In the book Citizen, by Claudia Rankine, we see it opens up by Rankine recalling memories and stories of what her life was like growing up as a woman of color. She starts off by sharing a story about an experience in her classroom when she was at school. In class, a girl that she refers to as Mary Catherine sat behind her. Mary Catherine proceeds to tell her to lean to one side when taking the test so that she can copy off her. Mary Catherine than tells the girl “You smell really good and have features more like a white person.” (Rankine 5). At this point we learn that the girl she is cheating off of is a woman of color and that Mary Catherine shows her own racism towards her. This comment by Mary Catherine can make the girl feel like she is not pretty because she looks different and hurt her self-confidence. She than goes on to share about how her teacher, Sister Evelyn does not notice that Mary Catherine is cheating off her. This than makes her question how Sister Evelyn goes without noticing the cheating when it is very obvious. She considers the possibility that Sister Evelyn does not care about the cheating or does not actually see it but it still does not sit right with her. This encounter shows us that she feels invisible in a predominantly white school. It seems like Sister Evelyn does not acknowledge her presence making her feel like she is invisible to her.
Later on in the chapter, we hear a story about a young boy of color. The young boy was riding the subway with his mother when a white man ran into him knocking him to the floor. The white man continues with his day and walks away without giving any attention to the young boy. The mother grabs the man’s arm and insist that he apologizes to her son. “Yes, and you want it to stop, you want the child pushed to the ground to be seen, to be helped to his feet, to be brushed off by the person that did not see him, has never seen him, has perhaps never seen anyone who is not a reflection of himself” (Rankine 17). This quote shows us that people of color feel like they will not be seen or heard if they are not a reflection of a white man or women. This quote also goes to show us another example of a person of color feeling invisible when it comes to being around a predominantly white setting. Luckily this story had a happy ending with a group of men standing behind the mother of the boy “like newly found uncles and brothers.” (Rankine 17). Even though these men stood behind the mother and supported her it does not take away from the fact that this young boy felt invisible to this white man.
Rankine uses this memory and story to show the audience what people of color went through and still are going through. It shows the audience what it looks like to feel invisible because of your skin color. This has an impact on how a person sees their identity. When someone feels invisible it can destroy their self-esteem, self-confidence and devalue their self-worth.
Another thing that stood out to me that I found interesting was how Claudia Rankine decided to write her book Citizen in second person. I believe that writing in second person is a good way for the author to get their audience to feel like they are a part of the book and better understand the emotions of the characters. I will admit in the beginning I was a little confused but after I kept reading it started to make more sense to me. Another thing that also stood out to me was how Rankine used images in her book. On page 6 we see a picture of what looks like a suburban neighborhood with big white houses and well put together yards. Also, in the picture we see a sign on the adjacent street called Jim Crow Road. This stood out to be because the Jim Crow Laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the South.
After reading the first chapter of Citizen by Claudia Rankine, I believe she did an amazing job sharing her memories and stories in second person making her audience feel as if they were in the book. Based off the first chapter by discussion questions are:
- Do you think that the title Citizen has any correlation with feeling invisible?
- Why do you believe that Rankine wrote her book Citizen using second person?
- What are your thoughts on how Rankine uses images in the book Citizen?
Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: An American Lyric. Graywolf Press, 2014.
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