Posted on Sep 13, 2020
Claudia Rankine's 'Just Us' Is A Conversation, Not A Prescription
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Claudia Rankine's award-winning poetry collection Citizen came out in 2014 — the year of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., over the death of Michael Brown.
Her latest book arrives as the same problems afflict the United States. It's called Just Us: An American Conversation, and it's a collection of essays, photos, poems and, yes, conversations, that she has been having with friends and strangers alike about race.
The title comes from a surprising place, the late Richard Pryor and his stand-up bit on the criminal justice system: "You go down there looking for justice. That's what you find — just us."
Her latest book arrives as the same problems afflict the United States. It's called Just Us: An American Conversation, and it's a collection of essays, photos, poems and, yes, conversations, that she has been having with friends and strangers alike about race.
The title comes from a surprising place, the late Richard Pryor and his stand-up bit on the criminal justice system: "You go down there looking for justice. That's what you find — just us."
Claudia Rankine's 'Just Us' Is A Conversation, Not A Prescription
Posted from npr.org
Racism
Justice
Reading
Poetry
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 2
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I heard her segment on NPR and although I Know that systemic racism is a thing, I reject the idea of "White Privilege". I would say that what "Whitey" holds is not privilege, but the status that all should possess: the starting point on which we can all build our lives. Say, rather, not "White Privilege", but "oppression of the the other". I know it doesn't roll off the tongue in a sound bite so I'll need to work on that, but that's the gist of my perspective.
When I hear people talk of "White Privilege" I hear also the people that say high paying union jobs with good benefits are ruining the economy. Neither is true. We need to set the bar higher.
When I hear people talk of "White Privilege" I hear also the people that say high paying union jobs with good benefits are ruining the economy. Neither is true. We need to set the bar higher.
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We need to move beyond the conversation and start acting to view one another as true equals. It won't be easy, but few things worthwhile are.
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