Laughter Is (Not) The Best Medicine

Throughout the lyric Citizen, the speaker brings up many examples of racism that she has faced throughout her life, and how she is trying to cope with these situations. In the final section of Citizen, a quote that stood out was, “Yes, and this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on.” (Rankine 151). This quote stood out because it relates to the speaker’s message throughout. The fact that she is a woman of color defines who she is in society to many others. She often questions this throughout the book, yet she is still treated as less than her white peers. This is tiring, and she begins to stop caring about this treatment. When she hears a racist remark instead of instantly trying to question the reality of the statement, she says that, “what happens to you doesn’t belong to you, only half concerns you” (Rankine 141). This shows some of the speaker’s defeat. She recognizes here that who she is as a citizen cannot be changed easily. She still cares about this mistreatment, but begins to realize that this is just who she is as a citizen and loses motivation to seek change.

A coping mechanism that the speaker uses to deal with this reality is humor. The speaker is able to laugh with her friends over many situations where she is treated unfairly. For example, when she pays for dinner the waitress gives the debit card back to her white friend. Instead of reacting poorly,  “you laugh and ask what else her privilege gets her? Oh, my perfect life, she answers. Then you both are laughing so hard, everyone in the restaurant smiles” (Rankine 148). This shows how she laughs off white privilege and the microaggressions that she faces in society. It is ironic that the rest of the restaurant smiles at the girls, because they are likely guilty of similar behaviors as the waitress.

Laughter also has a negative impact on the speaker. When she does choose to act out against racist behaviors, she is seen as a joke. She feels upset because when she chooses to call out a microaggression, “everyone you ask is laughing that kind of close-the-gap laughter: all the ha-ha’s wanting uninterrupted views. Don’t be ridiculous. None of the other black friends feel the same way and how you feel is how you feel even if what you perceive isn’t tied to what is…” (Rankine 152). Those laughing at her will accept no views but their own, and laugh in her face when they have no idea how the statement may have impacted her. They compare her reaction to those f all of her friends, regardless of the fact that everyone has different experiences.

This is another theme throughout. African Americans are grouped together as being the same in every aspect, even how they look. The speaker struggles with this, as she feels as though she is overreacting to a situation simply because her friends were not upset. This is another example of a microaggression towards the speaker, as all individuals have different experiences that will draw different reactions to the comment. This laughter shows how people believe that blacks have a certain role as a citizen. For the group that was laughing at her, she was a target for their jokes, and was expected not to react to them in a negative way, but to simply laugh along. She feels conflicted as of how to react, since others were not bothered. When trying to ensure that this was not an overreaction on her part, she says that “It’s not that (is it not that?) you are oversensitive or misunderstanding” (Rankine 152). This shows how she is confident that her reaction is normal, but due to her widely accepted “role” as a citizen, even she begins to question herself.

  1. What other coping mechanisms have you noticed the speaker using to deal with racism in society?
  2. What are some other examples of white privilege in the lyric?

7 thoughts on “Laughter Is (Not) The Best Medicine”

  1. I like how you reflected around laughter being her coping mechanism, I hadn’t noticed that she uses a coping mechanism besides keeping her silence.
    At the end of the last part, the narrator says “I was expected on court, I grabbed my racket” which brings Serena back to tour attention. Rankine then writes, “Did you win?”… “It wasn’t a match. It was a lesson.” (Rankine 159). This is an expression of how privilege never ceases to impact and obscure minorities lives. There is never any winning when it comes to racial/ethnic oppression and biases while being considered a racial minority.

  2. The title you chose for your blog post caught my eye and I thought it was actually ironic. You mentioned how laughter is not the best medicine and yet gave examples of how the narrator’s main coping mechanism is humor. I do agree that humor is one of the coping mechanisms that the narrator uses but I think it’s more of an “exhausting” laugh that the narrator portrays. As we see in a majority of the scenarios throughout the book, the racism the narrator experiences definitely catches her off guard every time, but it seems as if she almost expects it everywhere she goes. This shows us that she is emotionally tired of everything she has been put through all throughout her life but every single day is a wake up call of how our society treats the people who are supposed to be treated like the rest of the citizens.

  3. You identified the different stages of the narrators way to deal with micro-aggressions throughout the book. In the beginning, the narrator feels the need to defend herself, and call out the aggressor. However, as it seems like no one else has even noticed the aggression, she falls silent as she does not know what to say or do, or what will even happen if she does speak up. Near the end, the narrator becomes worn out from biting her tongue regardless of the aggression and begins a new coping mechanism which you pointed out, laughter. I saw this as almost her conforming to the status quo, and laughing it off as if it never happened. This shows the narrator almost giving up on any hope that these micro aggressions will cease and is trying to accept it like other African Americans who do not seem to notice the same micro aggressions that she does. This is most likely because they have already lost hope to stop these micro aggressions and just assume that it is the norm for them as citizens.

  4. I found the title you chose intriguing, and I feel like this is one of the main points that the speaker wants to be taken away from this reading. Laughter is used as a coping mechanism for societies micro aggressions and very well shown throughout the reading. The use of humor is less literal, but more of the narrator trying to show how minorities no longer have any desire to respond to micro aggressions. The narrator says “You smile dumbly at the world because you are still feeling…” (Ranking 156) then later goes on to say “I don’t know how to end what dosen’t have an ending.” (Ranking 158). By using humor to respond to micro aggressions the narrator is showing how minorities do still have feelings and are very aware and affected by these comments but they do not see anything positive coming out of responding any different. These types of humorous responses are more of a cry for help then a coping mechanism, the black woman in this text no longer have the push to respond to these comments because all that will come out of it is negativity on them. The narrator is using clever ways to bring out how these micro aggressions affect black woman’s lives and show the ways in witch these woman are forced into silence. Humor is used to continue to comment and call out these micro aggressions in a way that will not negatively affect these woman.

  5. I found the title you chose intriguing, and I feel like this is one of the main points that the speaker wants to be taken away from this reading. Laughter is used as a coping mechanism for societies micro aggressions and very well shown throughout the reading. The use of humor is less literal, but more of the narrator trying to show how minorities no longer have any desire to respond to micro aggressions. The narrator says “You smile dumbly at the world because you are still feeling…” (Ranking 156) then later goes on to say “I don’t know how to end what dosen’t have an ending.” (Ranking 158). By using humor to respond to micro aggressions the narrator is showing how minorities do still have feelings and are very aware and affected by these comments but they do not see anything positive coming out of responding any different. These types of humorous responses are more of a cry for help then a coping mechanism, the black woman in this text no longer have the push to respond to these comments because all that will come out of it is negativity on them. The narrator is using clever ways to bring out how these micro aggressions affect black woman’s lives and show the ways in witch these woman are forced into silence. Humor is used to continue to comment and call out these micro aggressions in a way that will not negatively affect these woman.

  6. A quote on page 153 supports your theme. Rankine states, “You smile dumbly at the world because you are still feeling if only the feeling could be known and this brings on the moment you recognize as desire”(153). Here, Rankine is supporting your blog post. She portrays that her coping mechanism is ignorance rather than hatred or bitterness in her earlier years. I personally think Rankine was not fully aware of the racism and oppression herself and others faced, but as she became older and expierenced more, her eyes opened to the microaggressions and oppression.

  7. What other coping mechanisms have you noticed the speaker using to deal with racism in society?
    The speaker not only coped through questions and repetition. To support this, on page 41 she reacts to someone calling her a “nappy headed ho”, and then she asks the questions, “What did you say? you ask, though you have heard every word…..What did you say? She doesn’t, perhaps physically cannot, repeat what she had just said”. She likes to question when she is shocked, and repetition when she’s in disbelief, and this happens many time through the book when she experiences moments like these. The narrator is constantly asking herself what she heard or what the person said, proving how she cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind could say that, especially when referring to another human being that we are all equal. I believe that citizen is the perfect depiction of exploiting hidden wrongs in society, and shows reactions of the oppressed persons when these wrongs are exposed.

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