THE DESIRE FOR WHITENESS BY BLACK PEOPLE IN THE WORK BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASKS BY FRANTZ FANON

Abstract

Black Skin, White Masks (1952), initially rejected by academia, was first published in 1952. In it, Martinican psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon analyzes the impact of racism on the subjectivity and psyche of black people. This review aims to analyze the main points of the chapters: Introduction; Black People and Language; Black Women and White Men; and Black Men and White Women. The chapters have one thing in common: the analysis of modern black people and their attitudes toward integrating and being accepted into the white world, with a focus on the experiences of black Martinicans. For acceptance to occur, Fanon discusses the strategies adopted by black people—white masks, perceived in the field of language and affective-sexual relationships—to feel that they belong to white civilization and are worthy of humanity.