--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I also found it funny to think about…" description: "\"I also found it funny to think about blackness as the second person. That was just sort of funny. Not the first person, but the second person, the othe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/claudia-rankine-10349_blackness_i-also-found-it-funny-to-think-about-bla_1729947.png" --- # I also found it funny to think about blackness as the… ![“I also found it funny to think about blackness as the second person. That was just sort of funny. Not the first person, but the second person, the other person.” quote by Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/claudia-rankine-10349_blackness_i-also-found-it-funny-to-think-about-bla_1729947.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/claudia-rankine-10349_blackness_i-also-found-it-funny-to-think-about-bla_1729947.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/claudia-rankine-10349_blackness_i-also-found-it-funny-to-think-about-bla_1729947.png) > “I also found it funny to think about blackness as the second person. That was just sort of funny. Not the first person, but the second person, the other person.” [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Viewing blackness as “the other” highlights the alienation and objectification experienced by marginalized individuals. **In simple terms:** Seeing blackness as “the other” shows alienation. Key Takeaway Challenge perspectives that otherize marginalized groups. Themes race identity language empathy Mood thoughtful provocative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - classroom discussion - media analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts Otherness subjectivity narrative voice Questions to Reflect On - In what ways does “otherness” shape personal identity? - How can language shift from objectifying to affirming? A Different Perspective The metaphor may not capture the full lived experience of black individuals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blackness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness/) [Blackness Second](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness-second-1421378/) [First person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-person/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Person Second](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-second-1421380/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Second Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-person-439617/) [Think Blackness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-blackness-1421379/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [If you are in love with two people simultaneously, go for the second one because if you really loved the first person, the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/if-you-are-in-love-with-two-people-simultaneously-go-for-the-second/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [The whole history of pop music had rested on the first person singular, with occasional intrusions of the second person singular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/the-whole-history-of-pop-music-had-rested-on-the-first-person/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [If you're reading a book that I've written in the first person, without named characters, you will periodically perhaps as a reader remind yourself:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-a-martin/if-you-re-reading-a-book-that-i-ve-written-in-the-first-person/) [Douglas A. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-a-martin/) > [If you love two people at the same time, chose the second person because if you truly loved the first person, you wouldn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-depp/if-you-love-two-people-at-the-same-time-chose-the-second-person/) [Johnny Depp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-depp/) > [I was always more interested in being a woman first and an advertising person second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-polykoff/i-was-always-more-interested-in-being-a-woman-first-and-an/) [Shirley Polykoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-polykoff/) > [We all have that one person we would take back in a second, no matter how much they hurt us in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-all-have-that-one-person-we-would-take-back-in-a-second-no-matter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We all have that one person we'd take back any second. No matter how much they hurt us in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-all-have-that-one-person-we-d-take-back-any-second-no-matter-how/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When you’re in love with two people, always choose the second. The fact that you are constantly thinking of the second person makes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/when-you-re-in-love-with-two-people-always-choose-the-second-the-fact/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“We-skepticism displaces the performative component of the second-person plural as it treats collectivity with suspicion and p1ivileges a fantasy of individual singularity and autonomy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-skepticism-displaces-the-performative-component-of-the-second/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People go on about the first time being important, but it's the second time that really matters. Or the second person, anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/people-go-on-about-the-first-time-being-important-but-it-s-the-second/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-man-alone-is-sincere-at-the-entrance-of-a-second-person/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I think I've always been drawn to the second person. When I was growing up and playing with my friends, the usual way we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-think-i-ve-always-been-drawn-to-the-second-person-when-i-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Dropping the track beat get body them bags certain, see the world through first, second and third person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-miller/dropping-the-track-beat-get-body-them-bags-certain-see-the-world/) [Mac Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-miller/) > [The use of the gerneic second person when one is clearly referring to oneself is quite possibly my biggest language pet peeve. Examples I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdalla/the-use-of-the-gerneic-second-person-when-one-is-clearly-referring-to/) [Abdalla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdalla/) > [The biggest thing was that second person allowed me to trick myself into revealing more about myself. It gave me an authorial distance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-roberge/the-biggest-thing-was-that-second-person-allowed-me-to-trick-myself/) [Rob Roberge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-roberge/) ## More by Claudia Rankine > [I don't know about forgiving, but it's an "I'm still here." And it's not just because I have nowhere else to go. It's because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-don-t-know-about-forgiving-but-it-s-an-i-m-still-here-and-it-s-not/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [So you're just moving along and suddenly you get this moment that breaks your ability to continue, and yet you continue. I wanted those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/so-you-re-just-moving-along-and-suddenly-you-get-this-moment-that/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imagination-black-people-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Whereas if you were writing an op-ed piece or an essay, somebody would be asking, "What's your point?" 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This privilege of the other ceases to be incomprehensible once we admit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-relation-to-the-other-this/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Where is the safest place when that place / must be someplace other than in the body?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/where-is-the-safest-place-when-that-place-must-be-someplace-other/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [The worst injury is feeling you don't belong so much / to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-worst-injury-is-feeling-you-don-t-belong-so-much-to-you/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I’m not investigating race as much as I’m investigating intimacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-m-not-investigating-race-as-much-as-i-m-investigating-intimacy/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I am invested in keeping present the forgotten bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-am-invested-in-keeping-present-the-forgotten-bodies/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [If you admit to being racist, it says you acknowledge that you are being driven by projections and stereotypes that were formed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/if-you-admit-to-being-racist-it-says-you-acknowledge-that-you-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. 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After a moment's hesitation he said no, that he thought there was only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/one-time-he-was-asked-if-he-believed-in-an-afterlife-after-a-moment-s/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/despair-was-a-heavy-blackness-that-let-no-light-in-or-out-it-was-a/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I'm just challenging white supremacy at its intellectual heart every day. It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I kept staring into the blackness of the woods, drawn into the darkness as I always had been. I suddenly realized how alone I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/i-kept-staring-into-the-blackness-of-the-woods-drawn-into-the/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [If you have money and you have fame, but you don't have any confidence in your blackness, then it's all for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/if-you-have-money-and-you-have-fame-but-you-don-t-have-any-confidence/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [Life is fleeting. 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