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Hennessy Youngman (Jayson Musson)
The protagonist’s romantic partner is a man whose race is never indicated in Citizen. However, he is possibly modeled off of the white visual artist John Lucas, who is Claudia Rankine’s romantic partner in real life. A visual artist, he collaborated with Rankine on the multimedia “situation videos,” the scripts of which appear in Citizen and focus on things like the killing of Trayvon Martin, James Craig Anderson, and Mark Duggan. As a character in the book, though, the protagonist’s partner has conversations with the protagonist about her various encounters with racism and gets quite angry when he hears bigoted remarks.
The Protagonist’s Partner Quotes in Citizen: An American Lyric
The Citizen: An American Lyric quotes below are all either spoken by The Protagonist’s Partner or refer to The Protagonist’s Partner . 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:
).
Chapter 7 Quotes
Come on, get back in the car. Your partner wants to face off with a mouth and who knows what handheld objects the other vehicle carries.
Trayvon Martin's name sounds from the car radio a dozen times each half hour. You pull your love back into the seat because though no one seems to be chasing you, the justice system has other plans.
Yes, and this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on.
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This encounter takes place on July 13, 2013, when the man who killed Trayvon Martin is acquitted by a jury and cleared of all charges. Overhearing a man in a neighboring car say something problematic while listening to a radio broadcast about Trayvon Martin, the protagonist’s partner jumps out of their own car. It’s worth noting that the race of the protagonist’s partner is never stated in Citizen. If the protagonist is in any way modeled off of Rankine herself, though, it’s possible that her partner is white, since this is the case in real life. Regardless of whether or Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducim
Yesterday, I begin, I was waiting in the car for time to pass. A woman pulled in and started to park her car facing mine. Our eyes met and what passed passed as quickly as the look away. She backed up and parked on the other side of the lot. I could have followed her to worry my question but I had to go, I was expected on court, I grabbed my racket.
[…]
Did you win? he asks.
It wasn't a match, I say. It was a lesson.
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This is the final passage of Citizen, and it features an abrupt switch in point of view. Whereas in other portions of the book, this kind of story would most likely focus on the second-person protagonist (“you”), the speaker seems to inhabit the protagonist’s perspective, using a first-person perspective to narrate the story. This suggests not only that there is a certain overlap between the speaker and the protagonist, but that both characters (if they can be called that) are beginning to feel more agency over their own identity (or identities). Indeed, there is a sense of self-possession that emerges Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint
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