Farid Medleg’s Reviews > Black Skin, White Masks > Status Update

Chapter 5, his most compelling so far, deals with "the lived experience of the black man."

The writing is quite philosophical, and often times uses poetry, so it flew over my head frequently. This quote, however, sticks:

"The crippled soldier from the Pacific war tells my brother: 'Get used to your color the way I got used to my stump. We are both casualties.'"

I really struggled with the actual analysis of this chapter; heavy reliance on psychoanalysis and the meaning of dreams, in prose that's in a style my brain isn't made for. That being said, he reminds us to not be distracted by an oppressor tying their oppression to faults in the oppressed. Colonialism/racism is the same everywhere; it is violence from the oppressor. The victim does not change that one bit.

The ubiquity of Freudian theories in these last two chapters is tough to reconcile, but the beacon of shining light here is Fanon's position that colonialism is a blight on the psyche. He is unwavering, no matter the content of a chapter.

Even with the help of the Brooklyn Institute, Gemini, and CHAT GPT, I'm still struggling to understand this book. Regardless, Fanon brooks no bullshit. The man is a force.