Frantz Fanon Black Skin White Mask Analysis

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Recommended: Racism in the 1800s

In Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon looks at the effects of both racism and the process of colonization on the colonized. Even though Fanon’s work targets a French audience, it holds a universal message which is significant to anyone who is exposed to racism and/or colonialism whether they are the oppressor or the oppressed. While Black Skins, White Masks was written over half a century ago, is Fanon’s work still relevant today? In this short paper I will look at some of the themes of racism, colonization and the complex relationships they create among various groups as well as the inner turmoil which may be created within the subjugated group. In Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon begins by discussing the dual nature of the black man, as …show more content…

In Fanon’s case this refers to the colonization efforts of France, however, this same ideology can be applied to other colonized parts of the world both in settlement colonies, those which were established to maintain and develop a presence or permanent residency and those areas colonized for the purpose or exploiting the resources of the colonized area for the benefit of and exportation to the home country. Either way, I believe the process of colonization, if effect, results in the same type of oppressor/oppressed dichotomy in which the colonizer becomes the dominant or master class. This can still be seen even within modern life such as gentrification projects in major cities established to allow wealthier more desirable people, predominantly white middle to upper class, to ‘colonize’ poorer areas uprooting the original inhabitants, usually poor minority groups, and then claiming the land for themselves. Basically this is another way of the dominant group to continue to maintain their power and authority over …show more content…

That is the first truth. He is comparison in the sense that his is constantly preoccupied with self-assertion and the ego idea. Whenever he is in the presence of someone else, there is always the question of worth and merit. The Antillean does not possess a personal value of his own and is always dependent on the presence of “the Other”. The question is always whether he is less intelligent than I, blacker than I, or less good than I. Every self-positioning or self-fixation maintains a relationship of dependency on the collapse of the other. It’s on the ruins of my entourage that I build my virility. (Fanon 2008,

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