Franz Fanon

Franz Fanon's books seem to uncover the philosophy and psychology behind colonialism. While we traditionally focus on who was being colonized and who was colonizing, Fanon delves into understanding the relationship between the colonized and colonizers. In his book Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon argues that racism is an effect of colonization. His point is that when you are colonized by a language, you are inadvertently accepting the collective mindset and culture of the colonizer. Thus, should that colonizer be racist or discriminatory, you too become that way. However, I disagree. I believe that people have the ability to separate themselves as individuals from society as a unit. Therefore, people don't need to blindly follow norms and cultural standards should their personal views differ. Particularly during times of colonization would this concept be apparent. Colonized peoples may experience anger and resentment towards their colonizers and would subsequently be less likely to follow that path. Thus, even if they are forced to speak the language of the colonizers, that doesn't mean "above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization," as Fanon argues. It simply means that they are coerced to conform to certain aspects of the new culture, yet I believe that their belief system or moral code can remain unchanged. Thus, while Fanon writes that ramifications such as racism are inherent to colonization, I believe that colonized subjects can maintain their own sense of culture and ethics.