Citizen: An American Lyric

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Consider the history of race in American society. In which ways is systematic racism linked with the history of racism in the US?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider the broader theme of The Lie of “Post-Racial” America in the context of structural racism. Rankine’s text challenges the idea that the US is now a post-racial nation through examples of Microaggression that many people of color (i.e., “[B]lack bodies”) experience in their daily life. While Rankine’s text is neither an overview of the historical foundations of race nor history lesson of race relations in the US, she refers to several systems that perpetuate white nationalist power and oppression, such as the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow, and slavery. To ensure students understand these systems prior to reading, consider providing access to or reviewing the links below, which provide important historical and sociological entry points into the broader discussion of race in American society.

• This article from the National Museum of African American History & Culture provides an extensive overview of the construction of racial identity and inequity in history.