Claudia Rankines Citizen: An American Lyric, uses poetry, personal narrative,

and visualizations to throw modern day racism in the readers face. There is no delicate
tip-toeing around the subject of race in Citizen: Rankine shows us that racism is still
here, still evident, and still blatantly wrong in the twenty-first century. Generation Y likes
to pride itself on inclusivity: We arent our parents, We accept everyone. But Rankine
challenges this generation, making clear that racism is still as prominent and still as
degrading as it was in the 1950s. Rankine, through her unique writing style, depicts the
micro-aggressive racism that has become the twenty-first century norm, and creates a
dialogue that forces the reader to ask themselves, Is this me?
Today, there are few Americans who will admit to being racist. In Tuen van Dijks
Discourse and the Denial of Racism van Dijk states that most white speakers
individually resent being perceived as racists because of the fact that general norms
and values, if not the law, prohibit (blatant) forms of ethnic prejudice and discrimination,
and many if not most white group members are both aware of such social constraints
and, up to a point, even share and acknowledge them (van Dijk 1992). Since white
people generally deny being labelled as racist, their racism has instead been converted
into micro-aggressive jabs at minorities or denials of being racist in general. When a
white person is called racist, the denial of their racism is often mirrored back to their
offender. van Dijk states that, the person who accuses the other as racist is in turn

accused of inverted racism against whites, as oversensitive and exaggerating, as

intolerant and generally as seeing racism where there is none (van Dijk 1992). Given
this, white people are the ones playing the victim when they are the ones being racist.
In summation, van Dijk explains that accusations of racism tend to be seen as more
serious social infractions than racist attitudes or actions themselves because they
disrupt in-group solidarity and smooth in-group encounters (van Dijk 1992).
Delia Douglas defines the idea of new racism in her essay Venus, Serena, and
the Inconspicuous Consumption of Blackness: A Commentary on Surveillance, Race
Talk, and New Racism(s) as the racial antipathy increasingly conveyed through
expression of subtle and understated racial discourses that allow racism to hide in plain
sight (Douglas 130, 2012). Claudia Rankine shares many personal experiences with
this new racism in Citizen. Rankine recounts a specific micro-aggression in a
childhood memory where a white classmate who had cheated off of her tests told
Rankine she had features more like a white person (Rankine 5, 2014). This type of
racism Rankine experienced is the perfect example of Douglass hiding in plain site
racism and van Dijks idea of white people seeing this remark as racism where there is
none.
Rankine points out in Citizen this idea of racism being almost second nature in
todays society. Racism has become so ingrained in day-to-day conversation that white

people have become inherently desensitized to their racist remarks. Rankines recount
of her and her coworkers same sabbatical schedule illustrates this desensitization when
her coworker says that Rankine is always on sabbatical (Rankine 47, 2014). Why is it
that while Rankine and her coworker are both scholars and both respected professors
that Rankine is the one viewed as always being on sabbatical? This association of
black people and the workplace in negative connotation goes to show this idea of
second-natured racism. Douglas explains this as the form and content of
contemporary racism(s) are subtle and covert, in that racialized discrimination and
animosity are embedded in our everyday practices, attitudes, identifications, social
relations, and organizations (Douglas 128, 2012). Perhaps it wasnt just that Rankines
coworker was oblivious of their racist remarks, but afraid that their white privilege was
being threatened by a black woman. Douglas describes this idea as white fright, which
Douglas defines as a defensive posture taken on by whites who fear that their
traditionally all-White spaces are being overrun by people of color (Douglas 130,
2012).
One of Rankines most evident examples of white people feeling overrun by
people of color is Serena Williams challenging white expectations and norms in the
world of professional tennis. Serena and Venus Williams were a clearly evident threat to
the world of tennis. The arrival of two talented Black American female teenagers from

the unlikely city of Compton, California, a location readily understood as site of urban
decay and gang violence, profoundly disrupted the White racial order (in addition to the
class and geographic boundaries) of the Womens Tennis Association (Douglas 2012).
Not only did the Williams sisters bring color to the game of tennis, but they also brought
a background not normally affiliated with tennis. Tennis had been seen as an elite sport
played by business tycoons and country club goers, the fact that Serena Williams was
from a place not recognized by white society.