The Issue of Racism as the Part of the Larger Question of Colonialism - Literature review Example

Franz Fanon: Racism, Colonialism and Identity "Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opa "—Frantz Fanon—The Wretched of the Earth Introduction For Frantz Fanon--black philosopher, psychiatrist and revolutionary born in Martinique but educated and reared in France-- the issue of racism became part of the larger question of colonialism. His ‘acceptance as a Frenchman [throughout his life] [had] proved illusive’ (Bulhan, 1985: 32). One of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers on the issue of decolonization, and the psychopathology of colonization, Fanon’s many works inspired both criticism and admiration for their role in anti-colonial liberation movements for more than four decades. His many works combined ‘establishes[ed] his position as a leading theoretician of black consciousness and identity, nationalism and its failings, colonial rule and the inherently "violent" task of decolonization’ (Graves, Frantz Fanon, Introduction, 1998: par. 1). Black Skin, White Mask: An Anti-Racist Tutorial ‘It is one of Fanon’s many virtues that his questions about racism go to the very heart of the matter....He asks, “What does racism do to people?” His answer is brief. Racism objectifies’ (Gordon et al, 1996: 35). In his work, Black Skin, White Mask, Fanon shares his personal experience as a black intellectual in a white world. Elaborating the ways in which the colonizer/colonized relationship is normalized through distorted psychology, Fanon ‘discusses racism in terms of "cultural relativity,"—or racism as the eventual result of one culture and its institutions breaking apart and assimilating another culture (Fanon, Black Skin, 2008:367). The work explores how the racist culture that develops in colonial nations actually ‘prohibits psychological health in the black man’ (Poulous, 1996: par. 3), a condition that ultimately leads to accepted subjugation and the unwillingness to act against it. Citing language as a major offender, and referring to colonized people as ‘people in whom an inferiority complex has taken root’ (Fanon, Black Skin...2008:2), Fanon suggests that the more colonized a nation becomes the more indigenous identity is lost. As an example, he cites Senegalese native army officers that speak the colonialist language. They use their expertise to interpret the wishes of the white masters, and in this role see themselves as superior to their fellow colonized individuals. For Fanon this reverse racism keeps the colonized willing slaves of the white masters. As a work, Black Skin, White Mask is as much a criticism of the subjugated as it is the dominators—a stepping stone as it were to further discussions promoting revolution and freedom from colonial oppression. As an anti-racist notion, it is interesting at this point to note how Fanon’s ideas on language have evolved into notions of pride in native language in many freed-African countries. In addition, one has only to look at modern attitudes concerning black popular language and dialects to comprehend their acceptance in modern culture—both in society and particularly in the modern music world, where rap and other black ethnic linguistic influences have taken center stage. There is a source of pride in this uniqueness that is obvious in modern black identity. Graves (1998) quotes Fanon in Frantz Fanon, Political Discourse. ‘A man who has a language...consequently possesses the world expressed and implied by that language’ (par. 1). In the interests of differing from Fanon, other authors believe the adaptation of the colonization language has actually helped to convey the history and relevance of native peoples in post-colonial nations, where ‘performative events may be the principle present and modern means of continuity for the pre-colonial culture and may also be the tools by which the dominant social institutions and discourses can be subverted or repositioned’ (Graves, Frantz Fanon, Political Discourse, qtg.Ashcroft et al, 1998: par. 3). Revolution and Violence as Inevitable Course Fanon’s work, The Wretched of the Earth, is associated with the incitement of the Algerian Revolution against French colonialism. Fanon, ‘...hardly alone in championing the violent overthrow of colonialism.. his [Fanon’s] flair for incendiary rhetoric was unmatched’ (Schatz, 2001: par. 1). Perhaps a major criticism of Fanon as an intellectual, as has been asserted against such Cuban revolutionaries as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, was his willingness to encourage violent revolution as a necessary course to freedom from colonialist oppression. Yet, one can argue that over time that course appears to hold weight in anti-colonialism movements. Careful reading of the speeches of Castro and Guevara indicate their view of the United States as a colonial power subjugating Cuba. Intimately involved in the Algerian revolution against French colonialism, one might say criticism of Fanon’s choice as an intellectual to view the revolution he encouraged ‘from a distance’ is justified. Yet he is not the first philosopher to express views without personal involvement. His call for the bloody uprising that eventually occurred is consistent with his beliefs. ‘In this colonialist context there is no truthful behavior: and the good is quite simply that which is evil for “them”’ (Schatz, 2001: par. 9). The truth is equally simplistic for Fanon: ‘National liberation [or]...whatever the named used...decolonization is always a violent event’ (Fanon, The Wretched...2004: 1). Conciliation is impossible because one or the other [colonialism or liberty and independence for the underclass] must win out in the end as ‘one of them is superfluous’ (Fanon, The Wretched....2004: 4). Fanon discusses the racism involved in terms of "cultural relativity," stating that racism is the eventual [and inevitable] result of one culture, and its institutions breaking apart and assimilating another culture (Fanon, Black Skin... 2008:367). As a racist quasi-policy, it must be fought and defeated. Conclusion Although Fanon remains indispensable for his writings on race and colonialism, his utopian program for the Third World has unfortunately gone the way of the colonial empires whose doom he foretold’ (Schatz, 2001: par. 10), done in by globalization and the duality of the economies it produces, which reinforce and sustain persistent poverty...and racial injustice. (Fanon, The Wretched...2004: xii) Where Fanon’s policies of revolution have succeeded, as in Algeria, it is important to note that other injustices have evolved as a result of casting off the yoke of foreign oppression. In A Dying Colonialism, Fanon speaks of the restoration of cultural traditions as necessarily positive, as in the return of the traditional head garb of Muslim women. While we understand this reality as a counter move to the racism of colonial disapproval of such customs, its return has in other Arab nations such as Afghanistan produced another form of racism in the forced and punitive measures taken against those women who do not go along. Yet Fanon is correct in his perspective of the colonizers and their often arrogant position regarding local and traditional customs and their attitude that subjugated people are somehow better off without these “backward” practices. (Fanon, A Dying...1965: 63). It is barely a decade since racism disappeared from South Africa and since national popular conferences made their voice heard across the continent--barely a few years since the Durban anti-racism conference was held. ‘Since Fanon wrote Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth”, hardly a decade went by without someone rediscovering the value of “human consciousness” and the need for a “second wave of national liberation...’ (Sharawy, no date: 1). Today globalization has brought a new perspective to the racism of colonialist tendencies? As Fanon understood then a concept that has become more than clear in today’s globalized world. ‘There is more to colonialism and racism than [white dominated] super- and infrastructures...’ (Sharawy, no date: 2). Modern globalised economy has presented new challenges that contain and subsume the black and minority racial identities in Third World countries. These economic colonialists are not just racists in the cultural sense but present a new imperialist repression in the form of global economic interests. In the words of Sharawy, ‘As the globalization proceeds with overwhelming military force to negate people and societies and suppress freedom and choices... In less than half a century, we are back to the questions [of race, culture and colonialism] Fanon raised in The Wretched of the Earth’ (Sharawy, no date: 8). Bibliography  Bulhan, Hussein Abdilahi. ‘Frantz Fanon and the Psychology of Oppression’. New York: Plenum Press, 1985. Fanon, F. (1965) A Dying Colonialism. New York: Grove Press, 1965 Fanon, F. (1962) Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press, (trs) Richard Wilcox, 2008. Fanon, F. (1961) The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, (trs) Richard Wilcox, 2004. Gordon, L.R., Sharpley-Whiting, T. D. and White, R.T. (1996) Fanon: A Critical Reader. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. Sharawy, H. (No date). ‘Frantz Fanon and the African Revolution, Revisited at a Time of Globalization’. http://www.codesria.org/IMG/pdf/sharawi.pdf (Accessed December 4, 2010). Shatz, A. (2001) ‘Frantz Fanon: The Doctor Prescribed Violence, September 2, 2001. on Race Matters.org. http://www.racematters.org/doctorwhoprescribedviolence.htm (Accessed December 9, 2010). Poulous, Jennifer. Frantz Fanon. 1996. http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Fanon.html (Accessed December 9, 2010). Various Authors. ‘Franz Fanon’. http://www.postcolonialweb.org/poldiscourse/fanon/fanonov.html (Accessed December 9, 2010). Read More