With this piece, Fanon presents to us the touchy subject of race. Now as far as race goes, I say “Look to the cookie!” (see Ryans Blog) But it is something that I have learned to discuss openly without fear of questioning certain race relations stereotypes and prejudices. But it is also a topic that in a certain light can make ones opinion sound ignorant or bigoted even if their intentions are noble. With that said I feel that it is sometimes difficult to phrase questions or opinions in a way that doesn’t reflect this negativity. But our history is surely an ugly one that does need to be looked back upon to insure the mistakes of the past are not repeated. But can this ever be done?
Fanon explains that his blackness is something that he cannot escape. ” My blackness was there, dark and unarguable. And it tormented me, pursued me, disturbed me, angered me. (117) Its not that Fanon is ashamed of his blackness, but that he is fed up with the title that comes with his ethnicity. He describes this “infernal circle” that he feel will never end. One point that I felt I could relate with the most was his view towards Jews. ” He is a white man and apart from other rather debatable characteristics, he can sometimes go unnoticed.” This struck a cord with me because a friend of mine deals with this issue daily. Marcus lives in Brooklyn and is a Hasidic Jew. His daily dress is mostly black and his religious hairstyle consists of two long curls formed behind each ear. This appearance is something that he cannot escape even though he is white. For the past few years he has been under constant torment from people of both races black and white. After being jumped, Marcus has resorted two arming himself more often and this is something that he explains goes on among most male Hasidic Jews in the city. The constant torment and instigating were finally enough for him to resort to violence. A solution that will most likely cause more problems down the road.
Fanon explains on page 116 , “When people like me, they tell me it is in spite of my color. When they dislike me, they point out that it is not because of my color.” This is observed all the time and is something that is done without regard. How many times have you heard a story that included “Oh yeah and this black guy came in and said… ” or “yeah i know him…that black dude right? Even though they are said with no racist intentions they still mirror the type of labeling that Fanon is trying to describe and stop. Yet this infernal cycle will most likely continue until these unintended titles are replaced with something more fitting that doesnt place a title over a person.
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March 14, 2007 at 1:26 am
annieeinna
Hey Brett…awesome post. I think you did a really good job. Its funny, I also wrote about the quote on page 116. I said that I think that’s really true. I know black people who put up with the same sort of situation. Where my fiance went to high school, there were not many black students. One that was very close with my fiance, and many other kids was a kid named James. Everyone would say how they like James so much because he’s black and they do not know many black people. Its also very true that a lot of times white people will be quick to say to black people “hey, its not that I don’t like you because of your skin color, its because of you.” We’ll, okay, that’s great, but why do you have to reinforce that statement? If the person was white would you say “Hey, its not that I don’t like you because of your skin color, its because of you.”
March 26, 2007 at 1:58 am
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April 22, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Ryan
Fanon could have summed up his entire essay by just telling us all to look to the cookie.
I understand your concerns in the first paragraph, even with the best intentions in mind, any discussion involving race can easily go down the wrong road. And your story of your friend shows that race is not the only issue in our society.
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