Citizen Assertion

In Citizen part three, the central theme focuses on racism in what isn’t said versus what is directly said. Throughout the book, this is an ongoing theme. In parts one and two, Citizen brings racist comments against the narrator showing how language is used. For example, in part one, when the author approaches a house, a woman yells at her, the narrator characterizing it as “It was as if a wounded Doberman pinscher or a German Shepherd had gained the ability of speech (18).” This shows how words and tones hurt others, but in part three it has a different situation. “The real estate woman, who didn’t fathom she could have made an appointment to show her house to you, spends much of the walk-through telling your friend, repeatedly, how comfortable she feels around her. Neither you nor your friend bother to ask who is making her feel uncomfortable (51).” This situation implies that because of the authors race, she makes the real estate woman uncomfortable because of the negative stereotypes she has around black people. Although nobody was asking her if she felt uncomfortable, the real estate woman felt the need to keep ‘reassuring’ her due to her race. Throughout the book it either gives you experiences that tell you a racist experience, or you simply have to read beyond the lines to find it. What is left unsaid is where racism lies. Therefore, the common theme in part three is racism in what is unsaid as a whole or between words.