“There is this medical term – John Henryism – for people exposed to stress arising from racism. They commit suicide trying to avoid the accumulation of erasure. »1 People who live with this constant stress feel that they have to work extraordinarily harder to have their achievements recognized and to prevent the meaning of their lives from being erased. In the book Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine describes her personal encounters with racism and inequality, and its relentless recurrence proves that both ideologies are still thriving today. Whether they come from a stranger or a close friend, attacks against one's person and identity are a repetitive manifestation in one's daily life. Rankine often refers to themes. She describes the conversation she had with a classmate on the way to school, where she was asked to lean to the right so the classmate could copy Rankine. Although it happened some time ago and Rankine doesn't remember minor details, like the girl's name, what was said to him has stuck with him. “She tells you that you smell nice and that you have features that are more like those of a white person.”2 Rankine assumes that the girl is saying this to make herself feel better about cheating on a black person, as if someone black was underneath her. Not only is it insulting that this child thinks Rankine is beneath her solely because of her skin color, or that Rankine should appreciate the fact that she has these features instead of loving her own personal beauty, but saying that Rankine has "characteristics more like these". a white person” also takes away her individuality as a black woman. By saying this, it's almost like telling Rankine that she can't look a certain way if she's black and insinuating that her race and features don't go hand in hand. This comment not only teaches Rankine from a young age that she should be grateful that a white girl likes the way she looks, but that she and her black skin will be measured below those with white hair.