wouldn’t be uncommon for a black American:

“In a landscape drawn from an ocean bed, you can’t drive yourself sane- so angry you are crying. You can’t drive yourself sane. This motion wears a guy out. Our motion is wearing you out and still you are not that guy. Then flashes, a siren, stretched-out roar- and you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description. Get on the ground. Get on the ground now. I must have been speeding. No, you weren’t speeding. I wasn’t speeding? You didn’t do anything wrong. Then why are you pulling me over? Put your hands where they can be seen. Put your hands in the air. Put your hands up. Then you are stretched out on the hood. Then cuffed. Get on the ground now”(106). 

Rankine creates a vivid picture for us of a topic that unfortunately has been too common recently. An innocent black man has been pulled over because being a black man fits the profile of being suspicious. She starts off with comparing society as “a landscape drawn for an ocean bed” reflecting how reality for black people isn’t idea. Rankine then repeats the words “you can’t drive yourself sane” because the moment the black man acts out of character, everything turns downhill. But what is the character he should mimic? Should he be a yes man, and allow the injustice to occur or should he retaliate? The instant thought of keeping calm hints this isn’t his first wrongful interaction with authority. He already shows traits of asphyxia being instilled within him. Shermaine Jones in I Can’t Breath states, “affective asphyxia results from the expectation that black people must choke down the rage, fear, grief, and other emotions that arise when confronted with racism or racial microaggressions”( 38). This black man has already been programmed to keep calm even in the instance of racial profiling. He can’t realistically respond to every wrongful situation because it “wears a guy out.” She goes on to express the dialogue between the officer and the black man. He asks the reason for him being unlawfully pulled over, and the officer can’t give a justifiable explanation. Questions quickly lead to discomfort for the white officer, and the black man is now being handcuffed. Is this how a citizen should be treated by those chosen to protect them? Or instead, are police officers in charge of protecting white America, the superior group of the country? Rankine reveals that citizenship doesn’t relate to all of America’s citizens. Black Americans are not treated equal to White Americans when it comes to justice. Social advocacy movements such as Black Lives Matter seek to improve police injustice and brutality, but in result other movements are created to silence to the black community. Olivia Djawoto in Poetry in the Post-Truth Era explains, “we see more recently in the All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter counter-movements that arose in response to the Black Lives Matter campaign” In a sense of citizenship, fellow citizens should support and uplift those who are being treated unethically by police officers. Instead we see some white groups attempting to put down a minority group that is already down. 

The profiling trend, or a black man fitting the description of danger isn’t only associated along the police. Your everyday middle class white Americans are the ones who have the most day to day interactions with black Americans. During these interactions, not all, but a good amount of white Americans already have a predetermined feeling towards their black counterparts. A big reason for this is stereotyping and generalizing most black people to be the same. In a different passage by Rankine, we learn how discomfort and profiling leads to unnecessary situations:

“You and your partner go to see the film The House We Live In. You ask a friend to pick up your child from school. On your way home your phone rings. Your neighbor tells you he is standing in his window watching a menacing black guy casing both your homes. The guy is walking back and forth talking to himself and seems disturbed. You tell your neighbor that your friend, whom he has met, is babysitting. He says, no, it’s not him. He’s met your friend and this isn’t that nice young man. Anyway, he wants you to know, he’s called the police”(15).

A family friend had provided a favor in watching their child and home. Who would imagine that doing a favor for someone of another skin color could create trouble. To start off, a black man’s presence within a white neighborhood can already cause discomfort for white Americans. Being uncomfortable is the main motive for white Americans taking action towards black Americans. Moreover, it is night and black people walking around after dark immediately raised red flags. Rankine uses specific words such as “menacing” and “disturbed” when describing the black man. The neighbor made judgements based on what she felt would be most suitable for a black man in this situation. If it was a white person, maybe they were lost or searching for something. Since it is a black man sticking out in a white neighborhood, he must be up to no good. A second point worth noting is how the neighbor refuses to believe the man is the “nice young man” they’ve once met. The person must have a personable interaction to have trust that a random black person could actually be a solid individual. A true American citizen doesn’t have to explain themselves in order for others to believe they are good people. Furthermore, a white American wouldn’t have got the police called on them for the simple act of being outside. Everyone has the freedom to go wherever they choose, as long as they aren’t trespassing. In this case, the black man had full permission to be there by one family, but one family doesn’t represent the comfort of all white America.

Violence committed by whites on blacks has been a repetitive theme throughout history. Similarly to police officers getting away with physical abuse, ordinary citizens are also excused from their crimes. The frequent injustice in these situations result in black Americans not even seeking help anymore. In most times, the white attacker would at most get a slap on the wrist. Rankine describes for us another situation where white people overstep their power. In this story named “Jenna Six” a black boy was attacked at a high school party: 

“Boys will be boys feeling their capacity heaving butting heads righting their wrongs in the violence of aggravated adolescence charging forward in their way experiencing the position of positioning which is a position for only one kind of boy face it know it for the other boy for the other boys the fists the feet criminalized already are weapons spreading exploding the landscape and then the litigious hitting back is life imprisoned”(101).

This attack was premeditated because at the beginning of the story, the boys walked across a grass field while preparing a noose for later. A noose is a rope tied in a certain knot used in history for lynching. At this moment, highschool boys, probably not even adults yet, were willing to end the life of a classmate. There has to be an extensive amount of hatred for wanting to end another life as a child. This passage is powerful due to how the criminals are described after the incident. Rankine starts off by saying “boys will be boys” as if the actions were so simple. Using subtle language in response to such a horrific act doesn’t seem normal. The reason she uses this strategy is because to white America, there isn’t anything wrong with it. It’s normal for white people to inflict pain and physical harm to lesser black individuals. Shermaine Jones comments, “specifically, white respondents assume that black people experience less pain than whites given the same pain stimuli or injury”(42). Rankine ends the passage by stating “then the litigious hitting back is life imprisoned.” It has been programmed into the young black boys brain that if he retaliates, there’s a strong possibility the situation will end worse. This is another key example of the submissive traits black Americans have adopted. If someone is being attacked by a group of people, it is common sense to defend yourself. In the case of black Americans, the decisions of choosing your battles and fearing consequences prevents the community from constantly fighting back. This isn’t the life of a true citizen, citizenship instills positivity not death and destruction.

In conclusion, Rankine in a simple manner shows the complexities of tribulations black Americans face to this day. We are all living in a Post-Truth era where most of America fails to understand that racism still occurs. Black Americans are constantly faced with racism and microaggressions that causes a great deal of fatigue. It’s difficult for this oppressed group of people to time after time endure physiological and mental attacks. Shermaine Jones compares the black community to “an engine that is revved nonstop”(41). How can they possibly respond to every situation faced with? Emotional suffocation is just as deadly as physical suffocation, and for black America they deal with both. This contradicts the meaning of what being a citizen is. If black people are considered citizens, then they are second class citizens. The word is thrown around only to satisfy the conscious of white America. There is no togetherness within our nation, only hate and divide caused by the majority. Until the justice system is fixed, or racism dissapears and profiling gets washed away, black America will continue to face the oppressions they’ve faced since the start of slavery.