From Citizen Six Poem Analysis

Growing up as a hispanic woman in America has always been more difficult than I thought it was going to be. There were many times where I felt excluded, judged or like I am not as good as other people. Throughout my life this has always affected my happiness because it was never as easy as I wanted it to be. With that being said, many people that are also a different race also struggle with this problem and this affects their wellbeing as well. I came to realize what a struggle being a person of color is to other people as well after carefully reading a short story by Junot Diaz called “Wildwood” and a poem by Claudia Rankine called “From Citizen Six” where both of the characters were treated unfairly, and ran into issues on a daily basis because …show more content…
This poem related a lot to “Wildwood” because they both showed how hard it is to be the racial “other”. From citizen six talked about african americans being stereotyped into bad people more specifically, by cops. I found this poem compelling and decided to use it because it was written in a form that sounded serious and powerful. Rankine also did a wonderful job making it vivid. Rankine starts off by talking about her experience of getting pulled over. She describes it by saying she sees flashing lights and sirens then she states a powerful line that says “And you are not the guy and you still fit the description because there is only one guy always fitting the description” (Rankine Line 3). In other words, Rankine is saying that although she was not doing anything wrong, she still had to pay the consequences of being a stereotypical african american. This made Rankine upset and you can feel it in the poem’s tone. It affects her ability to be as happy because they can’t even have a peaceful drive home. Another part in the poem that proved how hard it is for Rankine to be a racial “other” was when she wrote “In a landscape drawn from an ocean bed, you can’t drive yourself sane so angry you can’t drive yourself sane” (Rankine Line 8) . What Rankine is saying here is that she 's so angry for always being a “criminal” that she said she can’t even feel at peace anymore. Overall, Rankine 's point is that not …show more content…
Everyone should have the right to be happy regardless of their race. It 's the fair, right thing to do and that is why it should matter. Also, if people cannot pursue full happiness, it can lead to self-destruction which can affect the rest of that person 's life. Racism will never be wiped, but one person can make a difference towards ending racism and making a positive impact on people 's