Black Skin, White Masks

Overcoming Black Oppression Through Empowerment 12th Grade

In Frantz Fanon’s psychological non-fiction book, Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon criticizes the acculturation of the African American community to become much more caucasian to gain the perspective of superficial status. Fanon brings to the surface, the ideology of marginalization of the black minorities. By doing this, he brings a solution and encourages the aspect of black empowerment and Négritude, as he describes the oppression as a symbol of amputation.

Fanon states in his book in page 93 that, “Negro is an animal, the Negro is bad, the Negro is wicked, the Negro is ugly.” This shows a direct reference in relation to the beauty of the black culture. From this reference, the idea of beauty shows a correlation to the empowerment and a sense of pride to the black community. For instance, the physical appearance connects to that of Maya Angelou’s book, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. As one of the books in which gathers Angelou’s experiences from when she was younger, Angelou uses the aspect of beauty and the idea of superficial beauty and status as one of the major aspects throughout her book. The statement connects to the section of the book in pages 49 to 50, when Maya Angelou states that, “ I was struck dumb. I knew...

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