The Exhibition of White Privilege in the Book Citizen

Privilege is very peculiar. Whoever does not have it, can see it in others; however, the ones who do have it are often blind to it. Claudia Rankine talks a lot about privilege, especially “white privilege” in her lyric, Citizen, in which she writes and describes many scenarios that a Black person can experience in the United States–things like microaggressions and sometimes even casual racism. White Americans’ unacknowledgement of their clear privilege in Citizen is exhibited through their favor towards their own race and indirectly considering Black people as “outsiders”, as well as their silence and the way they essentially ignore Black Americans, causing a sense of invisibility.

Claudia Rankine shows white people making microaggressions because of the preference they have towards their own race and ultimately see Black people as “outsiders”. Rankine introduces the scene by quoting an unknown man, presumably the speaker’s colleague: “[H]e tells you his dean is making him hire a person of color when there are so many great writers out there” (Rankine, 10). This man clearly has a preference for white Americans and their work rather than Black Americans’ work. His ignorance is caused by his privilege and bias, judging by race when it is not even related to the topic. Some of these white people also feel unsafe around Black Americans, although they’re not really threatened, which references a common microaggression towards Black people in the form of assumption that they are “dangerous”, though they have done nothing to appear so. In a scene, the speaker, who has an “elite status” on an airline is seen as a “danger” to the mother and daughter whose seats are next to the speaker: “The mother’s response is barely audible––I see, she says. I’ll sit in the middle” (12). The mother in this scenario is trying to protect her daughter from what she sees a threat, whereas in reality, the speaker is incredibly successful, as they have traveled all over the world. Microaggressions and stereotypes that are inflicted upon Black Americans make people judge them for what they’re not. The speaker in this situation was very successful, however, they are deemed as dangerous, which is unfair. White people’s ignorance towards Black Americans is biased, which causes the current discrimination towards Black Americans to not be acknowledged.

White Americans also cause Black Americans to feel truly invisible, whether they mean it or not. Rankine clearly demonstrates that sense of invisibility in one of her scenarios in Section V, which takes place in a workplace: “When a woman you work with calls you by the name of another woman you work with” (43). The woman, presumably white, could not differentiate between both of the Black women, which shows that Black people often get grouped together, thus taking away each person’s autonomy and the idea of “self”. This scene also shows how white people take the blame off themselves and put it onto Black people: “Apparently your own invisibility is the real problem causing her confusion.” When the speaker says this, she tells the reader that the woman seems like she is trying to defend herself by claiming that it wasn’t her fault and instead excusing herself by saying it’s because they both look alike and thus, clearly demonstrating that a lot of white Americans have no sense of accountability when it comes to making mistakes or microaggressions. As for taking place in a workspace, Rankine illustrates the possibility of incidents such as this happening anywhere, even in a place that is as professional as a place of work. Rankine plays out another scenario, this time taking place at a store that the speaker has visited: “You want her to say something—both as witness and as a friend. She is not you; her silence says so” (54). Even though they’re friends, the non-Black woman does not say or do anything to defend the speaker. It is unclear whether she does not see anything wrong with the situation or she just doesn’t feel like causing a scene, but either way, it shows the ignorance that privilege offers to white Americans. When the speaker’s friend blatantly ignores her friend’s hurt, it would make anyone feel invisible. This ignorance, in both scenarios, shows that white Americans tend to make Black Americans feel invisible due to ignorance that comes from nothing other than the privilege that they have.

Claudia Rankine uses multiple scenarios to show the causal racism and many microaggressions that Black people in America face, and one can see this happening in professional places like workspaces, which is a place where respect should be offered and received; instead, many Black peoples’ autonomy is ignored. The privilege that these white Americans have causes them to be ignorant to the problems that Black Americans face, and in turn, may say or do things that are offensive without realizing. On page 55 of the text, the speaker’s friend tells her that “[she has] to learn not to absorb the world,” after a scenario where a cashier asks her if her card will work or not. This furthers the claim that white people ignore the discrimination that they cause and don’t try to change either. White Americans are blind to the privilege that they carry, which influences them to be more ignorant and not realize the microaggressions they make without realizing.