Quotessence
Home / Authors / Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine

Claudia Rankine Quotes

Poet

Filter quotes by topic

AllThinkingMomentsPeopleWayIfsBlackRacismWantAfrican AmericansBlacksBodyKnowsPersonsLanguagePastFeelsPoemConditionsFeelingsKind

Famous Claudia Rankine Quotes

“I think that one of the positions we have taken around the question of race, is that we already know. We know. We know. We know. And so we don't need to look at it again. And yet everybody is still upset. Everybody is still being driven by their outrageous imagination to the point of killing people because they feel that a black man in front of them is a demon, or the Incredible Hulk.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsMenNeedsFeelsLooksStillsBlackImaginationRaceTakenFrontsPositionKillingIncrediblesDrivenUpsetDemonOutrageousIncredible Hulk
Author:Claudia Rankine
Create image

“We are invested in being together. In having friends. In joining our lives. And yet these are the people who also fail you. And when they fail you in these ways, it signals a larger understanding about who you are as a black person in the world. It's not just a little failure for me. Its something exposed.”

PeopleWorldWayLittlesPersonsTogetherUnderstandingBlackOur LivesFailingWho You AreExposedSignalsJoiningBeing TogetherBlack Person
Author:Claudia Rankine
Create image

“I think of the described dynamics as a fluid negotiation. I don't think these specific interactions can happen to the black or brown body without the white body. And there are ways in which, if you say, "Oh, this happened to me," then the white body can say, "Well, it happened to her and it has nothing to do with me." But if it says "you," that you is an apparent part of the encounter.”

IfsThinkingWayWellsBodyHappensBlackWhiteHappenedEncountersBrownInteractionNegotiationFluidDynamics
Author:Claudia Rankine
Create image