the physicality of othering - bodies over ideas + cultural struggles
-
Fanon discusses the concept of objecthood and the physicality of Othering. His blackness, an “inborn complex” and “corporeal malediction,” is integral to how he is perceived and how he exists in a white-dominated world. He longs simply to be a man, to make meaning for himself, yet he is unable to do so because of the white man’s gaze. His autonomy becomes inextricably linked to the color of his skin—he is necessarily black. The dissociation he experiences as a result reminds me of a quote from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, referring to a colonized child learning about himself through colonial school structures: “He was made to stand outside himself to look at himself.”
This notion of bodies over ideas reveals the nuances and disparities in minority struggles. For a minority like the Jew, stereotypes become escapable due to the Jew's perceived whiteness. In contrast, for minorities of color, stereotypes become further entrenched because of their melanin or lack of whiteness.
The absurdity of this fixation on physicality is best illustrated by Fanon himself: "for a man whose only weapon is reason there is nothing more neurotic than contact with unreason."
Because Fanon can’t step outside the labels imposed on him, he chooses to accept and flip them, like Kendrick: "I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkey."
The final verse of Kendrick’s “Blacker the Berry” never fails to give me goosebumps. He references the Zulu and Xhosa, two major tribes in South Africa, whose rivalries were exacerbated by Apartheid. Kendrick draws a parallel between these conflicts and African-American gang violence, both of which can be seen as products of systemic colonialism and racism.
The final line about Trayvon Martin ties everything together, as Kendrick confronts his own hypocrisy. He condemns white-on-black violence but acknowledges his own participation in black-on-black violence. This ties back to the Zulu and Xhosa line—just as colonialism aggravated conflict between South African tribes, systemic oppression in America has led to internal conflicts within the black community.
As mentioned in previous posts, both Bald and Sivanandan highlight the blatant hypocrisies of Western nations in their treatment of immigrants. Sivanandan describes colored immigrant labor as a consequence of colonial advents and subsequent underdevelopment in the immigrant's home nations. This supply of cheap labor mirrors a form of slavery, where immigrants of color were exploited for Britain’s development while being viewed as socially undesirable.
Bald touches upon this undesirability by focusing on overlooked periods of American history, such as the immigration of South Asian Muslims in the 1880s and post-World War I. These immigrants sought a better quality of life, which had been taken from the by colonization and industrialization. Bald speaks of a “silent majority,” whose contributions have largely been forgotten, but whose efforts helped build the country I was born in.
What fascinates me is the influence of South Asians in the history of black New Orleans. The cultural solidarity that emerged from this mixing highlights the unity fo a nation built by immigrants, even as it underscores the contradictory nature of American ideals—a nation of immigrants built on immigration exclusion.