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1-Page Summary of Citizen
Overview
The book has seven poetic sections, each with its own theme and tone. Although few of the poems have formal titles, they are all consistent in their themes and structure.
The author focuses on microaggressions in the first section. Microagressions are subtle, everyday insults directed toward people of color. They’re often unintentional and can be very hard to address because they’re so common. The second section focuses on a YouTube character named Hennessy Youngman and several racially charged incidents involving Serena Williams’ career. It also discusses how language is sometimes used as a racial weapon, even when it’s not intended that way. In the third section, Rankine talks about sighs turning into aches, which represent her feelings about race relations today. She also discusses memory and an incident she witnessed at a tennis match where everyone was silent instead of cheering for their favorite player like usual. Section IV explores the abstract nature of language, using examples from history such as slavery or apartheid in South Africa. Section V examines different notions of self-identity through more microaggressions, while Section VI continues discussing microaggressions with scripts for “situation videos” based on real events such as Hurricane Katrina, Trayvon Martin ‘ s death, James Craig Anderson ‘ s murder, Jena Six, Stop and frisk policies in New York City (and other cities), Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final game between France and Italy (due to alleged racist remarks by Materazzi), riots that broke out following Mark Duggan’s death in England in 2011, Barack Obama saying “My brother is an African American” during his presidential inauguration speech instead of “African-American”, etcetera. This section ends with Rankine writing about finding a seat on public transportation without being harassed due to one’s skin color (which happens too often). The final section reflects upon themes related to race/racism within society: body image/appearance issues; cultural appropriation; blackface minstrel shows ; police brutality against blacks ; white privilege; etcetera
Rankine does not offer solutions but rather allows readers space to reflect upon these problems themselves.”
Section I
In the beginning of this poem, Rankine asks you to recall a time when you felt absolutely nothing. It’s an image that lingers in your mind because it is so powerful and emotionally evocative. In this memory, there is another person with you who isn’t really present but somehow has a presence in the memory. This person doesn’t have much significance in your life now, but at one point she was quite important to you. She looks over your shoulder while you cheat on a test—you remember Sister Evelyn not knowing about this cheating arrangement—and then something appears on the page: it’s a picture of Jim Crow Road with a stop sign labeled ‘Jim Crow Rd.’
In the past, you remember a time when someone called you by another name. This memory leads to other memories of conversations that were similar in nature. The conversation also makes you think about things like “yes” and “but.” Yes is good because it’s open-ended and allows for more opportunities. But can be bad because it closes off possibilities that may have otherwise been available. You smell good again, just as you did in Catholic school.
It’s raining outside and the leaves on the trees are more vibrant because of it. It’s a moment like any other, but we categorize such moments by who said them or how they were said. For example, an employer may say that he had to hire “a person of color when there are so many great writers out there.” We ask ourselves why this person feels comfortable saying this in front of us, as well as what physiological costs come from John Henryism–for people exposed to stresses stemming from racism.
