“Black Skin, White Masks” (1952) is a book about the mindset or psychology of racism by Frantz Fanon, a Martinican psychiatrist and black, post-colonialist thinker. The book looks at what goes through the minds of blacks and whites under the conditions of white rule and the strange effects that has, especially on black people.
The book started out as his doctoral thesis that he wrote to get his degree in psychiatry. So it is written for white French psychiatrists and speaks mainly about Martinique and France in the early 1950s.
That makes it a hard book for the general reader to understand. Every now and then he says something wow that keeps you going, but it requires rereading and a good deal of thought to understand a given chapter. And even then you do not fully understand it – you just understand it better.
Yet it is well worth reading since his understanding of White French racism in the early 1950s helps you to understand White American racism in the 2010s.
I have written a post on each chapter:
- Fanon: The Black Man and Language – if you do not learn the white man’s language perfectly, you are unintelligent. Yet if you do learn it perfectly, you have washed your brain in their universe of racist ideas.
- Fanon: The Woman of Colour and the White Man – these women look down on their own race and deep down want to be white
- Fanon: The Man of Colour and the White Woman – these men want to be white too – or at least prove they are equal to whites
- Fanon: The So-Called Dependency Complex of the Colonized – argues against Mannoni’s view that people of colour have a deep desire for white rule, that those who oppose it do not have a secure sense of self – that they have a chip on their shoulder. From this chapter I came to understand that the stereotypes of Happy Darkies, Uppity Negroes and White Saviours all come from the need of white people to feel that their power in society is good and not racist.
- Fanon: The Lived Experience of the Black Man – always black, never fully human. No matter how much education you have or how well you act. Yet shouting your blackness is a dead end too.
- Fanon: The Black Man and Psychopathology – why white people fear black men. Partly it has to do with white men’s repressed homosexuality and their strange hang-ups about black men’s penises. More generally, black men are viewed as bodies, which makes them seem like mind-less, violent, sexual, animal beings. Add to that all the bad meanings that the word “black” had even before Europeans set foot in Black Africa.
- Fanon: The Black Man and Recognition – how different styles of white rule shaped black people in America and Martinique.
- Fanon: By Way of Conclusion – escaping the prison of one’s past and one’s race
This should be an interesting read. I completed psychology courses in college, so it will be interesting to see how the French viewpoint compares to the American.
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What type of methods did Fanon use to come to his conclusions? Are these observations he made by assessing his patients?
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An interesting post.
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A bunch of bs, half truths and personal bias — just got love how some people can stare into souls of people they’ve never known and reduce them to the simplest abstractions
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hey abagond I DARE YOU to do a post about that “hitler channel” presentation of you don’t know dixie, a white supremacy apologist view of the amerikkkan south.
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xxxPhantomxxx,
I guess every one forgets there are plenty people who are alive who can debunk them. I know they influence young immigrants. I will challenge the younger people if they are not of the wing nuttery persuasion.
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Abagond:
As black people, Why do we always assume that we have a problem? Based on what I see in this country and abroad, whites and others have issues with themselves. As i’ve said before many times, secure people have no reason to dislike or hate black people. Black people are treated badly because we’re black, Point Blank! It’s never been about racial superiority with me, that’s way too obvious. Black is what everybody wants to be, but can’t be…this is the crux of the issue that many blacks overlook for whatever reason(s). Let’s not waste time with nonsense, let’s state the obvious. Brainwashing black people to hate their blackness is for the benefit of non-blacks, it has nothing to do with us. If I wasn’t born to black parents, I’d have a chip on my shoulder just the same, Believe It!!!
Tyrone
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I spent a couple of days looking through these posts. Very enlightening and well worth the read.
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@Hathor yes I know but the right wing propaganda is disgusting and atrocious. And it needs to be brought into light.
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Julian Abagond, thanks for providing brief summary of all the chapters. This text is in our syllabus and I searching for it. As it’s not famous text, I couldn’t find on the sites of study notes
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@Tyrone
Black is what everybody wants to be, but can’t be…this is the crux of the issue that many blacks overlook for whatever reason(s). Let’s not waste time with nonsense, let’s state the obvious. Brainwashing black people to hate their blackness is for the benefit of non-blacks, it has nothing to do with us. If I wasn’t born to black parents, I’d have a chip on my shoulder just the same, Believe It!!!
Interesting take on things Tyrone, this sums up a couple of WM that I went to school with who were more than interested in BW, adopted what they thought was black culture, but were disdainful of BM and the ones that they did have as friends were those that were maleable and didnt mind hearing themselves being referred to as ‘coon’ and ‘black bastard’ affectionately of course!!!!!! I had words with one of these White guys when he thought he could tell me about myself as a BW (he thought it was ok cos he dated BW) but what he was saying was all negative about BP in general hence I said something similar to what you said but I didnt put it as succinctly.
My cousin couldnt understand what I was trying to say (mind you, she would also say that she has never experienced racism despite being privy to my row with this disgusting idiot but the fact that his comments were not directed at her enabled her to ignore them).
As my family are from the French speaking caribbean I was intrigued about this article but I also agree with e-dub i>A bunch of bs, half truths and personal bias which is all you will ever get from an individual who writes a book isnt it really? You can either understand it or not, get it or not.
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[…] https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/frantz-fanon-black-skin-white-masks/ […]
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[…] "“Black Skin, White Masks” (1952) is a book about the mindset or psychology of racism by Frantz Fanon, a Martinican psychiatrist and black, post-colonialist thinker. The book looks at what goes through the minds of blacks and whites under the conditions of white rule and the strange effects that has, especially on black people….1. Fanon: The Black Man and Language – if you do not learn the white man’s language perfectly, you are unintelligent. Yet if you do learn it perfectly, you have washed your brain in their universe of racist ideas."- MORE – […]
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[…] See on abagond.wordpress.com […]
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The hang up on black men penises seem to be a common theme.
@ Abagond
Do you agree more with him than Cress or do you see them both as having racist views?
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This book made me frustrated and wonder if it’s wrong being a black man. I then realize I fell victim to his way of thinking and the circumstances behind his self hatred. I’ve met black men whom are proud to be black, and I’ve studied men like Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King who took pride in the color of their skin. I’m glad I read them before I read Fanon. If I didn’t I would hate my skin color, a badge of honor provided by the sun. Fanon should be read, but an understanding of your history will erase the negativity brought on by his views.
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I Am By The Way Writing My Memoire On This Book- Black Skin White Masks- Black Race In Discrimination And The Way To Liberation.
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they have good language.
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This book is information that’s imperative to the NUBIAN RACE GLOBALLY!
Seem very interesting n eye opening base on pass n current conditions the people of colour facing daily…
THIS/THESE conditions are coming to an END.
THE ENVIRONMENT NEEDS TO BE PURGED OF evildoers!
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