Karla Veloz
Professor Wendy Tronrud
English 130
29 April 2016
All living is listening for a throat to open —
The length of its silence shaping lives.
When he opened his mouth to speak, his speech was what was written in the silence, the length of the silence becoming a living.
And what had been
“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States…” becomes “I do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of President to the United States faithfully…” (112-113)

Silence versus Voice: Exploring the Effects of the Stop-and-Frisk Law on Black Citizens in Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric.
In Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine’s prose poetry sheds light on the racial aggressions …show more content…
Rankine reveals how it feels to be the person who is criminalized by the unfair practice of the Stop-and-Frisk law when she tells the story of a black male being arrested without probable cause. The story is told through the black male’s point of view, written in first person. When the police officer pulls the man over and immediately treats him like a criminal, we experience confusion and anger towards the officer, as if we were the man being arrested. The man knows he will be pulled over before it actually happens because he “fits the description” (105) of who the police should stop-and-frisk. The idea that this man is not a criminal yet he fits the “description” is very frustrating for the man that it drives him insane. Although the man did not break any laws, he is charged with speeding anyway. This situation is an example of how the Stop-and-Frisk Law allows police officers to racially profile citizens which can lead to their criminalization and can affect the way black citizens view law …show more content…
Opponents believe that those who support the law may hold perspectives about race and crime that link blacks to high crime rates. Owen Brown Jr.’s article, “The Legal Murder of Trayvon Martin and New York City Stop-and-Frisk Law” America’s War Against Black Males Rages On,” examines the perspectives people hold about race and crime that contribute to the justification of laws like Stop-and-Frisk. Brown introduces the behavioralist’s assumptions that race and crime are linked and reflected through the large number of black males who are involved in crime because of their “subculture that glorifies violence and irresponsible behaviors” (265). Brown’s findings suggest this assumption about race and crime can lead to stereotyping black citizens as criminals. Brown argues that because of the link between race and crime measures laws like Stop-and-Frisk are justified by New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Brown believes that Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly fail to consider the factors contributing to crime which include poverty and unemployment. He argues that “[o]nce blacks were labeled as undeserving, it [is] easy to blame them for most of America’s social problems” (266). Many would agree with Brown and say that because of statistics black Americans tend to be labeled as dangerous therefore, violations of