Prophetic women and men - Claudia Rankine

Prophetic women and men is a regular feature on UU A Way Of Life ministries blog which appears on Sundays.

On January 10, 2019, Krista Tippett published her interview with Claudia Rankine on her radio show, On Being. Here is what is written about Claudia Rankine on the On Being web site.

The poet, essayist, and playwright Claudia Rankine says every conversation about race doesn’t need to be about racism. But she says all of us — and especially white people — need to find a way to talk about it, even when it gets uncomfortable. Her bestselling book, Citizen: An American Lyric, catalogued the painful daily experiences of lived racism for people of color. Claudia models how it’s possible to bring that reality into the open — not to fight, but to draw closer. And she shows how we can do this with everyone, from our intimate friends to strangers on airplanes.

Krista Tippett, host:

Claudia Rankine says that every conversation about race doesn’t need to be about racism. She’s revelatory for me, as a white American, about pain points that are woven into the fabric of the American everyday. She models how it’s possible to bring this out into the open, not in order to fight but in order to draw closer. She shows how we can all do this hour by hour, encounter by encounter, in ordinary times and spaces.

 Claudia Rankine:

I spend a lot of time thinking about, how can I say this so that we can stay in this car together, and yet explore the things that I want to explore with you?

Ms. Tippett:

 I just think that line —

 Ms. Rankine:

How can I say this so we can stay in this car together?

 Ms. Tippett:

That should be a national motto for us.

 [laughter]

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