Project citizen
Firstly, I chose the page in the back from the book that repeatedly says: “I feel most colored when I
am thrown against a sharp white background” because it’s such a powerful yet short quote that
conveys a lot. Firstly, the word “thrown” has connotations of being forced somewhere violently, it
conveys a loss of agency and thus relates to the disfranchisement of the black body. Serena
Williams has no other choice than to be thrown around in a sharp white background. Furthermore,
the words "thrown against," evokes a sense of sudden impact or confrontation. This imagery
emphasizes the involuntary nature of the experience and illustrates the speaker's lack of control in
navigating their racial identity within their environment. The sharp white background in question is
tennis as it is considered a “white people sport” with a large white audience and the fact that most
players are white. The adjective "sharp" connotes clarity, starkness, painfulness and perhaps even
hostility, while "white" symbolizes the racial identity that is dominant within this cultural context
(as stated before). Together, this phrase evokes a sense of contrast and visibility, highlighting the
speaker's awareness of their own racial identity in relation to the prevailing whiteness of their
surroundings. This suggests that the speaker feels out of place, like the black sheep in a white flock,
Firstly, I chose the page in the back from the book that repeatedly says: “I feel most colored when I
am thrown against a sharp white background” because it’s such a powerful yet short quote that
conveys a lot. Firstly, the word “thrown” has connotations of being forced somewhere violently, it
conveys a loss of agency and thus relates to the disfranchisement of the black body. Serena
Williams has no other choice than to be thrown around in a sharp white background. Furthermore,
the words "thrown against," evokes a sense of sudden impact or confrontation. This imagery
emphasizes the involuntary nature of the experience and illustrates the speaker's lack of control in
navigating their racial identity within their environment. The sharp white background in question is
tennis as it is considered a “white people sport” with a large white audience and the fact that most
players are white. The adjective "sharp" connotes clarity, starkness, painfulness and perhaps even
hostility, while "white" symbolizes the racial identity that is dominant within this cultural context
(as stated before). Together, this phrase evokes a sense of contrast and visibility, highlighting the
speaker's awareness of their own racial identity in relation to the prevailing whiteness of their
surroundings. This suggests that the speaker feels out of place, like the black sheep in a white flock,
