“This is what it looks like. You know this is wrong. This is not what it looks like. You need to be quiet. This is wrong. You need to close your mouth now. This is what it looks like. Why are you talking if you haven’t done anything wrong?”
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This book was incredible. Everyone should read it at least once in their lives. Rankine has formidable clarity and ability to write the emotional depth through implication and what is unsaid of this “casual” (serious) and/or “accidental” (intentional) racism. 

The line “has never met anyone who is not a reflection of himself” just made me let out this deep sigh. Here descriptions of anger were so illuminating and raw. Her thoughts on Serena Williams/ the Williams sisters made me deeply emotional and angry. It feels like the only correct response to so much of this work is outrage, at least initially.

The train ride scene held so much and as someone who has seen those scenarios unfold while commuting on the Chicago & NYC subways, it rang true to me. 

This book/series of reflections and essays really gets at a truth of what it is to be other and black in America. I’m grateful that Rankine did the work of creating this so I can better understand, empathize, and witness the society we share as it truly is for those it is designed to oppress in ever more creative ways. I will definitely seek out Rankine’s other works.