“What feels more than a feeling?”: Irony and Feelings throughout Citizen by Claudia Rankine 

When we hear the word “citizen” we often assume that citizens come from the same place, therefore, the same rules apply to all citizens. Also, it is common to believe that all citizens of a given place should be treated equally. Rankine proves that citizens are frequently treated unfairly in comparison to each other based on race throughout the lyric with the use of examples. One example is when Rankine refers to Trayvon Martin. Rankine brings up Martin because he was killed for nothing but being a law-abiding citizen. Rankine says, “Trayvon Martin’s name sounds from the car radio a dozen times each half hour. You pull your love back into the seat because though no one seems to be chasing you, the justice system has other plans” (Rankine 151). This example is ironic because one of the reasons why the justice system was created was to protect the innocent. Trayvon Martin was innocent and the justice system had other plans for him because he was an African American citizen. Citizens are aware that our justice system has failed multiple times. 

The title of the book is very broad. You have to read through Rankine’s examples throughout the lyric to understand that she is talking about a specific group of citizens. Rankine focuses on African American citizens. Rankine says, “Even as your own weight insists you are here, fighting off the weight of nonexistence” (Rankine 139). This quote relates to the feelings of African American citizens. More specifically, African American citizens know that they are considered to be citizens but instances keep happening that set them aside from everyone else. Racism makes African American citizens feel like they stand out. One of Rankine’s goals is to prove to her readers that there are extreme disadvantages that African American citizens face simply due to their race. One piece of artwork that Rankine proves this through is Wangechi Mutu’s Sleeping Heads. The artwork shows a figure that appears to be a human head with a human hand around the neck. The hand around the neck symbolizes the person being choked. There also appears to be blood coming out of the person’s eye. These details in the artwork are used to show the pain that African American citizens faced when dealing with racism. The artwork that Rankine includes in her lyric creates a stronger message than the message of words alone would create. 

One reason why Rankine talks so much about feelings is to identify what her true feelings are about instances of racism. For example, Rankine says, “Can feelings be a hazard, a warning sign, a disturbance, distaste, the disgrace? It’s not that (is it not that?) you are oversensitive or misunderstanding” (Rankine 152) to understand that she can use a feeling such as anger as a way to create a strong message about racism. Rankine’s feeling of anger helped her throughout her lyric by creating a strong argument filled with passion. Although feelings are used to enhance Rankine’s message, she also says, “What feels more than a feeling” (Rankine 152). An action could feel more than a feeling. Throughout the lyric actions are mentioned and feelings are the results of the actions. One of the most important quotes in the lyric is when Rankine says “Yes, and this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on.” (Rankine 152). This is an important idea because it relates to how African American citizens felt that they had to brush off racism and pretend that it didn’t hurt their feelings. Rankine wanted to eliminate this act of ignoring racism so she tried to make a difference through informing readers about instances of racism throughout her lyric.

Questions:

  1. Were there any other examples of irony throughout the lyric that stood out to you? 
  2. Is there anything that you think feels more than feeling? Why is it more important? 

8 thoughts on ““What feels more than a feeling?”: Irony and Feelings throughout Citizen by Claudia Rankine ”

  1. It’s interesting that you say, “The title of the book is very broad. You have to read through Rankine’s examples throughout the lyric to understand that she is talking about a specific group of citizens. Rankine focuses on African American citizens.” While that is true, we also talked in class about how there’s a black hoodie on the front cover. From what we can see, the hoodie is all torn up. As you mentioned Trayvon Martin, I just want to point out that before he was killed, he was walking down the street wearing a black hoodie. We discussed how it might be symbolic of the injustices that occur against African Americans despite the fact that they are equal citizens, which is the focus of the novel, and the fact that it is torn up indicates how racism and microaggressions tear down African Americans.

    What I find most ironic about the novel is Rankine’s writing itself. Her words are imperative and commanding, communicating to the readers through a very clear and urgent tone. However, each situation of the dehumanizing racism that African Americans experience that is described to us, Rankine seems almost passive. For example, she writes, “As usual, you drive straight through the moment with the expected backing off of what was previously said. It is not only that confrontation is headache-producing: it is also that you have a destination that doesn’t include acting like this moment isn’t inhabitable, hasn’t happened before, and the before isn’t part of the now as the night darkens and the time shortens between where we are and where we are going” (10). This quote suggests that little comments and microaggressions like these have happened all the time, and that there’s no point in speaking up about it because it’s “normal” and African Americans have grown accustomed to it, however this doesn’t mean that they’re okay with it. Therefore, her writing is ironic because by writing this novel, she IS speaking up against racism and microaggressions, but throughout the scenarios in the novel, she seemingly brushes them aside.

  2. I like the way that you started out your blog post with “When we hear the word “citizen” we often assume that citizens come from the same place, therefore, the same rules apply to all citizens.” When I think of the word citizen, I think of a large group of equal people as a whole. In reality, many groups in The United States are not equal. Rankine shows many ironic examples on how African Americans are treated poorly. “The new therapist specializes in trauma counseling. You have only ever spoken to her on the phone…Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (18) The patient, who is most likely black, is seeing a trauma therapist. The therapist making racial assumption is most likely adding more trauma to the patients life.

  3. I like how you started your blog with “When we hear the word “citizen” we often assume that citizens come from the same place, therefore, the same rules apply to all citizens.” This really makes you think about how the citizens in your town are treated and respected. There are many examples of irony in this book. Rankine writes, “Your neighbor tells you he is standing at his window watching a menacing black guy casing both your homes…Your neighbor has apologized to your friend and is now apologizing to you.” (Rankine, 15) This entire page shows how the neighbor assumed that this black guy, who was actually babysitting, was stalking around their houses and saw him as a potential threat. The last paragraph talks about the idea the friend had about the babysitter going in the back for phone calls. “Feeling somewhat responsible for the actions of your neighbor, you clumsily tell your friend that the next time he wants to talk in the backyard.” (Rankine, 15) This also shows how the friend, in a way, was trying to ‘hide him away.’ Great job! 🙂

  4. I found it very interesting with they way you started in your blog post. When I think of a citizen, I think about someone who is granted all the rights that the country has to offer and equality to all. However, we see in the lyric that that is not the case and I really like how you pointed out that Rankine is “Talking about a certain group of citizens”. It think the message she is trying to convey in her lyric is that African Americans are not treated as citizens of this country. An example of irony that she shows in her lyric is when her friend was standing outside her house and her neighbor says “He is standing at his window watching a menacing black guy casing both your homes. The guy is walking back and forth talking to himself and seems disturbed”(15). This is ironic because the narrator tells him it is her friend and the neighbor does not believe her and calls the police anyways, however it turns out that it was her friend and he just stereotyped an African American. Your blog was so good and I really enjoyed reading it, good job!!

  5. On page 49, the narrator remarks, “You begin to understand yourself as rendered hypervisible in the face of such language acts. Language that feels hurtful is intended to exploit all the ways that you are present” (Rankine, 49). My interpretation of this quote is thus: Language can simultaneously render you visible and invisible, and this feels awful. In light of recent events (such as the government legally defining sex), this idea stands out to me. To understand this quote better, I am drawing on the government’s recent action as an example. It can be argued that by defining sex, the government is drawing attention to trans individuals whilst denying their existence. The idea that words can render you both visible and invisible is not quite irony, but it is very close to it.
    In the first paragraph, you say, “Rankine proves that citizens are frequently treated unfairly in comparison to each other based on race.” To bring this back to the idea of hypervisibility and invisibility, I will be using the example of SAT scores. (Link to an article on this issue: https://www.brookings.edu/research/race-gaps-in-sat-scores-highlight-inequality-and-hinder-upward-mobility/ ) For those who don’t know, there is a substantial score gap between Asain+White students and Black+Latino students, with White and Asain students outperforming their peers. There are many factors that affect this gap, but I will not be going into them in this comment (view the article for more info). The reason I brought this up is that I have never heard this talked about (in mainstream media or otherwise) until today, when I happened across an article outlining this gap (it was not the same article that I shared here). Usually, when statistics such as this are brought up, they are used to push an agenda. Unfortunately, the best way to sway the masses is to omit information, or to not give proper context. In this way, you render a marginalized group both visible and invisible by representing them inaccurately. This not-irony is seen from day to day, and I think that it is important that we recognize it.

  6. To begin, I really like how you defined the word “citizen” and how you went into detail on how citizens are not treated fairly everywhere. I love how you said to the reader that Rankine is “talking about a certain group of citizens”, because it shows how people are judged and treated poorly because of their skin and gender. I also liked your example of irony, when you talked about how it is ironic when the justice system is hurting innocent people. Another example of irony that I found was when Rankine stated, “Feeling somewhat responsible for the actions of your neighbor, you clumsily tell your friend that the next time he wants to talk in the backyard.” (15). This whole segment is about how your neighbor sees a African American man outside your house and calls you, worried. This man turns out to be your friend and she apologizes to you, however you still tell your friend that the next time he wants to talk, he should go through the backyard.

  7. ‘Citizen’ is defined as, “A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized,” according to dictionary.com. When you wrote, “When we hear the word “citizen” we often assume that citizens come from the same place, therefore, the same rules apply to all citizens,” I thought of the significance of this lyric being called “Citizen”. To me it is the fact that in some circumstances in the lyric, there are examples of people’s rights being denied them. The basic right of being human and being alive is ripped from the lives of two black men who are convienently missing from the picture on page 91.
    “My brother is completed by sky. The sky is his silence. Eventually, he says, it is raining. It is raining down. It was raining. It stopped raining. It is raining down. He won’t hang up. He’s there, he’s there but he’s hung up though he is there. Good-bye, I say. I break the good-bye. I say good-bye before anyone can hang up, don’t hang up. Wait with me. Wait with me though the waiting might be the call of good-byes” (Rankine 90). While reading this quote I pictured the hanging of her brother instead of an actual phone call. Is that on purpose? Or is this a creative way of letting the reader’s mind explore the possibilities of the situation?
    I enjoyed your blog post and your analysis of emotions. Great job 🙂

  8. Amanda,
    I want to start out by acknowledging the title. Most and foremost, I like this title because you put clear thought into it and used the examples in class we were taught to base titles off. As you begin your introduction, I really like how you thoughtfully introduced the example of Trayvon Martin. The way you explained it gave great insight on the situation for people who may not know what had happened. When you say, “…the justice system was created to protect the innocent” it really stood to my attention because it a heartbreaking thing to think at times. Trayvon was a young and innocent kid who did no wrong but got shot for just being who he was. The concept of the justice system you talk about is nothing but informing and I really liked reading it. To answer the question of other examples of irony in Citizen, in class we examined an image in it. The image on page 91 depicts all white people, gathered around a tree and above them is just pure blackness. The blackness was something that was edited in because originally there were 3 hanging bodies there. In my opinion, this picture shows irony because in order to change the tone or expression of the photo, someone had to edit out the lynched bodies. The picture without the bodies shows the viewer that nothing is wrong and there is no anger to be had but once you see the original, everything about the photo changes. Rankine deliberately used this edited image because she is trying to give a message about the absurdness of it. Overall, I really liked your post and what you had to say about irony and feelings produced while reading Claudia Rankine’s Citizen.

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