Reading:
Rankine, Citizen, 23-37
Study Questions:
1. How does the experience of reading the poems and thinking about the experiences described in Chapter I prepare you for the analytical prose in Chapter II?
2. How does Rankine interpret the career of Serena Williams within the framework of commodified anger”? In other words, why is it “bad sportsmanship” to call out racism? What is Rankine arguing here about the difficulty of speaking up with racism or microaggressions occur? How does this connect to the experiences she describes in Chapter I, for example when her neighbor calls the police because Rankine’s friend is on the phone on the sidewalk?
