The Encompassed Society

Submitted By Stellaaaaarose
Words: 1395
Pages: 6
Open Document
Amanda Preston
Pl 101
Dr. Eng
December 10, 2012.
The Encompassed Society
Every human being is an individual, and it is groups of individuals that make up the collective. However, who someone is as an individual is actually in relation to what the collective says he or she should be. In order for a person to be an individual, he or she must be recognized as an individual by the collective or else they have no place in society.In “Black Skin, White Mask” by Fanon and “Fear and Trembling” by Kierkegaard, the individuals in the context are not viewed as part of the collective. The individual’s relationship and acceptance into the collective only occurs when the individual encompasses the ideals of the universal as their own identity.
In “Black Skin, White Mask” by Franz Fanon, the collective is viewed as the dominant, white European culture and the black native culture is viewed as inferior. In order to understand one’s personal identity, he or she must first view oneself as a subject, acknowledging the outside in order to establish who they are on the inside, “the dominant colonial culture identifies the black skin of the negro with impurity; and the Antilleans accept this association and so come to despise themselves” ( Fanon ix). In understanding that the colonized culture occupies the “other role,” it is portrayed that the black peoples will always be inferior to the white peoples. The native peoples have no hope of being accepted because they are viewed as lesser due to their skin color that they are incapable of changing. The best thing the black peoples can do is to act like the colonized as a momentary escape from their constant inferiority and they “can partially resolve the tension between the contempt for blackness and their own dark skins by coming to think of themselves, in some sense, as white” (ix). The more white he or she portrays themselves as, the closer he or she believes that they will be accepted into society. However, the more the black person takes on the white peoples traits the further away he or she will be from his or her own nativism, without ever being accepted into the dominant culture.
The knowledge of blacks being inferior has given society a dependability complex in which the blacks rely on the whites, “the arrival of the white man in Madagascar inflicted an unmistakable wound. The consequences of this European interruption in Madagascar are not only psychological; there are inner relationships between consciousness and social context” ( Fanon p.77). The white man no longer attempts to make the black man feel inferior, because of internalization of the structure. In the awareness of black inferiority, the black peoples try to mimic the white peoples traits and actions in order to be viewed as equal, but in doing so he or she turns into a mold of what the dominant culture wants and are no longer an individual. The black peoples now try to fulfill the expectations of the white peoples in order to be recognized as part of colonized Europeans.The harder one tries to become white, the more he or she rejects their native identity, but gains nothing as a result.
In wanting to be accepted by the universal, one internalizes the universals standards and will not be an individual, but rather a mold of what the universal says one should be. Language is the way in which one presents themselves to the universal. The black man seeks out to speak French like the colonized do in order to be accepted by them, “the more the black Antillean assimilates the French language, the whiter he gets; the closer he becomes to being a true human being” ( Fanon 2). The more fluent the black person can speak French, the more he or she is viewed as closer to being white. However, even if the black man can speak French fluently, he is viewed as an exception to the rule and not as part of the collective. He or she may be viewed as higher than the black peoples who do not speak French, but he will still be inferior to the white
Show More

Related Documents: The Encompassed Society

Black People Essay

1. No, I have not learned anything about black history month until this year. I have, however, learned about black history, and I have great respect for it. 2. I believe that nothing would change in regards to the respect for black people. However, I believe that black history month represents the hard work of many great souls and should be preserved. Since it had developed a tradition already, there is no way to exclude it, anyways. 3. No, the function of these special months is to learn…

Words 315 - Pages 2

Black People Essay

minister who heads the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, but at the same time takes part in the political struggles to try and bring about rights to the black people in this country; and Dr. Martin Luther King is a Christian minister down in Atlanta, Georgia, who heads another organization fighting for the civil rights of black people in this country; and Reverend Galamison, I guess you've heard of him, is another Christian minister in New York who has been deeply involved in the school boycotts…

Words 8632 - Pages 35

Black People Essay

was segregation between Black and White people e.g. they had two schools one for white people (Teachers and Pupils) and one for blacks (Teachers and Pupils). Schools had two sets of textbooks one for white and one for blacks which was because black people had no equal rights but white people did, nowadays they are mixed whites and blacks get equal rights. Black people got paid ⅓ of a white person owned also the jobs were different they couldn’t do the same as white people e.g. they couldn’t join…

Words 1415 - Pages 6

Black People In Richard Wright's Black Boy

book Black Boy mainly consist of black people, subsequently the interpretation of the portrayal becomes important. It’s easy to claim that white people have a negative portrayal in this book because Richard’s only interaction with them is with them oppressing and discriminating against him. The depiction of black people is much more complex simply because they aren’t just “black people” he’s interacting with its his family, friends, neighbors, etc. Nonetheless the overall portrayal of black people…

Words 583 - Pages 3

Essay Black People and School

that the only life we see for ourselves is jail or death and that stereotype not only comes from white people, but also from African Americans as well. It isn’t a race issue at all, it’s just how everyone see us black people from the ghetto. I want to change the way people think of blacks from Compton, Watts, and Los Angeles. Not only do I want to give back to the community but I would like people to know they can do if they don’t slack off and become another stereotype. Growing up in Compton, CA…

Words 962 - Pages 4

Black People and Gentlemen Essay

difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white. "The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious…

Words 1272 - Pages 6

Police Are Killing Black People

The police is here to protect and help people. Yet all you see is death and them Beating black people mercily for no reason and black people living in fear of Being killed or beaten. Also being accused of crimes that never happened. Like stealing Or loitering, drug crimes and murder. Why do they do it to make them look tough or they are Scared of what will happen. One instance of injustice was when Freddie Gray was riding his bike around his Neighborhood when he was stopped…

Words 252 - Pages 2

Essay on Speech: Black People

That is what millions of American people heard on August 28th 1963 as Dr. Martin Luther King addressed our nation in what was one of the largest political and freedom speeches of our time. He stood at the podium in front of the Lincoln Memorial and poured his heart out in every word he spoke. Passion flowed from him as he spoke of freedom, liberty and the equal rights that all people deserved, and that all men were created equal. Black people as well as White people deserved this. He stated he was…

Words 606 - Pages 3

Essay on Black People and Little Black Boy

Essay “The Little Black Boy” Throughout “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake the theme of guardianship and the clear act of protection is very prominent within the poem. It is clear to the reader of the roles taking place through 3 events. Through God, the mother and the Little Boy himself, this act of guardianship between characters as the poem develops “”. It is also evident the racial thoughts expressed by the Little Black Boy “bereaved of light” through links made to the white child as…

Words 438 - Pages 2

History: Black People and Black Americans Slavery Essay

To what extent did the Emancipation Proclamation + 14th Amendment make Black Americans more free in the period 1863-1877? When determining to what extent black Americans became freer in the period of reconstruction, you must consider the political, social, legal and economic changes that took place as well there place in society before the acts were passed. Prior to the Emancipation proclamation “At least four thousand Negro’s owned slaves” and that “slavery was declining rapidly” in the “last…

Words 1480 - Pages 6