Quote by Claudia Rankine: “Every day, one less white friend. Every day, one less white friend.”

This repetitive phrase illustrates the slow, painful erosion of interracial relationships caused by the constant strain of racial microaggressions and the differing realities people experience. It captures the attrition of social bonds under systemic pressure.

Used to convey the emotional toll of navigating a racially charged society, where even close friendships can buckle under the pressure of racial divides and the burden of explaining one's lived experience.

Jamaican-American poet and essayist whose genre-bending collection Citizen: An American Lyric won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2014. Her work explores race, belonging, and the accumulation of everyday indignity with formal innovation.