Citizen: An American Lyric

Chapter 3 describes a series of ordinary moments in mundane settings—a grocery store, an office, etc.—that highlight the pervasive and subtle power of racial discrimination. These moments are presented in minute detail.

In the first moment, the subject is late for a date with a friend in California: “You are rushing to meet a friend in a distant neighborhood of Santa Monica” (41). After being just a little late, the friend, who is black, refers to the subject as a “nappy-headed ho” (41). The subject guesses as to why her friend might have called her this:

Maybe the content of her statement is irrelevant and she only means to signal the stereotype of ‘black people time’ by employing what she perceives to be ‘black people language.’ Maybe she is jealous of whoever kept you and wants to suggest you are nothing or everything to her. Maybe she wants to have a belated conversation about Don Imus and the women’s basketball team he insulted with this language (42).

Other scenes describe a white co-worker confusing the names of the only two black women who work in the office; a white woman exclaiming that “I didn’t know black women could get cancer” (45); a friend asking why a black woman always “looks so angry” (46); a co-worker asking a black colleague why black professors are “always on sabbatical,” despite the fact that everyone has the same sabbatical schedule (47); a real estate agent who awkwardly announces how comfortable she is around black people (51); a white cashier who questions if a black person’s credit card will work (54).