Citizen (2014) by Claudia Rankine

New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century (#34)

Citizen (2014)

by Claudia Rankine

    This is another non-fiction title from the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.  I also think it is the ONLY book that is classified as poetry that made the list- which tells you all you need to know about the status of poetry in the literary world in the 21st century.   I listened to the Audiobook and it sounded more like a series of experiences in prose than poetry but maybe the poetry is clearer in print.  The Audiobook was under four hours making it one of the shortest books on the entire list.   My take away from this book was a better understanding of the concept of "microaggressions"- which as a cis white male working as an attorney in a rapidly diversifying legal system- I feel like I need to be aware of in order to be a good professional citizen.  As Rankine makes clear, the line between thoughtlessness and out-and-out racism can be hard to judge, and putting the hearer in that position makes their life difficult.  Citizen is a good example of a book that is useful to read so you don't have to work out your understanding of race based microaggressions with African Americans you know.

  A theme that has come up again and again in the non-fiction portion of the 100 Best 21st Century Books list is that even people who despise racism and consider themselves liberal and or "friends" of the African American people can be just as bad, if not worse than out and out racists.   Another theme from Citizen is that it can be exhausting to be a high-achieving African American who is deputized by the whites around them to be THE African American in all things concerning race.  People don't want to do that- it's exhausting and sucks the life force out of people.   A final theme that stood out is the daily compromises that high achieving minorities have to make simply to exist in certain environments while white people- particularly white men like myself can simply exist.  

  One example I was thinking about both in this book and in Heavy- where the author makes his way in academia, is the idea of the brilliant, disheveled defense attorney- something I've tried to embody in my professional life.  It is literally unthinkable that a latino or African American defense attorney could dress the way I do (carelessly) with little attention to grooming, and have it pass as normal and acceptable behavior.  Similarly for women of all races- the pressure that non white men have to maintain their appearance is ridiculous and terrible.