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sara_shocks's review against another edition
5.0
5/5 stars
Wow. Incisive, thought-provoking, scathing indictment of the white liberal. This will be worth revisiting one day after I have read even more works concerned with racism, whiteness and their history in the U.S. (I caught the Baldwin sentimentality allusion, have not read the Teju Cole or Ta-Nehisi Coates directly referenced).
This reminded me of the Counting the Dead/Winifred Tate critique of the human rights framework, in that it erases the systemic violence in favor of looking at individuals.
Wow. Incisive, thought-provoking, scathing indictment of the white liberal. This will be worth revisiting one day after I have read even more works concerned with racism, whiteness and their history in the U.S. (I caught the Baldwin sentimentality allusion, have not read the Teju Cole or Ta-Nehisi Coates directly referenced).
This reminded me of the Counting the Dead/Winifred Tate critique of the human rights framework, in that it erases the systemic violence in favor of looking at individuals.
thelucyfan's review against another edition
4.0
When it threatens cliche, Rankine gives us something deeper to consider.
jesshooves's review against another edition
“Theater is by its very nature a space for and of encounter. The writing of The White Card was a way to test an imagined conversation regarding race and racism among strangers.”
jeremygoodjob's review against another edition
2.0
My guess is that this play is as highly rated as it is because it is utterly transparent.
tlindhorst's review against another edition
4.0
A deeply philosophical play that explores the tendencies of wealthy white (art patrons) to excuse themselves of racism if they (buy) from Black (artists). I found the preface very moving, and the author carried her idea to completion in this play. The second act turnaround of who is looking at whom - who is the object? - was brilliant.
erklel's review against another edition
4.0
a thoughtful examination of how white (and tbh nbpoc) people consume Black art, and Black tragedies, and ?? Black people
dycook's review against another edition
4.0
Part of what made [b:Citizen: An American Lyric|20613761|Citizen An American Lyric|Claudia Rankine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420944502s/20613761.jpg|39895091] so great was the balance between poetry and art. The two forms played off each other in a way that amplified both. In this play, that balance is disrupted and the function of art is explained far too much. The White Card functions in other interesting ways, but it does not have the same effect as Citizen.
smalefowles's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent and cutting dissection of the white savior complex as born of guilt but rejecting responsibility.
I'm glad I read this play rather than watching it because it requires an understanding of contemporary art that I did not have at the outset of my reading. Now I understand a little more about the art scene, especially as it is constructed as a white sphere where images of black bodies are consumed. It's not just the art world that operates this way, though.
I'd love to see it someday, especially the very end of the play.
I'm glad I read this play rather than watching it because it requires an understanding of contemporary art that I did not have at the outset of my reading. Now I understand a little more about the art scene, especially as it is constructed as a white sphere where images of black bodies are consumed. It's not just the art world that operates this way, though.
I'd love to see it someday, especially the very end of the play.