Skip to main content

Colonialism's Poison X 2

By
I love reading Fanon; he makes no excuses and he says what he thinks with no holding back. He blames those who should be blamed and does it with no fear. I love it. In reading Fanon, however, I always feel beyond sad. His words move me because they are genuine and heavy. The story exists and continues to do so.
The idea of racial or ethnic betrayal has been swimming in my head for weeks. This is mostly due to the fact that when I was in Mexico, many of the migrants told me that when they get to the U.S., they are treated the worst by Mexicans who are already there or are second generation, documented Mexicans. These thoughts were brought to the forefront while reading "Black Skin, White Masks". This whole idea is brought back by the stories of black women who will only marry white men because they see black men as severely inferior.
I begin to think of the poisons of colonialism. To being, you have an enemy who you will forever hate. However, colonialism poison is strong enough to turn that hatred inward and make you not only hate who you are but your fellow brother and sister. It is a hatred toward your own kind, your own color, your own suffering and struggle. Not only does colonialism come in and take everything and change it but they make the fight back much harder when you learn to believe those who tell you that you are inferior and so is everyone else like you.
Just a few thoughts...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Purdue's Professional Revolutionary

By RK
In light of the discussion we had during our advisee meeting on Friday about being strategic in our means as critical scholars I was struck by the words of Lenin who emphasizes the role of the intellectual. He says, "The history of all countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own effort, is able to develop only trade-union consciousness, i.e., it may itself realize the necessity for combining in unions, for fighting against the employers and for striving to compel the government to pass necessary labor legislation, etc. The theory of socialism, however, grew out of the philosophic, historical representatives of the propertied classes, the intellectuals." (pg. 74) This idea of the bourgeois socialist intelligentsia as an instrument of raising consciousness and fomenting dissent is an ideal one I am sure but in contemporary times we, the academics, forming a substantial part of the "intellectual elite", occupy a unique position which forces us into ...
6 comments
Read more

Whose means justifies their end?

By
I spend a lot of my time teaching and disciplining children now-a-days and through these experiences, I have found many similarities in the ways that Marx and Engel construct their arguments for communism and against capitalism, most of which are shaped around the concept of deflection. First, let me provide an example from which my conclusions are built, all of which are inducted from daily experiences. I know that my experience is nothing novel or new, especially if anyone reading this has had the pleasure of working with large groups of kids. In a classroom there is supposed to be only one goal, one guider, and one “law maker” and that lovely job title has been bestowed upon me, the teacher. In trying to achieve my one goal to teach multiplication, I tell every student to be quiet and do their work. While not paying attention, I hear several of the students talking. When I look up, I single out the first one that I see talking (lets call him Crandon). I tell Crandon, “If you continu...
7 comments
Read more

Neoliberalism - Is it a necessary evil?

By
The term 'neoliberalism' came into existence in 1938, but started to get used during the 1960s. It is another label for 'economic liberalism.' However, the leftists use neoliberalism as a pejorative term, showing discontent with the ideologies that neoliberalism brings to the table. The term is also used neutrally though by many political organizations [ source ]. The essence of neoliberalism is quite straight forward - economic control of resources should be transferred (even if partially) from the government to the private sector. The belief is that such actions will make for a better economic system with improved economic productivity, and in the process create an efficient government. However as Dutta & Pal (in press) suggests, ideologies such as neoliberalism is supported and promoted by certain organizations (MNCs, TNCs, certain governments) because it helps them maintain the power structure in their favor, and thus continue to exert control over the alrea...
Post a Comment
Read more