Citizen: An American Lyric

by

Claudia Rankine

Serena Williams Character Analysis

Serena Williams is a professional tennis player and a famous figure in both the tennis community and popular culture. Rankine references Williams’s experience as one of the few people of color in the world of professional tennis, pointing to the many ways in which that white-majority community has treated her unfairly. In particular, Rankine focuses on the 2009 U.S. Open, when Williams cussed out a line judge for making an unfair call against her (a call that seems in retrospect to have stemmed from the overall tennis community’s bias against her as a black woman). Because of this so-called “outburst,” Williams was fined $82,500. At the Olympics several years later, Williams won two of the United States’ three gold medals in tennis. When she did a very short dance to celebrate this victory, commentators and spectators alike largely criticized her, accusing her of being “crass.” Rankine uses this to illustrate the extent to which people of color are often held to stricter, less forgiving standards than their white peers.

Serena Williams Quotes in Citizen: An American Lyric

The Citizen: An American Lyric quotes below are all either spoken by Serena Williams or refer to Serena Williams. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bigotry, Implicit Bias, and Legitimacy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

What does a victorious or defeated black woman's body in a historically white space look like? Serena and her big sister Venus Williams brought to mind Zora Neale Hurston's "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background."

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams, Zora Neale Hurston, Venus Williams
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:

And though you felt outrage for Serena after that 2004 US Open, as the years go by, she seems to put Alves, and a lengthening list of other curious calls and oversights, against both her and her sister, behind her as they happen.

Yes, and the body has memory. The physical carriage hauls more than its weight. The body is the threshold across which each objectionable call passes into consciousness—all the unintimidated, unblinking, and unflappable resilience does not erase the moments lived through, even as we are eternally stupid or everlastingly optimistic, so ready to be inside, among, a part of the games.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams, Mariana Alves, Venus Williams
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

And as Serena turns to the lineswoman and says, “I swear to God I’m fucking going to take this fucking ball and shove it down your fucking throat, you hear that? I swear to God!” As offensive as her outburst is, it is difficult not to applaud her for reacting immediately to being thrown against a sharp white background. It is difficult not to applaud her for existing in the moment, for fighting crazily against the so-called wrongness of her body’s positioning at the service line.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:

Perhaps this is how racism feels no matter the context—randomly the rules everyone else gets to play by no longer apply to you, and to call this out by calling out “I swear to God!” is to be called insane, crass, crazy. Bad sportsmanship.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

For Serena, the daily diminishment is a low flame, a constant drip. Every look, every comment, every bad call blossoms out of history, through her, onto you. To understand is to see Serena as hemmed in as any other black body thrown against our American background.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Occasionally it is interesting to think about the outburst if you would just cry out—

To know what you'll sound like is worth noting—

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Citizen: An American Lyric LitChart as a printable PDF.
Citizen: An American Lyric PDF

Serena Williams Quotes in Citizen: An American Lyric

The Citizen: An American Lyric quotes below are all either spoken by Serena Williams or refer to Serena Williams. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bigotry, Implicit Bias, and Legitimacy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

What does a victorious or defeated black woman's body in a historically white space look like? Serena and her big sister Venus Williams brought to mind Zora Neale Hurston's "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background."

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams, Zora Neale Hurston, Venus Williams
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:

And though you felt outrage for Serena after that 2004 US Open, as the years go by, she seems to put Alves, and a lengthening list of other curious calls and oversights, against both her and her sister, behind her as they happen.

Yes, and the body has memory. The physical carriage hauls more than its weight. The body is the threshold across which each objectionable call passes into consciousness—all the unintimidated, unblinking, and unflappable resilience does not erase the moments lived through, even as we are eternally stupid or everlastingly optimistic, so ready to be inside, among, a part of the games.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams, Mariana Alves, Venus Williams
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

And as Serena turns to the lineswoman and says, “I swear to God I’m fucking going to take this fucking ball and shove it down your fucking throat, you hear that? I swear to God!” As offensive as her outburst is, it is difficult not to applaud her for reacting immediately to being thrown against a sharp white background. It is difficult not to applaud her for existing in the moment, for fighting crazily against the so-called wrongness of her body’s positioning at the service line.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:

Perhaps this is how racism feels no matter the context—randomly the rules everyone else gets to play by no longer apply to you, and to call this out by calling out “I swear to God!” is to be called insane, crass, crazy. Bad sportsmanship.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

For Serena, the daily diminishment is a low flame, a constant drip. Every look, every comment, every bad call blossoms out of history, through her, onto you. To understand is to see Serena as hemmed in as any other black body thrown against our American background.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Occasionally it is interesting to think about the outburst if you would just cry out—

To know what you'll sound like is worth noting—

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis: