Racism And Inequality In Claudia Rankine's Citizen

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Claudia Rankine’s Citizen is a story about stories, about the repetition of American racism and the structures of inequality that are upheld in grand, sweeping gestures but also in smaller, less noticeable ways that build and accumulate. Within this exploration and exasperation exists a central question: what does it mean to be a citizen? This paper will attempt to answer said question, especially in regards to the following brief quotation from page 151 of the text: “Yes, and this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on.” This sixteen word segment regarding the death of Trayvon Martin marks the only place in the text where the word citizen is used. The single use of ‘citizen’ gives this section special significance, especially …show more content…

Being a citizen in America is not a celebration of patriotism, but instead the mantra Rankine recites: “Come on. Let it go. Move on.” This syncopated, lilting order blurs the line between internal and external voices, giving the words a double meaning. It is unclear if the narrator is telling herself to move on, or if someone else is pushing her into silence. Either way, it is a forced conformation to societal expectations. If the narrator is pushing herself to move on, the lines become tragic, with the narrator shunting her own mourning over Trayvon Martin to the side in favor of focusing on how to be the type of citizen America wants black people to be. The narrator cannot even allow herself to properly feel for fear of more death. Safety is not implied, and moving on is the only thing left to do. From an external viewpoint, with the lines are creating pressure on the narrator from an outside force, the lines become stifling, suffocating. Mourning does not make a citizen, and neither does protesting injustice. Instead, the only response to citizenship is the hollow repetition of “Come on. Let it go. Move on.” Earlier in this paper, I stated the question the text asks as “What does it mean to be a citizen in America?” This is not the true question. Citizen’s true question holds the severity and weight of “What does it mean to be a black citizen in America?” Rankine does not provide a universal answer, but then again, no citizen’s experience is universal. Instead, she defines citizenship only by what society dictates minorities must do after atrocities are

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